Charlotte Adventist church honors community service of longtime Hidden Valley resident
Marjorie Parker, a longtime resident of Hidden Valley in northeast Charlotte, will be presented Saturday with the Northeast Community Service Award, given by the Northeast Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
For nearly three decades, the church has presented this honor to Hidden Valley residents who have gone above and beyond with their community work, Evan Willis, pastor of Northeast SDA Church, said.
“We think it’s important to affirm our own in our community,” Willis said.
Parker is being recognized for work and role as president of the Hidden Valley Community Association, a post she assumed earlier this year. The honor is wonderful, she said, and it has motivated her.
“A lot of times you think what you’re doing is underappreciated,” she said. “So it is nice when someone thinks about you.”
Parker has lived in the Hidden Valley section since 1977 and has served with the community association since 2014.
One of her proudest achievements was partnering with Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte, a local nonprofit that will repair 30 homes in Hidden Valley. Another thing she is proud about is when 500 people showed up to National Night Out at Tom Hunter Park in August. The annual event takes place across the country to connect police with the communities they serve.
Parker also has been communicating with Charlotte city officials to fix up seniors’ homes in Hidden Valley through the city’s aging in place program. This could help prevent gentrification in Hidden Valley, she said.
“If you see something that’s not good you have to be a part of the solution,” Parker said. “I think people underestimate the value they bring.”
Educating the neighborhood on gentrification and working to see Tom Hunter Park renovated also are among the reasons Parker will be awarded, Derrick Miller, a member of the Northeast SDA Church, said.
“She’s the face of all the different positive things taking place in the community,” Miller said.
Negative narratives in the media often take away from the work being done in Hidden Valley, according to Willis. But Parker alongside the Hidden Valley Community Association has continued to show the positive work being done in the neighborhood, he said.
“We (think) Marjorie Parker as the leader of that organization has been excellent,” Willis said.
The event is open to the public and take places at 11:30 a.m., within the church at 827 Tom Hunter Road.
This story was originally published October 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
