Daminga Porter, Program Manager at Our Village United, delivered the devotion before a vibrant audience at Westside Future Fund’s July 15th Transform Westside Summit. With the Bible’s book of Nehemiah as inspiration, Porter spoke to the importance of protecting the integrity of Atlanta by meeting the needs of its residents:

Nehemiah was a regular man, John Ahmann is a regular man. Dan Cathy is a regular man. Dr. LaKeysha Hallmon is an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things. Anybody in this room can be a Nehemiah. Our love for Atlanta has to transcend beyond the graphic tees and the hashtags. There’s income disparity, the education gap, the lack of access. We need to rebuild the foundation necessary to protect what we love the most.”

Catch the full devotion below.