At St. Harmony Cafe, kids pick up litter. They plant and water trees, make drinks and serve their neighbors. They learn to apologize, and treat each other – and their environment – with kindness. 

It’s a vision that Mekia Elizabeth and Raheim (Heim) Brown both wanted to see growing up, and they want to see it as adults in the neighborhood. So here on Fernhill Road, they work hard together and with their neighbors to make it happen. 

With the help of the community, they started a pay-what-you-wish cafe and meeting spot on the porch of her childhood home, right down the block from Fernhill Park in Southwest Germantown. They use the proceeds from the cafe, almost like a perpetual bake sale, to go toward neighborhood improvement projects throughout the block. 

It started with a neighborhood handyman named Al, who began cutting hedges, picking up trash, and doing other yard work. Elizabeth asked him to help around the block, and in exchange, she would cook him oatmeal with fruit from her kitchen. Instead of Al tracking mud through the house, Elizabeth thought it might be good to create a little spot on her porch where folks could come to eat and gather. It has since evolved into a beautifully designed space with donated materials, food, and drinks where local block captains, neighbors, and especially kids can hang out. 

They named the place St. Harmony Cafe.

“Harmony is our virtue. So it’s just similar to the Barbie movie. All the kids are Harmony.  Everyone’s like, hi, Barbie. Hi, Barbie. They all call each other harmony. Hi, Harmony. Hi, Harmony. Hi, Harmony. But the one who is most loving, the one who is most patient, most compassionate, that’s a Harmony,” says Elizabeth.

Caring for kids

There are at least 20 kids on the block, most from families that have been in the neighborhood for generations, with grandparents passing down the houses to their children and grandchildren. Believing that any love poured into these children would positively affect the entire block, Elizabeth and Brown started programs just for them – an afterschool program, a playstreet for the summer, and a summer camp. 

“It sounds crazy, but we’re doing it one hot chocolate at a time, one kissing of a booboo at a time, one runny nose at a time,” said Elizabeth. “We’re teaching them what it looks like to be in a community with people you care for, how you care for each other, and how you care for yourself.”

The kids say St. Harmony Cafe offers a place to have fun and feel safe. Two preteen girls said they loved going to the park every day and riding bikes – and that they’ve learned kindness, self-control, and how to apologize. “That was big for me,” said 12-year-old Kourtney.

Others talk of learning to do nice things for other people even when no one asked them to. 

Seven-year-old Mahiyah’s favorite part is getting in water fights with Mr. Heim and Miss Kia, especially Miss Kia because she screams her name every time she sees her. 

Making change

Elizabeth and Brown both grew up in the area and have seen changes come to the park and its the surrounding streets – and community building is not always easy or beautiful.

But it’s easy to love your neighbors when things are awesome, Elizabeth notes. It’s how you respond when there is conflict that can show a real practice in love. 

Some older neighbors, for instance, were getting frustrated with teens who got loud, hung out near people’s cars and played loud and vulgar music, leaving trash everywhere. St. Harmony sought to intercede with grace, patience, and learning.

“They’re also coming from a space of, why can’t I take up space? Why do I always have to make myself smaller?,” Elizabeth said of the teens – who she said eventually came to see that older neighbors needed space, too. 

Now, neighbors have begun donating food, and things for the after-school program and summer camp. They’ve gotten involved in teaching the younger kids how to be stewards of the neighborhood. 

“Our kids pick up the trash, run the cafe, and  they run Fun Friday (a monthly celebration in the park to connect neighbors). They deliver treats and things to the neighbors who are sick and shut in,” Elizabeth said. “So they are in a space of being able to see the kids in a different way.”

It can be hard. But it’s not complicated

Elizabeth and Brown, who both understand what it feels like to grow up without certain family structures – stress the importance of starting small.

“Like, can we just start here? Can we just make this a safer place? A more loving place? A place where you’re visible, a place where we look out for each other, a place where you don’t have to be perfect?” she said. “It’s hard. But when you do it together, it’s richly rewarding.”

Brown agreed. 

“Just go outside, introduce yourself to the kids, and play with them. Once you play with them, you get to know them,” he said. “Once you get that connection, they’re all yours.’”

As co-chair of the Friends of Fernhill Park, which is growing a food forest, Elizabeth agrees. Her main tip is to be patient and wait for the seeds to grow. And don’t make big promises but instead share big visions.

“Whatever your gift is, just do that. Don’t try to be what you’re not. Just be who you are and give your gift. And by giving your gift, it will activate other people to come and share their gift,” says Elizabeth. “A good leader helps people find their place. Everyone has something they’re already sent here to do. Your job is to help them figure out what that is.”