Uniting for Action: America to launch nationwide on September 9
Non-partisan initiative aims to strengthen the country by building connections and addressing challenges across political, racial, regional, and other divides

[Los Angeles] – August 25, 2020 – Five U.S. nonprofits will launch Uniting for Action: America, an innovative program beginning September 9 that aims to build new relationships and promote collaboration across political, racial, geographic, generational, and other divides. The program will be implemented collectively by Urban Rural Action, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation, News Literacy Project, BridgeUSA, and BridgePeople.  

Uniting for Action: America aims to achieve four goals: build new connections across divides, increase understanding of different perspectives on key issues, strengthen collaboration skills, and take meaningful action to address societal challenges. Program participants will meet on Zoom seven times for structured discussion, small group brainstorming, and collaboration focused on taking action. The action will come in the form of online projects that participants design themselves and implement up until March 2021. 

“Uniting for Action: America very much builds on our intrastate programs in Maryland and Pennsylvania,” said Joseph Bubman, executive director at Urban Rural Action. “We’re thrilled to be able to use online technology to scale up to a national program and to do it with four terrific partner organizations.”

Organizers expect 35-50 participants with wide-ranging views who live in a variety of communities across the country to join in the program. The nonprofits’ goal is to attract community members eager to engage across differences and take action themselves amid public health challenges, economic hardship, and racial injustice. 

Participants will form teams with other community members interested in tackling the same issue, such as economic recovery, income inequality, systemic racism, mass incarceration, gun violence, homelessness, hunger, unaffordable housing, and lack of access to health care. Program organizers will use Zoom breakout room functionality during gatherings to group together issue teams and a Uniting for Action moderator for collaboration.

“When the world appears stuck in a cycle of misinformation feeding misunderstanding and vice versa, it is important to learn how we can each make a difference,” said Miriam Romais, the senior manager of education and training for the News Literacy Project. “That’s why we’re so pleased to partner with Urban Rural Action and help participants develop basic skills to separate fact from falsehoods, letting deeper conversations, learning, and civic action emerge.”

According to program organizers, community projects might include reducing food waste across communities; working with local businesses to hire more formerly incarcerated individuals; implementing a social media campaign to promote respect for different viewpoints; conducting virtual workshops on constructive conversations across differences; starting a community bail fund, and training local educators on stopping the spread of misinformation. The community projects will benefit from support from the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College and from participants’ $25 registration fees.

“Our country is rife with division: ideological, identity-based, and geographic," said Ross Irwin, Chief Operating Officer of BridgeUSA. "We believe that to overcome this division and polarization we must constructively engage with those different from us. BridgeUSA is super excited to be a part of this program because it is bringing this mode of engagement to individuals throughout our country.”

In between gatherings, participants will use Slack to continue the connection, conversation, and collaboration. Additional program events, such as online training from the News Literacy Project, will equip participants with tools to identify credible news and other information and learn what to trust, share, and act on. 

Program organizers are using a selective application process that prioritizes political, geographic, economic, and social (racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, etc.) diversity. Organizers encourage applicants to reach out to others from different backgrounds about participating in the program and to refer them. The application deadline is Aug. 30.
 
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Media Contacts:  
Logan Grubb, Urban Rural Action, logan@uraction.org 
Mike Webb, News Literacy Project, mwebb@newslit.org

Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation advances the leadership and professional development of women of color in the fields of international peace, security, and conflict transformation.

News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan national education nonprofit, provides programs and resources for educators and the public to teach, learn, and share the abilities needed to be smart, active consumers of news and information and equal and engaged participants in a democracy. 

BridgeUSA develops the next generation of engaged, informed, and constructive citizens.

BridgePeople equips peace-builders, committed change agents, justice-seeking philanthropists, socially-minded organizations, and social entrepreneurs to advance peace and justice through transformational relationship building.

Urban Rural Action brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

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New Hampshire Listens and UR Action Win Grant from New Hampshire Humanities to Deepen Connection and Understanding Across the Granite State's Urban/Rural Divide

[Concord, NH] – July 15, 2020 – New Hampshire Listens and Urban Rural Action announced Wednesday that they have been awarded a New Hampshire Humanities (NHH) grant to implement a new 12-month program, “Deepening Connection and Understanding Across New Hampshire's Urban/Rural Divide.” This non-partisan initiative aims to respond to increased tensions that many community members experience with family members, neighbors, and work colleagues amid social crises and hyper-partisanship. 
 
This grant was made available through New Hampshire Humanities’ Community Projects Grants program, which enables nonprofits and educational institutions to design and carry out multi-faceted projects. The "Deepening Connection and Understanding" program will use the humanities to build connections, strengthen collaboration skills, and promote understanding across distance and difference in New Hampshire. 

“New Hampshire Humanities is honored to support such an important initiative as we work to connect all people in New Hampshire with inspiring and challenging ideas,” said Anthony Poore, NHH Executive Director. “Building relationships and exploring different perspectives across the Granite State is an essential element of our work, and we believe critical for lifelong learning, civic engagement, and genuine civil dialogue and discourse.”
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The program is open to all New Hampshire residents 18+ from urban, suburban, and rural areas with wide-ranging views who want to build relationships and explore different perspectives across the Granite State’s geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological divides. Participants will build skills for constructive conversation across differences and apply them to grapple with challenges such as systemic racism, the Coronavirus pandemic, and economic inequality.
 
“One of our core values at NH Listens is collaboration,” said Michele Holt-Shannon, Executive Director and Co-founder of New Hampshire Listens. “We know collaboration can be hard, and we believe solving complex problems requires it. A mix of perspectives helps us recognize and temper our own biases -- and we all have them. There is so much frustration right now -- we are hoping this can be a chance to build trust and increase understanding beyond the sound bites.” 
 
