Heyo

So HI!

I'm John. John Palmieri. 

I'm a Texas raised military kid whose spent most of my adult life bouncing from one thing to another, just trying to figure out my place in it all. 

I'm not your typical college student, finding my way back into the halls of knowledge as I turn in my third decade, but I'm focused up now and know where I'm heading this go round. 

It's a curious thing, blending the life of an adult with that of a student, yet as I shuffle getting married, paying off debt, setting class schedules, loving on friend's babies, and somehow reading these giants books we're given, I have one thing that remains the same - my faith. 

It is my faith that has brought me to this point, and my faith that has pointed me toward giving up a life of ladder climbing to pursue justice and rights for the orphan. Orphans have struck my heart as a people group that are low on the totem pole and I'm ready to fight for them. 

Orphan care is a social issue that not only resides right here in Austin, but reaches far across the world, and so I plan to follow it wherever it leads me. Starting here, and then changing the world. ;)

Looking close to home, at East Austin, a place that I've lived and loved, I turned to see what my new found friend Tyler thought of the area. He is new to Austin, as of January 2014, and lives in Northeast Austin. 

He sees East Austin as a focal spot for artisan businesses and barbecue joints, and remembers something about the University of Texas instigating conversations about a light rail system running through that area. 

He admits he doesn't know much about East Austin, because his remote residential status keeps him from seeing it. He's only driven through it a few times, and from those moments he has come to the conclusion that East Austin is less populated and less popular, less developed and there seems to be less money. 

Generally, he finds himself indifferent about the area, and will only venture into that area if there's good food or good beer for him to enjoy, which he believes is how most people probably think, considering it's just "less busy" every time he's over there. 

  

Looking in to the history of East Austin, I can read about the same things that I have heard for the last few years - East Austin was designed be a negro community and has survived as a neglected community since the 1920's. It was the cultural epicenter for black residents. It survived through the integration of the 1970's, only to find itself in a hot spot for prime real estate. East Austin became a place that was cut off from the rest of the city, and even though downtown business folk could see it from their office windows, they dare not venture there for any longer than it took to pick up a taco for lunch. As the 1990's and 2000's have watched the gentrification process begin, some propose that East Austin will soon look like Clarksville, completely debunk of its history and culture. 

The displacement of residents that have lived their for generations has seen the local businesses lose their clientele, which only results in their packing up and moving out. The cycle of gentrification has begun and will continue to chew away at the cultural fabric East Austin until it is no more. 

Our adventure begins in East Austin, where we work to see if we can support the community that is trying to hold on to what they know and love...their homes, their businesses, their culture.