"Hope has two beautiful daughters—anger and courage. Anger at the way things are, and the courage to change the way things are."

-St. Augustine

On Sunday, May 16, 1999, close to 1,500 people gathered in the auditorium of Columbus North High School. This was not a religious service, though prayers, testimonies and songs were offered. This was not an athletic contest, though certain politicians tried to engage in mental gymnastics. The event was B.R.E.A.D.’s third City-Wide Action Meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to powerfully address justice and fairness issues in Columbus.

Rev. Karen Battle of First English Lutheran Church told the Assembly along with political leaders in attendance that she was "mad as hell" about the proliferation of drugs, prostitution and neglect in her Near East neighborhood. Elder Carl Gray of The Way of Holiness Church outlined the challenges facing the November, 1999 COTA Levy and explained that "we will not stand for a campaign of complacency." Fr. Stan Benecki of Ss. Augustine & Gabriel Parish reported to the Assembly that Columbus faced a growing shortage of housing for 22,000 families in Central Ohio. And, Ed Hoffman of Immaculate Conception Parish queried Mayor Greg Lashutka about whether that shortage constituted a "crisis".

At that meeting and several follow-up events, the print and electronic media was fully present. Their imagination was captured by the "in-your-face" tactics of these seemingly mild people of faith as well as the "Crack Courtyard" video which captured the "sex and drugs" happening right outside the walls of First English Lutheran Church. The interest of the media has also been fed by the results which B.R.E.A.D. has gotten on a cross-section of issues and especially crime and safety on the Near East side.

B.R.E.A.D.’s work certainly is about getting concrete results on specific issues. But, it is also about some other things. It is about building the hope of poor and working class . It is about building relationships of mutual respect. It is about helping people find a voice through which to articulate long-repressed anger and vision. It is about building the skills and talents of people who have been counted out of American Society.

B.R.E.A.D. was formed at a Covenant Assembly of 523 delegates from 21 congregations in September, 1996. That is when the formal name, structure, and officers of the organization were chosen. The organization really began in October, 1994 when a core group of 18 clergy and lay leaders decided that they were going to engage in an organizing process to build a congregation-based community organization. For two years, clergy and lay leaders, operating as the Columbus Organizing Project, raised money, organized training workshops, recruited other congregations, researched power relationships in Columbus, and otherwise worked to lay the foundation for a strong grassroots organization. Before B.R.E.A.D. was even formed, 19 people attended a national training session of either the D.A.R.T. Center or the Gamaliel Foundation.

The organizing process got serious when C.O.P. hired a full-time organizer who began work with the group on February 1, 1996. In May, 1996, the C.O.P. Sponsoring Committee brought together 101 people for day-long training on the principles of congregation-based community organizing. In June, 1996, those 101 people brought back another 150 people so that 250 people got trained on two evenings to conduct one-to-one visits. One-to-ones have become a staple of the B.R.E.A.D. Organization (as they are for many congregation-based community organizations). That summer, those 250 people (and some others) conducted 1,643 one-to-ones to surface issues of concern in the community.

A one-to-one is a 30-40 minute, face-to-face conversation between two people for the purpose of discovering areas of common self-interest. It is not an interview. It is not therapy. It is a guided conversation to help get at shared values, shared visions, and shared concerns. It is one aspect of civic life that is sorely missing as people are stretched from working two jobs, running kids to athletic events and lessons, attending self-help and interest groups. Rarely do people take the time to find out what someone else’s interests are. Usually, we try to plug people into our interests.

How did 1,643 one-to-ones lead to community action? Those one-to-ones formed the centerpiece of the September, 1996 Covenant Assembly and laid the groundwork for many of B.R.E.A.D.’s Issue Agenda in 1999. They also form the basis for B.R.E.A.D.’s power. That 1996 Covenant Assembly established three research committees: Children, Families and Youth (which became Education), Poverty and Jobs (which focused on Access to Jobs), and Crime, Gangs and Drugs (which became Safe Zones and Project Clean Sweep).

The One-to-One process engaged a core group of people from each congregation in asking and thinking about the future of Columbus, their neighborhoods, and their congregations. B.R.E.A.D.’s power is rooted not in money, but in people. The One-to-One process (and subsequent house meetings) provided people with a tool to build and deepen relationships on the basis of real conversations; not projected interests. The organizing process also engaged those core group of leaders in working with other core groups of leaders from other congregations who shared similar values and interests across denominational, racial, class and sectarian lines. B.R.E.A.D. has provided a way for people to build relationships.

B.R.E.A.D. has also provided a way for people to act on their values. After an extensive research process, a B.R.E.A.D. Research Committee will meet to transform "problems" into "issues". Problems are general statements of what is wrong about which no public official can really do much. Issues are specific solutions which will begin to address the problem or part of the problem. When B.R.E.A.D. Research Committee thinks it has defined an "issue", it will present that issue to a B.R.E.A.D. Team Assembly. These Assemblies are gatherings of hundreds of B.R.E.A.D. leaders to ratify the issue and plan for an Action Meeting. This process may also be replicated in individual congregations dealing with neighborhood issues. At the Action Meeting, the B.R.E.A.D. leaders will organize hundreds of people to directly address a responsible public official around the issue.

The Action Meeting will reveal the kind of results that B.R.E.A.D. likes to brag about. B.R.E.A.D.’s Access to Jobs campaign resulted in the addition of 38,000 annual hours of new bus service to link people to jobs in 1998 and a $684,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration to add even more service. Project Clean Sweep has resulted in a focused effort by City Police, Code Enforcement, Health, Refuse to make the Near East side safer and cleaner. Columbus and Franklin County have adopted a "first source" policy which will insure that companies which get tax breaks will give center city residents the "first shot" at new jobs. B.R.E.A.D. members are very proud of these and other victories.