TWIN CITIES SOCIAL COHESION INITIATIVE

ENVISION MINNEAPOLIS - CLERGY LEADERSHIP OF THE DOWNTOWN CONGREGATIONS OF MINNEAPOLIS APPROACHED SCI (FORMERLY TCSCI) IN 2019 TO PARTNER TO CREATE A 'MORAL VISION' FOR THE COMMUNITY. SCI PROPOSED A BROAD, GRASSROOTS PROCESS THAT WOULD EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY TO CREATE THEIR INCLUSIVE VISION FOR THE FUTURE. WITH THIS SHARED UNDERSTANDING, SCI CONDUCTED APPROXIMATELY 40 APPRECIATIVE INQUIRY INTERVIEWS WITH CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONAL LEADERS AND ENLISTED CONGREGATIONAL MEMBERS' PARTICIPATION. IN MARCH 2020, SCI BEGAN RECRUITING, TRAINING AND SUPPORTING CONGREGATIONAL AND COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS TO CARRY THE WORK FORWARD. TO DATE, A DOZEN VOLUNTEERS HAVE CONDUCTED AN ADDITIONAL 40 INTERVIEWS REPRESENTING A CROSS-SECTION OF THE MINNEAPOLIS COMMUNITY. QUESTIONS FOCUSED ON THE SHARED VULNERABILITY WITHIN, AND A MORAL OBLIGATION TO, THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. THE CONVERSATIONS YIELDED MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR ENGAGEMENT, WITH HIGH ENTHUSIASM FOR BOTH INTERVIEWERS AND INTERVIEWEES.WITH INSIGHTS AND TOOLS GENERATED BY THIS EVOLVING WORK, A 'COMMUNITY-FIRST' INITIATIVE HAS BEEN CRAFTED. THE INFORMATION, LEARNINGS, AND CONTACTS FROM ENVISION MINNEAPOLIS WILL BE FOLDED INTO THIS ENDEAVOR.A SEAT AT THE TABLE/HUMANIZING THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS - ONE OF THE SEMINAL QUESTIONS FOR SCI IS: DO THOSE IMPACTED OR SERVED HAVE A SEAT AT THE DECISION-MAKING TABLE IN A DEFINITIVE WAY? ESPECIALLY THE MARGINALIZED AND DISADVANTAGED? THESE QUESTIONS LED SCI TO EXPLORE PROGRAM ACTIVITIES THAT WOULD ENSURE THAT THOSE IMPACTED OR SERVED HAVE A SEAT AT THE DECISION-MAKING TABLE IN A DEFINITIVE WAY; ESPECIALLY THE MARGINALIZED AND DISADVANTAGED.A SEAT AT THE TABLE FOCUSED ON ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, AND COMMUNITIES' INTERNAL FUNCTIONING, INTENDING TO CREATE MORE SIGNIFICANT SHARED DECISION-MAKING CONDITIONS. HUMANIZING THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS TARGETED THE UNDERSTANDING OF ELECTED OFFICIALS AND POLICY-MAKERS OF THEIR CONSTITUENCIES' LIVED EXPERIENCE, LEADING TO MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND RESPONSIVE DECISION-MAKING. BOTH APPROACHES USE A METHODOLOGY DEVELOPED BY SCI TO INVESTIGATE CURRENT DECISION-MAKING AND ITS IMPACT, AND IN DOING SO, COLLABORATIVELY ENVISION AND MODEL MORE EFFECTIVE PROCESSES.SCI WAS IN ACTIVE CONVERSATION WITH SEVERAL POTENTIAL PARTNERS FOR PILOT PROJECTS UNTIL THE OUTREACH WAS INTERRUPTED BY THE PANDEMIC IN MARCH 2020. THESE INCLUDED: HENNEPIN COUNTY SOCIAL SERVICES, ST. PAUL CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, ST. PAUL LAW ENFORCEMENT-COMMUNITY POLICING, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, SIMPSON HOUSE, STILLWATER CORRECTIONAL FACILITY-CHAPLAINCY, AND VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA. AS THE PANDEMIC WINDS DOWN, SCI WILL RENEW THESE CONTACTS.BRIDGING THE RURAL DIVIDE - SCI DECIDED TO LOOK INTO THE SOCIAL COHESION CHALLENGES IN GREATER MINNESOTA AS THE RURAL-URBAN, IMMIGRANT-US-BORN CITIZEN, CONSERVATIVE-PROGRESSIVE RIFT WAS ESCALATING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THERE WAS ALSO AWARENESS AMONG THE CITIZENRY IN THE TWIN CITIES METROPOLITAN AREA OF THE ONGOING TENSIONS IN NEARBY WILLMAR AND ST. CLOUD BETWEEN SOMALI AND LATINX MIGRANTS AND THE LOCAL POPULATION. BOTH LARGE POULTRY PROCESSING AND TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL NEEDS BROUGHT SIGNIFICANT SOMALI, HISPANIC, AND MOST RECENTLY, KAREN COMMUNITIES TO WILLMAR, MN. IN ADDITION