We need better stories, am I right?!?
Our world needs better stories. Our kids need better stories. Our future depends on them.
I heard someone say recently:
Tell your story in such a way
where your past becomes unpredictable.
I resonated so deeply with this. Our stories ought to change, not necessarily what happened or is happening in our stories, but our perspective in understanding what happened and what is happening in our stories.
Ace in the City’s story has changed quite a bit over the years. We understand, and have felt, the implications of these changes (in good ways and hard ways). As we’ve matured and grounded ourselves in our South Minneapolis neighborhoods, we’ve been given new perspectives.
New perspectives on what it means to be a good neighbor…
New perspectives on what it means to be the church…
New perspectives on crucial issues facing our communities…
New perspectives on community development…
New perspectives on the best role we can play as a small nonprofit in the much bigger ecosystem beyond us…
We are realizing what we see isn’t what we’re looking at, but what we’re looking with. And we’re looking with deeper compassion for our neighbors, more rootedness with our partners, greater urgency for our churches, and stronger clarity of community economics and ecosystems.
Ace in the City is pivoting to the work of placemaking—of reimagining and repurposing space and how we inhabit it for the flourishing of us all. Over the next few weeks, we look forward to sharing with you a bit more of the foundation we’re building upon—our mission and vision and the values we are committed to as an organization in this work.
We are grateful for our community who continues to choose belonging, who continues to walk alongside us. What we see in front of us is breathtaking and beautiful. Let’s continue to lean in, friends, together.
With hope,
