Jana Adams

Jana Adams, the National Training Coordinator for the DART Center, grew up in Jefferson Township, right outside Dayton, Ohio. After completing her undergraduate studies, she returned home and taught for twelve years in suburban public schools. During that time, she was called to Christian education, went to Richmond, Virginia, and completed the Presbyterian School of Christian Education’s program of studies for a Masters in Religious Education. When she returned to Dayton, she moved into her grandmother’s vacant house and became an inner city resident for the very first time. For six years, she served Bethel Baptist Church as a fulltime Christian Educator and became intimately involved in the neighborhood where she now lived, worshipped, and served.

Two young boys who were about four and six years of age lived right next door to Jana. On occasion, she would give them snacks and clothes donated from church members and other friends in the community. When she found out that their mother was struggling with drugs, her church took the boys under their wing until a better placement could be found. The church and community ministered to the boys for months and made sure that they had a marvelous Christmas. Jana soon found out, though, that she lived and served in the midst of a neighborhood full of children like these two young boys. She realized there was no way her congregation could take care of all of them.

During that same time, a DART Organizer, Rev. John Aeschbury, was engaging her Pastor in the work of the local congregation-based community organization. Since she was the new person on staff, Jana’s Pastor asked her to look into what she later learned was the LEAD organization – Leaders for Equality and Action in Dayton, a DART affiliate. It was perfect timing. While her church could not take care of all the children in the neighborhood, they could work with other congregations to find systemic solutions for the problems in their community.

She eventually went to one of LEAD’s Public Actions and observes, “Seeing my community come together on one accord to win issue victories in such a powerful, disciplined manner was one of the most amazing events I had ever attended.” Soon afterwards, she was sent to one of DART’s Five Day Orientation Workshops. It helped her understand what she had seen at the Public Action, and she began to work with others towards a Public Action in her own neighborhood.

When attempting to uncover the issues facing the community, the church membership needed to only look as far as the church’s parking lot. Neighborhood children were jumping off of handicapped ramps with their bikes and playing between parked cars. These concerns were on the top of many lists when her church conducted its first listening process to surface community problems. Her Pastor had also noticed that children had collected some old mattresses and were jumping on them like trampolines. When they researched the problem, they were stunned to find out that there used to be playgrounds close to the church, but none of them still existed. They realized children had turned their church parking lot into a playground because there was nowhere close for them to safely play.

The church turned their anger into action and won! After using the power of their numbers by turning out the church’s membership to multiple public meetings, the Mayor and City Commissioners agreed to develop a new playground in the neighborhood. Once the playground was completed, LEAD organized a big neighborhood celebration. People came from all over the community. It kicked-off one of many Summer Youth programs the church conducted. So many young people’s lives were touched and possibly saved because they had a safe place to play.

Later, Jana began to do some training at the regional and national levels for DART. Ultimately, she was hired in 1999 to be DART’s National Training Coordinator. In reflecting on this career switch, she states, “This work is certainly a calling. I think that congregation-based community organizing gives me the opportunity to live out my faith. It also gives my congregation a vehicle to do justice. While I vote in every election, I like the fact that our organizations are non-partisan. Regardless of whether a Republican, Democrat, or Independent is in office, we hold them accountable for fairness and justice. Organizing is, indeed, one of the best strategies for effecting systemic change.”