Dee Dee Risher loves trees and land, and never was able to get that out of her system. This is why our little urban farm endeavor has always captured her imagination. She loves to write poetry, loves art and music, and loves chocolate. In her glory days past, she edited The Other Side and Conspire! magazines. In her glory days to come, she is learning a lot about old houses and fruit trees. She always aspires to pray more and fret less.

Christa is a singer, artist/visionary, loves natural beauty, and is often transforming ordinary, sometimes ugly, objects into works of art. She makes art with her hands including all of my best jewelry. Whenever I get a compliment on my bead-necklace or my tire-leather earrings, my response is usually, “Thanks, my sister made it!” Christa values kindness and would like for there to be more kindness in the world. She likes quiet places in nature, but also loves a good, loud party full of people and crazy fun. Christa is a powerhouse of a mom to her three girls and loves her hubby Timothy. In her spare time, often late at night when others are in bed, Christa will go searching for real estate, dreaming of making “ways out of no ways” on a beautiful plot somewhere, preferably land on the top of an open valley with a view like you can’t believe. This is why finding this treasure of a community and transforming a house excites her.

Will O'Brien has lived in Philadelphia for thirty years, and has been active in faith-based ministry and advocacy in various forms through those decades -- including editing for The Other Side magazine, coordinating The Alternative Seminary, and working with Project HOME.  This community venture might have been a little easier ten years ago, but even as at his ripe old age, he's willing to give it a try.

Timothy was born at a very young age in Athens, Greece in order to be close to his parents.  His family was very musical so it seemed only reasonable for him to become a musician, albeit a working class one rather than a world famous one (at the time of this writing). Living together with others has been important to him for a long time, and he is eager to work the land, take care of chickens (with Heather's input of course), and generally putter around outside. He has an aversion to working for money but loves working hard for things that matter to him.  He also enjoys coffee time with his wife Christa and doing stuff with his three girls, Aya, Juba, and Ia.

Heather Bargeron has learned, slowly but surely, that life in community makes her a better person. To share space, food, money, study, conflict, and prayer with others gives her joy, mostly, and pushes her, always, to live more authentically and courageously. Also, she loves chickens, and their eggs. She dreams of a beautiful coop and a flawlessly designed run so the hens can scratch and squawk without fear of vermin.

Katie summers in Iceland and winters in Philadelphia (in her dreams!) In college, unable to decide whether theology or acting would pay better, she chose to pursue ministry. But in case you think her thespian days are over, you can see and hear her speaking her heart on any given Sunday. During the week she might be hiding from people out back on the trampoline, playing drums and singing with her band, having a dance party with her nieces, or with you at a one-on-one in the coffee-shop, discussing some spiritual matter. She loves and cares for people, her honeybabe Heather, coffee, being active and playing, and coffee, and the outdoors, in that order!

We moved in to this community almost a year ago when they felt a strong urge for a change from isolation, but had slight reservations about the expectations in the words “community living”. So they moved in to participate as they could without expectation of the future. We soon found that “community living” with people whose mutual goal is to love and support one another in life as well as challenge one another in activism and selflessness becomes an organic cycle of giving and receiving.

We have encountered how deeply rich it is to share in time, food, conversation,

hospitality, and even chores. These activities drawn us out of ourselves and push us into the

atmosphere around us where we find joy, laughter, and genuine love. Our community life

recharges each of us with new energy for resistance and love that we can take into our vocational worlds. Cammie continues to spend most of her time in the realm of pediatric nursing, while Sean continues to work in the financial world. Though we are constantly testing and dreaming about “what is next” in our vocations, we are sure that we want to walk through that journey surrounded by the Vine and Fig Tree Community members who will continue to ground us to what is important in this life.

Aria is Christia’s youngest daughter. She has long hair that is normally in a braid. She likes Pink. Like a lot. She like orange also. She is a ballerina most of the time. She likes to play around and talk to everyone. Whether she’s dancing, jumping on the trampoline, eating, playing Jenga, being a princess ballerina, drawing, or telling us NO she’s a positive and joyful force in the community.

Sophia is a nine year old girl who enjoys reading, drawing, and writing. She loves dark green, blue, and purple. Her favorite type of books are adventure fantasy. Like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. You know. She has started writing a cool novel that will hopefully finished before she become 99 and keels over (she has an unfortunate case of writer's block). She adores living here in Rabbo Krauskoph’s house. The above is a self portrait she did.

Julia (or Juba) is six years old. She likes to play around and sort of likes to talk. She likes to read and draw also. She is very funny and laughs a lot. Here’s a sample of her laugh: Here

Thea is the thirteen-year-old daughter of Dee Dee and Will.  She loves the world around her, especially cats, dogs, and other creatures.  She loves to foster beauty wherever she can, through her singing, dancing, and her amazing writing and poetry.  She composes her own songs and has aspirations to be a fashion designer.

Luke is a 17 year old young man born and raise in Germantown Philadelphia.  He stays involved with the diverse communities around him whether it's through art, activism, dialuoge, or volenteering. He tries to stay aware and working towards justice on issues including environmental, racial, gender, economical, LGBTQIA, or violence. At this point in his life he's trying to learn to use his hands, voice, and heart to build a better world and God's kingdom.