Create Community

Many in our Lancaster City neighborhood felt disheartened after the January 2025 presidential inauguration. My next door neighbor and I, soulmates on many fronts, wondered how the women on our block could sustain one another in the chaotic days to come.

Our varied stories could surely be a rich resource—Irish, Liberian, Lebanese, Singaporean, African-American, agrarian, and urban. Five of us are artists, several professors and K-12 educators, three authors, a nurse, gallery owners, a wellness instructor, many avid gardeners, as well as a Trump supporter.

Creative signage had already sprouted from our front porches during the election. One woman enlarged her signature political cartoons onto weatherproof banner cloth to suspend from her porch banisters. Here and there, American flags along with “resist” banners blew in the breeze.

We sent out an open invitation to all the women on the block, curious to hear what provides sustenance, what wakes us in the night, and how our collective wisdom might enrich the decisions facing us.

Fourteen met initially with guided questions to prompt discussion. It did not take long to discover resistance actions, books, podcasts, music, and poetry to enlarge our imaginations. And before long, one suggested a name for the group. More ideas surfaced. A final name was chosen that serves us well: “Mary Street Gardeners and Good Trouble Society.” Soon a rally sign “Gardeners for GOOD TROUBLE” went public in center city along with surrounding Mennonite Action and Indivisible groups.

As we continued to rotate gatherings in our homes, momentum grew for a more public response: a mural on the side wall of one house facing an open parking lot. We voted on a clear, simple message, “CREATE COMMUNITY” with a small subtext, “Welcome to Mary Street.” Artists submitted numerous sketches followed by a neighborhood-wide poll to get everyone’s input. With a city block grant, we are now hammering out logistics for the implementation and installation.

Our shared heartache for global and national losses binds us. We carry one another’s stories: careers, college-age children and grands, as well as surfacing health challenges. Our prayers now include the orphanage in Liberia which lost its USAID funding, as well as relatives in Lebanon fearing increased bombing. Through block parties and spontaneous sidewalk conversations, we are here for one another, come what may.

Mary Lou Weaver Houser

Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster (PA)

Certified Habitat Advocate with the Lancaster County Conservancy 

Native Plant Garden Designer