Taylor Meredith, TMPAV Founder and CEO and Assistant Pastor at Tabernacle Baptist Church, opened the September 4th Transform Westside Summit with a riveting devotion. His message, drawing inspiration from the story of Nehemiah in The Bible, was current and concise—that socioeconomic progress in Atlanta’s Historic Westside must come from uplifting legacy residents, not by displacing them.

“Usually, when the private sector and wealthy folks move in,” said Meredith, “it pushes the folks who can’t afford it out, and that’s just the economics of the situation.” Meredith, whose full-service multimedia company produces the Transform Westside Summits, emphasized the need for charity and inclusive development in order to create a new Westside future built on equality, opportunity, and equity.

In his closing remarks, Meredith underscored that the only way for the Westside to live up to its rich history of humanitarianism, and its full potential, is by nurturing a compassionate relationship between the private sector and the residents who have long since called the Westside home.

View the full devotion below.