Finding Common Ground: Building Neighborhoods

How can a neighborhood be more like a family: connected, supportive, cooperative?

We have no shortage of challenges facing us and it often feels as if we are not making any progress: So what do we do? I love this quote from Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” So let’s tweak our thinking and see if we can find some new approaches.

What if neighborhoods were more than just a place to house ourselves and our families, park our cars keeping everything locked tight? Neighborhoods are nations in miniature struggling against the same forces impacting the nation: division, conflict, lack of resources, and deep concern for the future. What if we tackle some of these “national” challenges on a smaller scale? What if our neighborhoods could be “social incubators” where we learn new ideas? Ideas such as how to live with concern for each other, appreciate our diversity, and build a safe refuge for all?

“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” ~ Baha’i Writings

This month, in our Coffee and Conversations series, we’ll hear about examples of what is happening locally in Salem-Keizer and also in a village in Brazil that rebuilt itself.

Join us for an uplifting afternoon:

Finding Common Ground - Coffee and Conversations

June 21, Saturday 4:00 to 6:00 p.m

IKE Box Cafe

299 Cottage St., Salem, OR

We’ll be in the Community Room on the ground floor, near the Chemeketa Street entrance.