Originally from Upstate NY, Bethany Welch made her way to Philadelphia as part of a national service program in 2003. She fell in love with this hard scrabble city and stayed to work, write a dissertation, and join the effort to revive some forgotten spaces. Bethany now directs a small faith based neighborhood center that supports immigrants and refugees. This puts her daily at the intersection of belief and brokenness, hope and despair. It also keeps her close to the written word as a way to make sense of the world as it is and the kingdom yet to come.