Cultivating Community: De'Amon Harges on Gifts, Good Neighbors, and The Learning Tree
Show Notes: To Be and Do Podcast
Host: Philip Amerson
Guest: De'Amon Harges
Welcome back to the To Be and Do podcast, where community, creativity, and connection are at the heart of each conversation. In this episode, Philip Amerson catches up with De'Amon Harges—the “original roving listener”—for a candid discussion about his family history, the creation and impact of the Learning Tree, and the ongoing journey to cultivate communities built on gifts, dignity, and abundance.
Three Takeaways from this Episode:
1. The Power of Story in Community Formation
De'Amon Harges traces his roots back through stories shared by his grandparents, who escaped the South’s brutality but faced fresh challenges in the North. His grandfather’s tradition of planting a tree at each child’s birth became a neighborhood gathering spot—a symbol for honoring everyone’s gifts. For De'Amon Harges, learning and retelling these stories shaped his understanding of how communities are formed: around dignity, shared experience, and the belief that “no gift goes unused here.”
2. Shifting Philanthropy: From Needs to Gifts
The Learning Tree, founded by De'Amon Harges and his neighbors, challenges traditional philanthropy. Instead of focusing on deficits and needs, they deliberately seek out gifts, talents, and passions in the community. Grants aren’t distributed through proposals but by finding people already doing valuable work, with requirements that initiatives are collaborative and that failure is allowed and even welcomed as part of the creative process. This model brings resources directly to those who need them and recognizes community members as “genuine philanthropists.”
3. Becoming Good Neighbors—Inside and Outside Institutions
Philip Amerson and De'Amon Harges reflect on what it means for institutions—especially churches—to be good neighbors. At Broadway Methodist in Indianapolis, De'Amon Harges worked with leadership to flip the narrative from charity to asset-based community development. The Learning Tree now consults with organizations, helping them invest in and amplify the gifts present in their neighborhoods.
Final Thoughts:
This episode is a profound reminder that communities thrive when the gifts of every member are seen, valued, and put to use. Instead of perpetuating cycles where only those at the top receive resources, De'Amon Harges and his collaborators are building systems that spread abundance, honor histories, and encourage imaginative risk-taking.
Tune in for more conversations on how to build communities where everyone is needed—and every gift is sacred.
