Article July 24, 2006 Issue

PRAYER WARRIORS

V. S.

Dorothy Darden spends most days in a wheelchair, but on Fridays in the summer, just before nine o'clock, she uses crutches to tackle the three flights of stairs down to the street, ready to help Mary Jean with the day's sidewalk events.

"I remember when Mary Jean came," she says. "It was just after the riots, and this neighborhood needed healing. Mary Jean stepped out on faith, and she didn't know how the program would be received. She has real courage because she made herself vulnerable, but it brought unity to us.

"Before this program, there were those people in the art center, and us. We didn't speak to each other. I remember thinking, Well if you're scared to death to speak to us, why are you here? Saying hello does not cost you anything."

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