Don Cowles represented Hope in the Cities at a forum sponsored by WYES public television station in New Orleans, November 17. WYES serves as coordinator of The One Community Initiative, a local media project concerning race relations and diversity in the New Orleans area.

At 7:30 am, November 12, 2009, on a very rainy Thursday morning, the 13th annual Metropolitan Richmond Day breakfast began. The weather did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the diverse crowd.

The Richmond Slave Trail Commission has unveiled a vision for a $100 million to $150 million heritage site in Shockoe Bottom (the historical site of Richmond’s slave market).

(Photo: Maria Grace)The Hope in the Cities team helped facilitate an international Tools for Change conference August 9-15, in Caux,Switzerland. Sixty-five young Muslims from the UK, France, Sweden, Netherlands, and Germany were among the 380 participants from 50 countries.

For decades, Richmond, Virginia has been defined by its past: Capital of the Confederacy, hub of the African slave trade, linchpin of massive resistance to school integration. But a new story is emerging of communities collaborating, history being healed and bridges of trust being built through honest conversation. Karen Elliott Greisdorf reports on The Trust Factor, an Initiatives of Change National Forum held at the University of Richmond, June 4-7, 2009.

Leading practitioners of conflict resolution, dialogue and community building will come to Richmond, VA to explore the trust deficit that divides the U.S. at the local and national levels and globally as well. The forum is sponsored by Initiatives of Change at the University of Richmond, June 4-7 and will draw participants from many walks of life to share best practices of building bridges and living with integrity.

Matthew Freeman, Hope in the Cities Richmond community faciltator (Photo: Cricket White) Matthew Freeman, Community Facilitator for Hope in the Cities, facilitated a discussion at Leadership Metro Richmond’s spring luncheon program on May 15 using audience response keypads.

Dialogue participants

Eighteen people gathered in a circle on Saturday, May 16 at the Hope in the Cities office to either participate in or observe a dialogue between Evangelical Christians and Muslims.

Liverpool Group at Reconciliation Statue (Photo: Kevin Carroll)

A group of High School aged students hailing from various schools in Liverpool, U.K., came to Richmond for a week in February in their attempt to create a documentary film about slavery and its impact today.

Gerald and Judith receiving honorary fellowship (Photo: Jim Sharp)

Liverpool Hope University has awarded an honorary fellowship to Gerald and Judith Henderson for their combined contributions to peace and reconciliation through their lifelong work internationally with Initiatives of Change and for their local work with Hope in the Cities and Asylum Link Merseyside.