TO SOME LOCAL CHALLENGES AROUND THIS NEW DIVERSITY, WILLMAR HAS BEEN TARGETED ALONG WITH ST. CLOUD FOR REGIONAL ANTI-MUSLIM HATE SPEAKERS AND EVENTS. NATIVIST ORGANIZATIONS OPPOSITION TO WILLMAR'S CITY COUNCIL'S RESOLUTION TO BE A 'WELCOMING CITY' MADE IT A TESTING GROUND FOR THE RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL COHESION IN A RURAL SETTING. SCI CONDUCTED APPROXIMATELY 20 INTERVIEWS WITH WILLMAR LEADERS AND RESIDENTS ABOUT THEIR INTENTIONS TO BECOME A MORE WELCOMING COMMUNITY. AN INFLUENTIAL GROUP OF ABOUT TEN MOVERS-AND-SHAKERS - LOCAL CLERGY, COMMUNITY ACTIVISTS, CIVIC LEADERS - ARE COMMITTED TO ENABLING WILLMAR TO 'LIVE IN OUR WELCOME' WITH SCI'S SUPPORT. YOUTH CAMPAIGN FOR THE CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA - THE PERVASIVE USE, AND GROWING TOXICITY, OF SOCIAL MEDIA, IS WIDESPREAD IN US CULTURE. THE IMPACT OF THIS RUN-AWAY PHENOMENON IS PERHAPS EXPERIENCED MOST ACUTELY AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE. THE CHALLENGE LIES IN THE PRECEPT OF FREE SPEECH, LIMITING THE SCOPE OF FORMAL OR LEGAL REGULATION OF CONTENT ON WEBSITES, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, AND OTHER PLATFORMS. FOR THE MOST PART, THIS MEANS THAT THE CONTENT'S CHARACTER WILL HAVE TO BE REGULATED BY FREELY CHOSEN SOCIAL NORMS. SCI SOUGHT TO LAUNCH A 'YOUTH CAMPAIGN FOR THE CONSTRUCTIVE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO EMPOWER YOUNG PEOPLE TO REFLECT ON THEIR USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS ROLE IN THE BROADER SOCIETY. THEY WERE USING THIS CONVERSATION AS A VEHICLE FOR CROSS-CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND COLLABORATION AMONG THE DIVERSITY OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA. THIS CAMPAIGN PROPOSES AND PROMOTES SUCH NORMS.IN SCI HIRED A RECENT AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY GRADUATE WHO CONDUCTED OUTREACH TO HIGH SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITY, AND YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS TO GAUGE INTEREST, WITH SOME SUCCESS. THE IDEA OF THE CAMPAIGN REMAINS A VIABLE SOCIAL COHESION EXAMPLE OF A RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING AND SOCIAL NORMING ACTIVITY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.IN THE ENVISION MINNEAPOLIS, WILLMAR BRIDGING, AND YOUTH CAMPAIGN, THE SCI WORKS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COLLECTIVE ENTITIES - GROUPS, ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES - TO COLLABORATE ACROSS DIVERSITY AND DIVIDES FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMON GOOD. IN EACH CASE, THIS MEANS DRAWING ON THE GOODWILL, ASSETS, AND PERSON-POWER OF THESE COLLECTIVE ENTITIES TO LISTEN TO THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS EXPRESSED IN THE BROADER COMMUNITY, IDENTIFY AREAS OF COMMON CONCERN WHERE COLLABORATIVE ENGAGEMENT IS POSSIBLE, AND INTENTIONALLY CULTIVATE THE RELATIONAL DIMENSION OF THE SOCIETY.IN THE SEAT AT THE TABLE/HUMANIZING INITIATIVES, THE SCI IS WORKING TO GIVE VOICE AND EQUITY TO THOSE OFTEN NOT CONSIDERED IN, OR LEFT OUT OF, THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS. THIS MEANS, OUT IN THE BROADER SOCIETY, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM CONSTITUENCIES ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THEY FACE AND THE LIKELY IMPACT OF THEIR BEHALF. WITHIN COMMUNITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, AND INSTITUTIONS, THIS MEANS INVITING THOSE TO BE SERVED OR IMPACTED TO BE RESPECTED AS THE 'EXPERTS IN THEIR OWN LIVES AND HAVE AN ACTIVE AND DEFINITIVE ROLE IN DECISION-MAKING TO BE MORE SELF-DETERMINANT IN THE CARE, SERVICES, AND OPPORTUNITIES ACCORDED THEM.