Ellington

Almost eight years ago, Megan Voos found herself at a crossroads. She finished a lengthy term as a youth pastor in the San Francisco Bay area but was unsure of what to do next. Then, a friend's 8-year-old child told her, "You should move to Mississippi with us." She gave it a try, planning to stay for one year. The city of Jackson captured her heart.

"When I came here, God really opened my eyes to a lot of disparities that I had never really spent time thinking about because I wasn't challenged to," she says.

These racial and economic disparities weighed heavily on Voos' mind. She became involved in several local efforts to break down barriers and reach out to the city's marginalized people. She joined the staff at The Journey, a church where she oversees the group ministry and works with several outreach programs.

One of these, Share a Meal, takes place every Sunday afternoon at High Street Park. The idea is simple: A group brings lunch to the park and shares it with whoever is there. The variety of people who show up have "shattered a lot of stereotypes for me," Voos says.

For several years, Voos, 42, has taken a group from The Journey to meet with students at Fondren Park for a Bible lesson and snacks. She hopes to see more men volunteer to mentor the boys.

Voos said that when she first arrived in west Jackson, there was nowhere to get a good cup of coffee. Two of her friends decided that such a state of affairs was an injustice to the west Jackson community, so they started Koinonia Coffee House. She started working there in 2009 and worked her way up. Now, as a manager at Koinonia, Voos treasures the opportunity to bring about the vision of her friends and serve the people of her area.

Recently, she witnessed a tiny triumph at Koinonia. "We have two computers in the back, and there was a homeless guy on one looking for a place to live and a real estate developer on the computer right next to him doing his thing," Voos says. "That's what we want Koinonia to be: a place that crosses over socio-economic and racial lines."

The command to love one's neighbor has challenged Voos. "I never really considered who my neighbor is," she says. "... My neighbor is whoever is in need, is whoever God has put in my path."

Voos, who graduated from California Polytechnic State University in 1992 with a degree in therapeutic recreation, can also be found skating roller derby with the Magnolia Roller Vixens as Meg McFury. She is optimistic about Jackson's future: "When I see people coming into downtown at night instead of leaving, that gets me excited."