Love Thy Neighbor Is Exactly What This Community Did When They Saved This Woman from Being Evicted and Purchased the Home for Her

In Mark 12:31 the Bible says “And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” This is simply to guide us in learning that we would need to work on ourselves first so that we can show kindness to our neighbors as we would do unto ourselves, or in other words ‘treat others how you’d want to be treated’ is a more simple way to understand it.

While the Bible in this way means everyone when it talks about your neighbor, this actual neighborhood did just this thing. They showed love to an individual, Linda Taylor, of Minneapolis. Here’s how.

Linda Taylor had recently got a notification to evict her Powderhorn Park rental home of almost 20 years toward the end of January. Her landlord wanted to sell the property. Taylor, a 70-year-old retired woman who had raised her five children in the Phillips and Powderhorn communities, didn’t have the foggiest idea where she’d go or end up.

She wound up telling a neighbor of her sticky situation. As some neighborhoods do, the word spread like wildfire. Soon enough, neighbors began assisting her in broaching a pact with the owner Greg Berendt. Asked if he would just give Taylor the rest of June, they would assist with collecting enough money to purchase the home.

As of May 31, an entire month right before the cutoff time, Taylor formally closed on the home at tenth Avenue S. and E. 36th St upon raising $275,000.

Neighbors rally to help Powderhorn Park woman buy south Minneapolis home she has rented nearly 20 years. https://t.co/UXpqDOzK39

— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) June 3, 2022

Thursday, she mentioned that she has yet to completely process the events that took place and the coming together of the neighborhood to keep her in the area. It wasn’t simple, the process included a block party fundraiser, a petition, an art sale, pro bono work by realtor Sheri Seifert and plentiful amounts of other small donations from individuals who were moved by her story.

“I’m not going anywhere now,” Taylor said. “It’s saying a lot about my neighbors, and a lot about my community. Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible.”

Longfellow’s Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, whose Stepping Out in Faith panel works on lodging issues in south Minneapolis, tossed six figures into the bucket.

“It’s a modern day miracle,” said the Rev. Angela Khabeb, who thanked landlord Berendt for having a change of heart and working with neighbors to settle the negotiation. “People need to be able to walk by that house, and even if they gave $5, they know, ‘I helped Miss Linda stay in this house. We won.’”

A neighborhood party is set up for June 25 to celebrate the communities victory on the 1000 block of E. 36th Street, beginning at 11:00 a.m. That’s amazing news, and I’m with Taylor on this one, if I had neighbors like this – I wouldn’t be going anywhere either. However, instead of wishing we all had neighbors like this, why can’t we just strive to be that neighbor. This brings us back to where we started – treat others the way you’d want to be treated.