Conversation series Spring 2020

Discrimination: Increasing our awareness and improving our response • February 27, 2020​ • 6–8 p.m. • Shanklin Park, Schrock Pavilion
Summary: This conversation will center around questions of discrimination – how it is experienced by community members and what can be done. By listening to one another’s stories and experiences about discrimination in Goshen, this conversation aims to grow our compassion for one another and increase our awareness about what is happening in our community. Together, we will discern how the community can address concerns and improve relationships and experiences for everyone.
To register for this conversation, go to: bit.ly/GoshenAware

Safety in Goshen: What do we fear?​ • March 24, 2020​ • 6–8 p.m. • Shanklin Park, Schrock Pavilion
Summary: Safety is experienced differently by each member of the community. Our feelings of safety depend significantly on our personal experiences, as well as stories we hear of others – known or not. This conversation will focus on the ways community members feel safe or unsafe in Goshen, offering the opportunity to honestly share with one another about our perceptions and personal experiences. Participants will include members of the community who work in departments related to different aspects of community safety. By sharing stories and listening to one another, this conversation will provide a unique opportunity to come together as a community and work at ways to strengthen Goshen together.
To register for this conversation, go to: bit.ly/GoshenSafe

Different Circles, Same City. Which Goshen are you?​ • April 23, 2020​ • 6–8 p.m. • Shanklin Park, Schrock Pavilion
Summary: There are multiple, overlapping communities in Goshen – it could be said that there are different “Goshens”. Your circles may be defined by who you hang out with, where you eat and shop, how you vote, where (or if) you worship, what time you’re on the street, and more. These different Goshens offer important and healthy community for us. When we can reach out and build bridges across circles, our community is stronger. This conversation will focus on how the Goshen community can work to connect across these cultural differences and practical barriers. Participants will think together, creatively, to innovate ideas around how to make Goshen a family where everyone belongs.
To register for this conversation, go to: bit.ly/GoshenCircles

• Click here to read the report out of our first Community Conversation (April 25, 2019).
• Click here to read the proposal for the Fall 2019 series, approved by the CRC Aug. 8, 2019.

Haga click aquí para leer la página en español. 

About the Growing Goshen Together Conversation Series

The Goshen Community Relations Commission (CRC) and Goshen Community Schools (GCS) began conversations in 2018 to brainstorm possibilities toward building bridges between diverse groups in the Goshen community. Recognizing diversity of all kinds throughout the city, they saw an opportunity for promoting tolerance, understanding and gratitude for all people. This led to a pilot community conversation, Growing Goshen Together, on April 25, 2019, held at Goshen High School. Responses from that event called for more conversations. Through continued conversations about the issues facing the Goshen community, CRC and GCS hope to continue fostering relationships throughout the Goshen community.