“In America today, we are living in two nations. I live about 20 blocks from ‘the corner’ I described in my 1998 book about West Baltimore, which is avoided by most of the city. But it’s another America entirely. It takes a lot of effort to make the journey across the chasm that separates them, but that must be our work.”

Look at the classic stories we retell over and over again, at bedtime, around the campfire, on the stage and even on the news, and the common theme is conflict and contrast, good vs evil, perdition vs. redemption. (Think about some of the greatest stories of all time – The Wizard of Oz, Hamlet and even the way we spin our election coverage.)

In the 2005 movie, “Crash,” writer-director Paul Haggis sets up a series of scenes designed to tease out the snap judgements we all tend to make upon first encounters with new people: the redneck-sounding white cop, the black youths lingering on the street, the Mexican locksmith making a house call—all caused kneejerk, “protective” reactions among members of a different race or class. By the end of the film, however, our impressions of all but one of the characters changes 180 degrees.
 

Partnerships are the lifeblood of community development, but one type of potential collaborator that tends to be an untapped resource are local faith-based organizations and institutions.