It's a process of building community. We have to work together to complete the project.

I think the most important message there is those kind of partnerships work. If this community and this broader community of the central Basin feels that that is what it wants to do to help progress, then that's what will happen. But it will be up to the group.

We pushed the take-out section of the restaurant to get a feel for what people in the community wanted. The dining room is open now, and people are coming in to stay and eat.

These buildings are the history of the community and they represent the human history of the community, ... There is just so much going on in Old South Baton Rouge that the rest of the community doesn't appreciate, and it's because they don't know.

Our main goal is to try and ease new members into the community as best we can. If we show that Meridian is willing to accept new members at every level, then they can start lives off as they normally would. We want to give them the option to choose Meridian as their new home instead of them being forced to,

We think we can raise that from a community that's already been so generous -- we think we can raise that and more,