Every Saturday Diana Nelson and her army of devoted volunteers — among them, children, seniors, and former juvenile delinquents — cook around 400 hot meals for the poor and homeless people who come to her East New York soup kitchen seeking food and fellowship.
The nourishment is part of a larger bill of fare the former globe-trotting microbiologist and ordained minister serves her community at the Hope Center Development Corporation, a community organization she expanded from a feeding program at the Church of God of East Flatbush where her husband was appointed pastor in 2003.
Nelson, a former researcher at Britain’s elite Royal College of Surgeons, put her career on hold while the couple and its three children swapped their lifestyle in tranquil, suburban Canada for the inner-city bustle of a Brooklyn neighborhood plagued by poverty, crime, illiteracy, obesity, violence, teen pregnancy, high incarceration rates, and dead-beat fathers.
She studied census reports, conducted a neighborhood analysis, and formed the Hope Center to offer unprecedented services, including educational resources, health care, senior advocacy, crisis intervention, help for pregnant teens and former convicts, and a food pantry that fed more than 58,000 people in 2012.
“We wanted to pastor the neighborhood with church-based, socially transformative activism,” says Nelson, 57, who has ministered to the masses in Africa, Caribbean, and Europe. “I felt if we aligned ourselves with resources we could help the community much more than by just handing out bags of groceries each week.”
More than a decade later church membership has increased from 800 to more than 1,500, and the Hope Center is a thriving, local command post, helping drop-outs complete their high-school diplomas, directing abuse victims to safe shelters, and bringing unifying, annual events to East New York; among them, parent-power expos and health fairs, featuring free screenings, immigration information, legal help, and entertainment.
“We were reaching beyond the walls of the church into the community and seeing how we could help people connect and get back up on their feet,” says Nelson, who formed alliances with local schools, hospitals, food banks, and city and state agencies to bolster her neighbors. “I wanted to empower the marginalized among us and make them know that they can survive.”
These days cops from the local precinct volunteer to teach area youngsters self-defense classes, and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton personally visited her church to address community concerns over the recent rash of fatal cop shootings.
“It fostered a community-police relationship to promote the healing,” says Nelson, also executive director of the church women’s ministry, president of the district women’s ministry, and a board member of the New York State Church of God Women’s Ministry.
The Woman of Distinction’s special brand of attention makes people crave her friendship, claims 13-year-old church member Ashley Atkins, who travels from Long Island to volunteer in the soup kitchen.
“Rev. Nelson is like a mom to everyone, she’s always greeting people and trying to make them smile,” says the entranced teen. “She’s just a really nice person, who is always telling people how beautiful they are and how handsome they look.”
OCCUPATION: Executive director.
COMPANY: Hope Center Development Corporation.
CLAIM TO FAME: Empowering people in our community.
FAVORITE PLACE: Home.
WOMAN I ADMIRE: Mother Teresa because of her compassion for humanity.
MOTTO: Make my life count.
