Privilege has become one of those loaded words that we need to reclaim so we can use it to do some good. At Desire Street Ministries, Danny Wuerffel, a former college and professional football player and Heisman winner, is using his platform to address systemic injustices that have existed in this country for centuries. Wuerffel knows that inequities in the schools, in health care, in our criminal justice system won’t change unless privileged people like himself speak out and use their social capital to give others a chance. At Desire Street Ministries, Wuerffel and his staff support ministry leaders in under-resourced neighborhoods in states across the South. Statistics show that most leaders in underserved neighborhoods burn out in five years, so Desire Street walks alongside these people, encouraging them to thrive for the long run. “Most people overestimate what they can do in a year or two,” says Dr. Anthony Gordon, Desire Street’s Senior Ministry Leader. “And they underestimate what they can do in 10 or 20.” Desire Street will be there for as long as it takes.
