On a recent trip in central Ohio,  I met Jim, Mark and Steve from San Diego while having breakfast. I noticed the back of Jim’s shirt as he passed by and was curious if he was currently biking across the country. I learned that he and 2 friends were 700...

Community Questions Good questions can be so valuable. There’s a church I attended when I was in Madison that would start the service with a community question. This was a time to get with 1 or 2 others and respond to a question. Good questions provided ...

Himy Syed is likely to show up almost anywhere in the city studying what is going on and looking for an opportune time and place to bring out his sidewalk chalk and draw a labyrinth. I met him several weeks ago at the Strathcona Street Festival where he had dr...

Last week I  hosted a training on ABCD at DePaul University in Chicago with a team of  ABCD Faculty Members and Fellows. The team  was very intentional about building on the talents of the participants from diverse backgrounds across the US. We spoke about ...

Hospitality on Bus 50   … The driver noticed me sitting down in the seat gingerly and getting my legs positioned just right and asked if i was ok? I said I just had hip surgery but was doing well. He then seemed careful to stop and start at each sto...

As I drove into Ravenna, Ohio I saw this drive-in movie theater. I was nostalgic thinking of places in our communities that are treasures but disappear. Often there are buildings, gathering places, parks and businesses that are replaced with something new. It...

I was  walking in San Francisco  and saw a crowd outside of a federal building.  I leaned that everyone was gathered to see the  release of Fernando Carrillo. He was being reunited with his family after being held for six months outside of the city on depo...

Recently I spent a couple of days with groups of veterans in Chicago. Each of them are exploring how to build a supportive community around veterans.There were so many things that struck me from this trip and the conversations that I had with them. I am deeply...

“Borrow A Human” I have been learning so much about how libraries are helping to build connected caring communities. I was at a writing workshop at my local library and saw that I could have borrowed a human. I had heard about this but had never ac...

This was the dreary scene as I listened to the flight attendant introduce himself as the plane was leaving Newark. He said he was born and raised in Brooklyn and was very committed to making sure that each and every one of us had a good flight. He went beyond...