By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University/Image: Johnathan Sublet
“Change happens when we walk beside our neighbors.”
That’s a key part of the message of an organization that is benefiting neighborhoods and communities in Topeka and beyond.
Johnathan Sublet is founder and executive director of a non-profit organization called Strengthening & Equipping Neighborhoods Together, or SENT. He grew up with a single mom in an under-resourced neighborhood in Dallas.
Sublet earned an engineering degree at the University of Tulsa and began a business career, but his heart went out to the young African-American boys that he saw who were growing up in circumstances like himself. He went to seminary and moved into a low-income neighborhood where he could mentor those young boys.
Sublet met and married a young woman from Kansas who had gone to Manhattan Christian College and then earned a masters from the University of Kansas. She had grown up in rural Kansas communities such as Goodland and Utica, population 99 people. Now, that’s rural.
They were living on the Gulf coast of Texas when a hurricane hit.
“I was filling sandbags when I got a call about a position in Kansas,” Sublet said. “I thought, ‘Why should I leave the beach?,’ but my wife said, ‘I think you should listen.’”
Sublet came to Topeka for an interview. “I met some kids during my interview that reminded me of those first kids that I mentored, and I knew I should come here,” Sublet said.
Sublet moved to Topeka where he founded SENT in 2018. He also serves as the Lead Servant Pastor of Fellowship Hi-Crest Church in Topeka.
The SENT organization is based on three pillars: Loving relationships, life-giving resources, and life-changing experiences. Its mission is to “intentionally walk with neighbors through loving relationships and strategic development to see a holistic transformation of neighborhoods in Shawnee County.”
Specifically, the organization focuses on community health and wellness, education and workforce development, and housing. SENT launched a host of initiatives in each area.
The goal is to address the root causes of community challenges, ranging from housing and education to mental health and holistic wellness, food security and economic opportunity.
The programs began with home rehabilitation and summer programs for students. They expanded to include mental health, early childhood and workforce education, substance use treatment and prevention, food pantry, creation of the Southside Wellness Clinic and a Family Resource Hub, plus much more. Some services are offered statewide.
Sublet said he uses his engineering training to build solutions.
“We’re taking a Six Sigma approach to the non-profit world,” Sublet said. “Our work is person-centered and data-driven with dynamic programming on a short feedback loop.”
What are the results? “Our pantry now serves 600 families from 38 zip codes,” Sublet said. “Our mental health services have reached 35 different Kansas cities in the last five years.”
“We built the first net-zero house in Topeka, with help from K-State’s Michael Gibson,” he said. K-State Extension assisted with a community garden.
“In the Hi-Crest neighborhood, we’ve seen a 28% reduction in crime and a 21% reduction in violent crime,” Sublet said. “Our goal at SENT is not to remove hurdles, but to lower them so our people can take the next step.”
Sublet emphasizes walking beside those in the community, not dominating or dictating to them.
“We want to be Greek and not Roman,” Sublet said.
He explains: “In the Gospel, the Roman Empire required everyone to be a Roman citizen. On the other hand, the Greeks wanted people to think and use the arts to develop themselves.”
Sublet wants this model to be a transformative approach for other communities in Kansas. “We want to see the blessing that’s been walking with the community, all across the state,” he said.
For more information, go to www.senttopeka.com.
Strengthening and Equipping Neighborhoods Together is the fitting name for this organization. We commend Johnathan Sublet and all those involved with SENT for truly making a difference in the lives that are touched.
As the African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at https://www.huckboydinstitute.org/kansas-profiles. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.