We caught up with the innovative and insightful Reverend Shawn Morrison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Shawn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today.  Making a difference in the lives of others is always an exciting opportunity.  Can you talk to us about how you and your team were able to impact someone in need who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

Kindness. I love kindness. Genuine, authentic goodness. Love in motion made manifest in an intentional, purposeful, and focused manner. It’s such a simple concept that anyone can participate. Yet, it has the power to positively change lives, families, communities, cities, nations, and our entire world for the better. Most of all it changes me. In a certain sense I believe kindness is a form of love in action. Even something so small as a smile or a simple greeting that acknowledges the significance of another has the power to influence others for good.

This really hit home for me when a few summers ago our organization was hosting an inner-city community BBQ with free food and fun for all. A somewhat unkempt and disheveled looking gentleman sauntered up to me and asked, “Are you leading this program”. I replied that I was a member of the team that was hosting this event. With that he proceeded to express his heartfelt gratitude and shared something that has forever changed my life. William (not his real name) had awakened with a deep sense of hopelessness and overwhelm. As he mulled over the seeming insignificance of his existence, he decided this would be his last day and that he would have one final meal before ending his life. William heard about our BBQ event and decided to stop by for this “last” meal. As he approached our event, one of our volunteers warmly greeted him with a genuine smile and invited him to come and join us. William shared with me, “at that moment something just snapped within my heart. The smile and kindness being offered to me, a stranger, feels overwhelmingly good. I feel totally different inside. I don’t think I need to end my life after all”.

A simple smile and act of kindness gave William a reason to live again. Doesn’t it give us all a reason to live? To really enjoy living life on purpose and with a renewed sense of destiny?

Kindness. I really love kindness.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m an ordained minister with a call to the urban community.  I grew up in north Minneapolis and wanted to do more than merely be “in” the community, rather I had a heartfelt conviction to be “for the community”.  With that said, I began considering how I might bring my neighbors in need of a practical expression of God’s love.  I considered several names before landing on Good in the Neighborhood.  Since Mr. Rogers already had this we went with the contraction Good in the ‘Hood.  It’s all about community and how we can transform a community with a collective and consistent display of intentional kindness.  Today, we have several programs and services that enable us to offer a manifest display of this intentional kindness.  In the past twelve months we have distributed groceries for over 100,000 people in need.  We have provided more than 20,000 pairs of shoes to the underserved including students and those living in shelters.  We have given essential foot care to over 1,800 people unable to access affordable services.  We’ve offered youth leadership programs for over 1,000 high school students and Holiday Help for more than 750 families with children in need.  All of this has been done with a “doing with” the community approach rather than a “doing for” the community.  We engage recipients of our services as volunteers and future leaders within our program.  It’s our way of “Bringing HELP and Inspiring HOPE” within the hearts of our neighbors.  

KINDNESS IS BEAUTY IN UNEXPECTED PLACES
We have a flower as a logo.

Why The Flower Logo?
No, we’re not selling flowers…yet. Seriously, whenever I reflect upon the inner city it invokes within me images of crime, violence, poverty and, of course, fields of asphalt. Typically I don’t associate the urban environment with peace, beauty and lush green rolling meadows. Often, when I have strolled through the ’hood, I have observed small crevices in the urban pavement or city sidewalk. A bit less frequently I have encountered a resilient plant emerging through an asphalt fissure and struggling to survive amid the adversity. Likewise, I can only imagine that rare and lovely flower sprouting in the midst of such an improbable setting. Growing and fighting the odds of survival in order to display its immense splendor and unyielding spirit in a perfectly unexpected space. With this picture in mind, I believe the flower logo aptly embraces the heart and spirit of Good in the ’Hood. I’m convinced that authentic and consistent acts of kindness will exhibit a rare form of beauty in the unexpected place of the inner city. In addition, I firmly believe that kindness inspires others to overcome difficult circumstances and to grow despite all odds to the contrary.

Do you believe in flowers?

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

A Framework for Understanding Poverty-This book helped me to better understand the distinction between economic classes and how they think, behave, and interact. In particular, understanding the difference between situational poverty and generational poverty was very enlightening.

Tipping Point-This book demonstrated how the power of a collective vision can impact an entire society even if the collective is less than 50%. Kindness that is made collective can become contagious

Transformations video by the Sentinel Group provides 4 case studies regarding how collective prayer and acts of intentional kindness can transform an entire city for good.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with client guests.

One of our mottos is “Nobody is merely an anybody; rather everybody is a valuable somebody”. This simple phrase serves to remind us that each one must be treated as a unique and special someone. Regardless of status, creed, color, or position, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and to receive personal attention and a touch of intentional kindness

Contact Info:

• Website: www.goodinthehood.org
• Instagram: www.instagram/@goodinthehood.mn
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/good-in-the-‘hood/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/

Image Credits
Reverend Shawn Morrison Reverend Jamie Morrison