Borrego as Community, Community as Borrego

Jeanne and I have been in Borrego for over a dozen years, not long enough, I know, to be a “Borregan,” but long enough to have Borrego seep into my heart. I am a retired Episcopal priest, serving at St. Barnabas, and an Emeritus Professor of The City University of New York. For years I wrote for The Borrego Sun and do that now for the Borrego News. My friend, the Rev. Laura Brecht, former rector at St. Barnabas, welcomed me into work with the Borrego Ministers Association (BMA), where I have served as co-chair and president for some years now. My training in sociology, teaching and writing, and being a parish priest for over forty years has gifted me with a wealth of experience, especially in outreach work assisting neighbors in need.

The title here is a riff on one of my recent books, Community as Church, Church as Community.

As human beings, there are things we absolutely need to survive and, more than that, thrive. Food, water, shelter and clothing first come to mind. But from birth we need care, the presence and compassion of others—parents, family members, neighbors, teachers and friends.

As seniors, many of us hear and also know deep in our bones that we cannot live without other people, without networks of friends and neighbors, people for us to care for and who care for us. Friends who are homebound for various reasons need visits from friends and family. Social connections make for good health and longevity as much as good food, exercise and sleep.

Aristotle said humans are social creatures, and the great literature we read in school, from the scriptures and Shakespeare on down, says the same. We are as good as the circle of people to whom we belong, and my presence adds to the life of that circle of friends. Community is what this very word means: coming together as one.

Community can seem to be in short supply nowadays. People move around, relocate to new jobs and towns. Kids feel this when they lose neighborhood and school friends. Older people feel the loss of those they shared so much with over the years as age, illness and death absent these dear ones.

Many groups that gave the belonging of community have disappeared: neighborhood associations, bowling leagues, PTAs, sewing circles, hobby groups and the like. People work too many hours and have too many obligations in their lives. I have argued in things I wrote that churches remain as enduring communities—of faith, worship, song and the works of love, that is, listening to and caring for others. It should be no surprise that the central and recurring ritual, or sacrament, in Christianity is Holy Communion, the sharing of bread and cup as Jesus shared with his friends at the Last Supper and throughout his years of teaching and healing.

I have served a half-dozen congregations over many decades as a priest, all in different towns. But never have I ever seen such a network of communities as there are in this small desert town of Borrego Springs. I cannot jam a book’s worth of observation and commentary into these lines, but I can, like a good guide, point out some major aspects.

First, look around at the variety of groups that exist to help others: the Community Resource Center (CRC), BASIC, the BMA, Rotary, the Soroptimists, the Endowment Fund, and a host of village committees and groups focused on bettering life here in the valley. I can’t list them all.

There are five food banks each month. Hundreds of households—four to five hundred—receive groceries provided by the Cushman-Jacobs San Diego Food Bank and Feeding San Diego. Last month the BMA distributed $18,000 worth of food coupons, providing $50 each month to participating households through funds contributed to the BMA.

Rotary, Soroptimists, the Art Guild and Sylvia Maas, among others, gave dozens of scholarships for continuing higher education to our young people. Did you catch why this quiltwork of nonprofits—or better yet, interconnected communities—exists? To be there for others: neighbors trying to cope with food insecurity and young people just starting out in life.

Much more comes out of these groups, including training caregivers, providing travel subsidies for regular medical treatment, offering language classes and immigration counseling, and, very importantly, supporting affordable housing.

The other aspect of the vibrant community life and activity of these groups is the wonderful individuals who lead and connect them. These are our town’s social hubs or connectors, often members of several nonprofit and caregiving organizations. They have immense reserves of compassion and energy and are the intuitive go-to people those in crisis seek out.

They provide important information, and even if they cannot come up with solutions themselves, they know where else to go. They are tireless in seeking funding, whether through grants or by encouraging others to provide direct assistance. Often, someone is identified with a specific organization—Rotary, the CRC, the Endowment Fund, Soroptimists or the BMA—but on closer look that same person will have overlapping membership and connections in several others.

We know and revere these folks. They are the glue that holds together not only these assisting communities but also the people who depend on them. They are very often caregivers to the distressed and needy sisters and brothers here.

I have not named these social connectors. I don’t need to. You very likely know them and others like them.

I was asked to write a bit about community here and perhaps will do so again. When you encounter one of these social connecting friends, say thanks. Better yet, find your place with one of the caregiving communities.

Do something good.