Common Good Community Development

Rachel Wright is the founding executive director of Common Good Community Development, Inc. In 2016, its pilot program FreeStore Austin, served more than 10,000 family units from 80 Central TX zip codes. Rachel currently manages 300 volunteers, 20 percent of whom came to the FreeStore through its shopper empowerment program, and a core staff of 5. She previously served as the Director of Mission and Vision for the Capital District of the United Methodist Church.

Healthy community is nurtured by these truths—that human beings are diverse and designed to live in relationship, that every person both needs and needs to give, and that transformation requires attention to the person and the society. These truths held alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of beloved community inform the work of Common Good Community Development (CGCD), a nonprofit collaboration of Capital District United Methodists. As writer bell hooks says, “Beloved community is formed not by the eradication of difference but by its affirmation." CGCD seeks to create physical and spiritual space for people of all walks of life to connect, build improbable kinship and contribute to community transformation. Come to learn about the core principles that underly this work and how they might be applied to ministries all over Central Texas.

www.commongoodaustin.org

www.freestoreaustin.org