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Places matter because people matter.

Build cities that look like heaven.

Imagine what Anderson could look like 100 years from now.

A conceptual aerial illustration of gardens, a market, and gathering places beside the Anderson Mill and its railroad tracks.
Conceptual illustration — Imagining the Anderson Mill site 100 years from now.

At the historic Anderson Mill, a beautiful living garden and a market alive with farmers, makers, and neighbors—with prayer and worship woven into everyday life.

Longtime residents with a say in what comes next. Historic mill houses restored with care. Front porches where neighbors know one another. Meals shared around long tables. Walkable streets filled with life.

All six historic mill villages surrounding downtown Anderson—not museums of the past, but flourishing again.

We believe Jesus meant it when He taught us to pray, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

We believe God’s Kingdom should become tangible—visible in restored lives, meaningful relationships, beautiful places, and the way we live, work, and worship together.

A hundred years from now, people we’ll never meet will call Anderson home.

We can help shape what they inherit. Starting today.

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What will Anderson become?

Everyone wants to live in a stronger, safer, more life-giving community.

An empty house. An overgrown lot. An old mill falling apart.

Everyone can see it and say, “Somebody should do something.”

When investment finally comes, it often follows a familiar formula.

Turn the old mill into apartments. Add a brewery. Open a few restaurants.

Copy. Paste. Repeat.

The buildings change, but the places begin to look the same.

Anderson shouldn’t have to choose between being forgotten and becoming Anywhere, USA.

And there’s something even more important at stake.

When neighborhoods change, the people who have called them home can be overlooked in decisions about their future.

That’s what concerns us most.

The people of Anderson’s historic mill villages, especially the Alphabet Streets, have gifts, talents, faith, stories, and dreams for their families.

Most want what any of us would want: to enjoy their homes, know their neighbors, raise their families, and live in peace.

No other city can copy the people who call Anderson home.

They are what make these places worth knowing.

We believe Anderson deserves a future shaped by its own people, history, faith, and possibilities.

The decisions we make today will shape the city others inherit tomorrow.

A large mural on the side of a restored mill house reading “Rooted and grounded in love, Ephesians 3:17,” with white magnolia blossoms on a deep teal wall.
Rooted and Grounded in Love. A mural on one of our restored mill houses in the Alphabet Streets.

First the presence. Then the streets.

Jesus taught us to pray:

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” — Matthew 6:10

Isaiah 61:1–4 speaks of good news, healing, freedom, and ruined places rebuilt.

We believe the presence of God changes people, and people change places.

Prayer and worship are the foundation of everything we do.

From that place, we seek to make God’s love visible.

A table built.

A garden planted.

A home restored.

A neighbor known by name.

Before A bedroom at 403 I Street before restoration: bare lath ceiling, dark wainscoting, debris on the floor, and a ladder by the windows.
After The same bedroom after restoration: painted green wainscoting, tall windows, a made bed, a wooden ladder, and refinished original floors.

A home restored. A bedroom at 403 I Street, before and after.

Every person has infinite worth and value.

That’s why the places they call home matter.

We want to see God’s Kingdom made tangible in Anderson—not simply talked about, but lived.

Where the work is

It begins right here.

A hundred-year vision begins with what’s already in our hands.

Today

  1. In use now

    403 I Street

    Prayer and Hospitality

    A restored mill house already used for prayer, worship, and hospitality. We’re preparing it to welcome volunteers and visiting Mission Builder teams more fully.

    Conceptual illustration A conceptual illustration of a long outdoor dinner table under string lights beside a fire pit and white chairs.
    A long-table dinner, as we imagine it.
  2. Where we live

    The Alphabet Streets

    Our Neighborhood

    One of Anderson’s six historic mill villages, surrounding the Anderson Mill.

    This is where we live, restore homes, build friendships, and share life with our neighbors.

  3. In planning

    1300 Glenn Street

    A Place to Gather

    Beside the mill, we envision a garden and gathering place for food, creativity, worship, and community. We’re planning its development in thoughtful phases.

    The existing white concrete-block building at 1300 Glenn Street, shaded by trees.
    1300 Glenn Street today.
    Concept A conceptual aerial illustration of a garden with rows of plants and paths around a small building.
    A garden concept.
  4. Long-term goal

    The Anderson Mill

    A Defining Opportunity

    For generations, the mill helped anchor jobs and neighborhood life. Its future could help shape Anderson for generations to come.

    Our long-term goal:

    Buy the mill.

    Invite Anderson to reimagine what could be here.

    Steward what happens next.

    We don’t own it today.

    Making this possible will require partners, patience, and careful stewardship.

    As possibilities develop, we want to hear from the people who live around the mill and make room for their hopes and ideas.

    A black-and-white photograph of the former Anderson Cotton Mill site, with brick towers, ruins, and railroad tracks.
    The former Anderson Cotton Mill site.

  5. Six Historic Mill Villages

    The Generational Vision

    Over the next hundred years, we hope this work can grow throughout Anderson’s historic mill villages.

100 years from now

The vision is clear. The final form is not.

We begin where we are and make room for what comes next.

Why we’re here

We’re Andy and Anja Gibson.

The Alphabet Streets aren’t somewhere we visit to do ministry.

They’re where we live.

Andy and Anja Gibson smiling close together outdoors, holding their baby daughter, who is laughing with her mouth wide open.
Andy, Anja, and our daughter.

We’ve restored old mill houses, built friendships with neighbors, and welcomed people around our table.

Andy has an MBA and more than a decade of community development experience in Anderson, including serving as Executive Director of The LOT Project. His work has brought together nonprofit leadership, fundraising, community partnerships, and the hands-on restoration of historic properties.

Anja brings more than twenty years of international ministry experience across more than fifty nations, rooted in prayer, worship, missions, and hospitality.

We love this city. We believe in its people. And we believe God has called us to put down roots and help shape its future.

We don’t have every answer.

But we’re committed to the long work ahead.

And we’d love for you to be part of it.

Get Involved

Come be our guest.

You have something to contribute.

Maybe it’s your time, skills, creativity, resources, relationships, or influence.

Maybe you want to pray with us.

Maybe you simply love Anderson and want to help shape its future.

We welcome a few people at a time.

Come share a meal. Join us for worship. Stand beside the Anderson Mill and imagine what could be here.

Walk the Alphabet Streets with us. Share your ideas. Bring what is in your hands.

If you live in one of Anderson’s mill villages, we’d love to get to know you, too.

Maybe you have an idea. Maybe you’d simply like to share a table.

We also welcome inquiries from Christian Mission Builder teams of approximately 4–8 adults (18+), with their own adult leader, interested in 4–10-week visits during our preferred March–May or October–December 2027 seasons.

Financial gifts help sustain our neighborhood presence, hospitality, and the practical work of caring for places and building relationships.

No one person or generation can accomplish this vision alone.

But we can begin together.

Donate

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Form inquiries: info@revitalizinc.org

Help shape what comes next.

A hundred years from now, people we’ll never meet will live with the decisions we make today.

They’ll inherit the places we build, the places we preserve, and the places we allow to disappear.

We may never see the finished work.

But we can decide what we begin today.

Come help build a city that looks like heaven.

Donate Get Involved

Places matter because people matter.