A Giving Tuesday Story: Faces OF Abundant Life, Dorenda Johnson

The ministry has made a big difference in the community, and I can’t thank you all enough for that.

Growing up on Prospect Avenue

I have been in Prospect Avenue for 55 years. My family moved here from Ridge Street and into this house (780 Prospect Avenue) when I was 10 years old. On Ridge Street, there were 4 or 5 large brick houses in which a lot of the black community lived. The City began a project to widen Ridge Street, and the families that were affected by this construction were given money to move, and my parents bought this house. At that time, Prospect Avenue was 7 ½ street, and it was like living in the country of Albemarle County- quiet with big open space. All summer, we spent our days at Forest Hills Park with neighborhood friends, swimming and hanging out at the recreational center. We knew not to leave the park until it was time to leave the park. 

The Erecting of now Greenstone on the Fifth

When they started building Greenstone, I was around 12 and 13 at the time, and we made friends with the builders. They were coming from states like Georgia, South Carolina, and all over, living in trailers while the construction was taking place. Community Member, David Shackleford, and his family lived in a big brick house that was up the street from us and they were among one of the first families to move into the apartments.

The Erecting of the Prospect Townhomes 

At the time that the townhomes were being built, I was 15. Before they started building, it was a large wooded area. Most people who lived in the townhomes were white, young professionals- teachers, doctors, policemen, young couples starting families, and the like. Once they got to a place of financial stability, they moved and either sold their houses or gave them over to property management companies. As a result, a lot of the townhomes were vacant and weren’t properly taken care of. That went on for a long time, causing the area to have its highs and lows. 

Violence in the Community

A lot of high crime entered the neighborhood due to the abandonment, which made the area really dangerous. By the time, I was an adult and I had my own children, living on Orangledale Avenue. In 2001, my husband was incarcerated; our kids were 8 and 6. He was gone at a time when it was really difficult to raise two little boys. I did a lot of praying and a lot of crying, and everything that I could to keep them out of jail. I just wanted them to Graduate High School. Thank God that was able to happen, but at the same time, it was very hard. I was working full-time at UVA and worked there for 28 years. Because I never qualified for any Government help, I also had to have a part-time job. 

Having Abundant Life around was very important, especially for the kids. It saved a lot of the children from the violence, particularly saving them from going the route that they could’ve gone, based on the climate and culture of the neighborhood at the time. Abundant Life was and is extremely important for families to know that Abundant Life is here, and that there are resources available to them as needed. The ministry has made a big difference in the community, and I can’t thank you all enough for that.

Connecting with Abundant Life, Church of the Nazarene, & The Boys & Girls Club

With the resources that were provided, including Abundant Life, I tried to get as much help as I could. We got connected with Abundant Life through Richard Feero, who had begun going around in the community and making himself known to the young boys and their families, and they really liked him. 

There was a young Doctor at my job who was a member of the Church of the Nazarene. He would come over and mentor the boys, and slowly my son’s friends would join them. The Doctor and his brother would soon start picking up the kids and taking them for hangouts and campouts. Their Church bus began coming into Prospect on a regular basis to pick the children up for Church. My sons were baptized and became members there. During the summer, they would take the kids for a two-week summer camp in Buckingham. 

My sons were also among the first kids to get into the Boys & Girls Club when they first came into the neighborhood. We knew a lot of the older guys from the community who were hired as counselors there, and my brothers were involved as well. They began going to the Boys & Girls Club at an early age, up until about 15 years old.

Resources like those were extremely helpful. My dad still lived in the community and the boys would often hang out at his house, but because he was older, and I didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on him to watch them. 

Remembering Mr. Dickerson, “Captain D”

My dad loved helping people and would do the best that he could to help anybody. There was a lady across the street from us, Mrs. Grady, and when she lost her husband, he made sure that she got a bag of groceries at the first of every month. Anyone who would come to the house, he would offer them something to eat. That was the kind of person that he was, he was extremely humble. He worked as a cleaning supervisor of the OR cleaning crew at UVa for 46 years. He supervised about 1,000 people from Charlottesville and the surrounding counties, and he never knew how to read or write. His crew nicknamed him Captain D. 

The Dickerson House

We sold our family home, 780 Prospect Avenue, to Abundant Life because of my dad, who thought highly about Abundant Life. He didn’t in the beginning, because he was concerned about the kids running through his yard on the grass, being that the Abundant Life Center was right next door at 782 Prospect Avenue. The Abundant Life staff did the best that they could to control that and honor his concerns. My dad began to see and understand all that Abundant Life was doing, what it was for, and how it was here to help the community. Once he understood, he was all on board and thought a great deal about the work that you all are doing. It was my dad’s heart and legacy that pushed us to sell this house to Abundant Life. Having the two centers side by side is keeping the ministry together, the way that we know my dad would have liked to see it be kept. I know that the house is in good hands and that you all are doing great things with it. 

Your support this Giving Tuesday makes stories like Dorenda’s possible.

GIVE on December 3rd to amplify the voices of our community.

The seed that you sow will be doubled with our matching Giving Tuesday Gift.