Pastor Jeffrey Walker

Credit: Phil Soto

President

He’s been described as a North Star, a guiding light in a unique collaboration that prioritizes those in the South Central Corridor that’s being transformed by a $1.4 billion, multifaceted, multiyear light-rail project.

He’s a relative newcomer to this diverse neighborhood of longtime residents and small businesses, one who speaks less and listens more, is warm, friendly and approachable, perhaps by virtue of his vocation. And, he always keeps his eye on the flock. 

Jeffrey Walker, pastor at Tonto Street Church of Christ, a 90-year old parish just four blocks west of the South Central Corridor, preaches that all voices must be heard.

“He’s a jewel,” said Francisca Montoya, who serves with Walker on the executive board of the South Central Collaborative (S.CC). 

S.CC, formed eight years ago and established as a 501(c)(3) in 2021,  builds, launches and nurtures partnerships, initiatives, opportunities, projects and programs that #GSD (“Get Stuff Done”) in the Corridor, an area bounded by “the 7s” (7th Street to 7th Avenue), the Union Pacific Railroad and South Mountain Avenue. 

“Pastor Walker is a voice for people living in poverty, a voice for people experiencing homelessness, a voice for people who work so hard and are barely eking out a minimum-wage living,” Montoya said. “Community leaders sometimes lose sight of the people they represent. Pastor Walker never loses sight of them.”

In the six years since moving from upstate New York to Arizona, Walker has immersed himself in S.CC’s broad mission and, as president of its board, collaboration for the common good. Loyal and humble, he tirelessly walks the walk and authentically talks the talk, cultivating strong bonds with everyone in this historically fractured community. It is said his style is refreshing to those in the neighborhood who’ve hoped for decades for a new brand of leadership.

“We’ve faced so many issues and challenges in the community, and our discussions have taken us in so many directions,” Montoya said of the board’s work. “Sometimes, it appeared we were at an impasse, but Pastor Walker was able to use words of wisdom and guidance to lead us to consensus.

“I often wonder, how did we find this person?”

From upstate New York to the desert Southwest 

Born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., Walker worked at a local GM plant for 19 years, while also learning to be a pastor. Full-time ministry came to him 20 years ago with a call to Northside Church of Christ in Rochester where he did more than baptize and preach. 

“One of the dreams we had as a congregation was to build affordable housing for low-income seniors, and we wanted to have something where our seniors and other seniors could benefit from being in what we would consider a wholesome environment,” he said. “We ministered to the young at our school, but we didn’t have anything on the other side for the very old.”

The church formed the Northside Church of Christ Housing Development Fund Company where Walker was on the board and assumed leadership when his predecessor, Dr. Wilson Dicker passed away in 2003. With assistance from the Urban League of Rochester, the church built a 22-unit apartment complex for low-income elderly people. 

Walker then joined a board of the Urban League, which focused on building new and rehabilitating existing housing for underserved people. He didn’t know it at the time, but the work was another tool in his belt that would come in handy in Phoenix. 

In 2018, Walker accepted a call to Tonto Street, packed up all he’d learned about ministry and economic development, and headed West. When S.CC, which hosted community meetings throughout the corridor about the light rail project, asked if his church would host one, the new pastor didn’t hesitate. 

Joining forces in the community 

The Tonto Street congregation already had a strong partnership with Phoenix Revitalization Corporation by the time its executive director and CEO, Eva Olivas, met Walker. 

“He had mentioned that he was very involved in community transformation projects before,” said Olivas, and that experience dovetailed with PRC’s work to facilitate community improvement projects and create low-income and workforce housing. “I certainly was impressed with his giving and kind nature.”

Under his leadership, a strong sense of inclusion has been established, and opportunities to benefit the entire community have been expanded, she said.

Walker was invited by S.CC Executive Director Shannon Scutari to join the executive board. He was a valuable addition to the Collaborative because houses of worship, almost without fail, have a pulse on what’s happening in their communities. 

“I give a perspective from what I consider a spiritual point of view,” he said. “It models what Jesus did. His ministry typically  was to those who were ‘less than’ — for whatever reason — whether economically, socially, racially, really it didn’t matter to him. Jesus was just ministering to those who seemed to be the overlooked, underserved population. When they can’t speak for themselves, they need someone.”

At the same time, Walker took a cautious approach to serving as  board president. 

“I didn’t want to give an appearance that, ‘Here’s this outsider parachuting in,’” he said. “I just wanted to let people understand that I’m here to work and do what’s best for the residents in South Central.”

A vision for the future

When he isn’t preaching on Sunday or teaching Bible class for seniors on Wednesday mornings or supporting his congregation’s current community project — a suitcase drive for teenagers aging out of the state foster care system — Walker spreads the word about the South Central Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Community plan. It aims to create a shared community vision — making South Central a world-class destination where current and future residents prosper. 

Creating a comprehensive plan that includes walkable, urban neighborhoods with affordable housing and light rail, where folks ride the train and live, work, shop and learn in a bustling community, wasn’t easy because change is hard. 

“I am always amazed with the resiliency of the community because they’re the ones who have had to suffer with construction and interruptions of business,” he said. “So, seeing the hand that the collaborative has had in calming fears, helping people understand the big picture, that this is going to eventually be beneficial for them, has been rewarding.”

A priority for Walker has been discouraging development that would gentrify the area. S.CC has launched numerous initiatives to prevent displacement of residents, and to partner with developers who can make the math work to provide cost-effective housing, he said. 

“We want to be able to maintain what we’ve said to these residents, that they are going to be able to stay here, live, survive and thrive in this community,” he said. “I’m not saying we’re going to get everything we want, but we’re going to go down swinging, I can tell you that.”

Walker is proud, too, of the TOD’s myriad components, among them, bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly features, small-business assistance, landscaping and shade structures intended to boost heat resiliency, and installations by local artists all along the corridor. 

Among his most validating experiences with S.CC was in 2022 when the Phoenix City Council adopted the community’s visionary plan. 

“That gave legitimacy to what we were doing,” Walker said. “And that’s when other organizations who were not really invested in what was going on started to show up. To me, if you want other people to be a part of what you’re doing, and the City is willing to incorporate that into its plans, that’s a win.”

Among S.CC’s nearly 35+ public, private and non-profit partners is founding partner, Raza Development Fund (RDF), where Montoya is Director of Innovative and Economic Solutions. A key funding partner for S.CC, RDF is the largest national, Latino-focused Community Development Financial Institution advancing economic opportunity, social mobility and racial justice. Its primary areas of work are education, affordable housing, health care and custom financing solutions. 

“They’ve been an outstanding community partner and supporter of our work,” Walker said. “When they were looking for a new area to build their corporate headquarters, well, because they’re of the people, they chose South Phoenix. You don’t get to where we are without having those supporters.”

Walker has a vibrant, long term vision for the community’s future anchored by an eclectic mix of restaurants, shops and housing, new and existing. There's a neighborhood health care facility, a start-up incubator for entrepreneurs, and a busy vocational training center with educational opportunities for all types of learners. 

Perhaps most importantly, he sees a strong, invested community that has the infrastructure, ownership and tools to set its own course for generations to come.

“I want to make sure that the Collaborative is in good hands, and that they can go and do greater things than we ever dreamt about,” Walker said.