Pat Mathews

It’s rare to be in intimate spaces holding sincere, heart-led conversations with people different from ourselves. Jim Knight’s invitation to do so lies at the core of who he is. 

A few years ago, Jubilee Housing hosted a series called Mondays at Maycroft. Its purpose reflected Jim’s visionary desire to create community at a different level, providing opportunity to learn how to be meaningfully connected to one another. 

One evening, after Jim spoke about justice housing, he invited us to gather for small dinners in upstairs apartment units. “Just get to know each other,” he said. Some in my group were business people, some Jubilee residents, and others from nonprofit and faith communities. Some had never been inside low income or affordable housing or spent a single childhood day in challenging economic conditions. Some had grown up in public housing, and some had spent their whole childhood with far less than enough to thrive. I did not know any of them. 

I don’t usually bare my soul to strangers. It took courage, and it was powerful. Sharing across divides, learning to be together. This was Jim’s invitation. 

Despite his passion, his fervor, even his impatience, Jim leads by invitation. He knows the needs are urgent, but he conveys significance, importance, potential, and promise, instead of crisis. And people like myself respond. 

As a new board member, I watch as Jim continuously leads us to figure out how to be with and serve the community. Many people are committed to affordable housing, but few have the kind of passion and empathy for the entire scope of community that Jim has. For him, and for those of us who answer his invitation, it’s more than the housing. It’s always the people.