When the program kicks off in September, 40 to 60 participants will gather online on several occasions for reflection and small group brainstorming. Participants will also build connections and deepen understanding via a private online community. The final event will be a public storytelling session in which participants share experiences in the program. 
 
“We are thrilled and deeply thankful to continue this work with the support of New Hampshire Humanities at such a critical time in the history of our state and our nation,” said Ethan Underhill, UR Action’s New Hampshire State Director. “Good citizens may not be aligned on everything, but in making an effort to understand each other, disagree better, and take action on areas of joint interest, all of us can play a pivotal role in reweaving the social fabric of our communities.”


Media Contacts:  
Michele Holt-Shannon, New Hampshire Listens, Michele.Holt-Shannon@unh.edu
Ethan Underhill, Urban Rural Action, urbanruralaction@gmail.com
Rebecca Kinhan, New Hampshire Humanities, rkinhan@nhhumanities.org
 
New Hampshire Humanities harnesses the power of the humanities by offering programs, grants, and opportunities to all people of New Hampshire, supporting lifelong learning and fostering civic engagement and discourse.
 
New Hampshire Listens helps New Hampshire residents talk, listen, and act together to create communities that work for everyone.
 
UR Action brings together community members across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

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Urban Rural Action Speaks Out on Violence Across United States

[Los Angeles, CA] – June 2, 2020 – Like most Americans, we at Urban Rural Action are devastated and outraged by the tragic killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. We condemn the discriminatory policing that disproportionately targets communities of color and results in the deaths of African-Americans. We call for replacing looting, arson, and violence with a shared commitment to reimagine and rebuild a more equitable nation. And we stand with our fellow community members fighting peacefully for justice for all Americans. 

UR Action was inspired by the work of conflict management professionals dedicated to preventing organized violence in conflict zones around the world. We founded UR Action in 2019 based on a recognition and a belief.

A recognition that the underlying dynamics that fuel violent conflict globally are also present in the United States.

• Substantial abuses by security forces
• A justice system that favors the wealthy, the connected, and/or the majority over the poor, the marginalized, and/or the minority
• Widening gaps in education, income, and health between the haves and have-nots
• Public health crises
• Exploitation of technology to fuel misinformation
• Systemic discrimination of minorities that fuels grievances over centuries
• Divisive leaders who exploit those grievances for personal gain
• Distrust of institutions
• And a governance system ill-equipped to address these challenges

As peacebuilders, we recognize that these conflict dynamics can tragically escalate into violence via triggers like a pandemic or a severe economic shock — or a video of a public killing of an unarmed black community member by a white police officer. The escalation we’re witnessing in our cities right now includes a range of actions — from peaceful civic engagement to reckless destruction — that involve diverse groups of people with varied motivations.  

But UR Action was also founded on the belief that:

• Doing nothing is a choice — a choice with consequences.
• It’s possible to build meaningful relationships across our geographic, racial, religious, ethnic, economic, and political divides.
• We can work together to address conflict and improve our collective well-being.
• Those two outcomes — stronger relationships and meaningful action by ordinary community members — can be mutually reinforcing.​

Our divisions are deepening and the risks of further escalation are increasing. But it’s not too late. We must come together. We must listen to one another. We must forge new relationships. And we must act — together.

The UR Action team
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Media Contact:  Joseph Bubman, urbanruralaction@gmail.com

UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

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Uniting for Action: Maryland community strengthening program prepares to launch statewide in June
Non-partisan initiative led by national, state, and local organizations aims to build connections and address local challenges across Maryland's divides amid Covid-19 pandemic

[Smithsburg, MD] – May 20, 2020 – An innovative program promoting collaboration across geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological divides in Maryland will kick off online on June 11. The Uniting for Action: Maryland program led by national non-profit Urban Rural Action (UR Action) is free and open to all Maryland residents 18 and up.

Program organizers expect 50-150 participants from urban, suburban, and rural areas with wide-ranging views. They anticipate attracting residents who want to take action themselves to improve their communities, the state, and the country at a time of unprecedented challenges to public health and economic hardship.

“Maryland’s diversity, geographic and otherwise, is one of its great strengths,” said Kira Hamman, UR Action Mid-Atlantic Regional Director. “Uniting for Action will bring Marylanders together across their differences to identify, discuss, and act on issues of common concern, rather than allowing those issues to divide us. We are stronger together, with more perspectives at the table.”

UR Action is collaborating with organizations across the state to implement the program, including the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) at the University of Maryland, the Washington County Free Library (WCFL), the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, and Leadership Montgomery.

While program participants will begin the collaboration online, they intend to continue by gathering in person, pending Covid-19-related gathering restrictions, for a Uniting for Action summit at the WCFL in Hagerstown on August 7-8, 2020. In-person collaboration is expected to continue into 2021 with a Uniting for Action summit in Montgomery County.

“At a time of political turmoil and social and economic crises, our country needs increased collaboration across our divides,” said Sarah Nadeau, head of Community Partnerships at WCFL. “Uniting for Action: Maryland will enable community members to build new connections, strengthen collaboration skills, explore different perspectives, and take joint action that strengthens our communities and our country.” 

Program participants will meet once a month online for structured discussion, small group brainstorming, and collaboration focused on taking action. The action will come in the form of projects within and across communities that participants design themselves. According to program organizers, community projects might include social media campaigns that promote respect for different political perspectives, efforts to counter misinformation, and initiatives to address local Covid-19-related needs. 
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“We are excited to help program participants analyze and tackle issues in their communities and our state that they want to address,” said Dr. Stella Rouse, Director of CDCE at the University of Maryland.  “We see efforts to help participants design community projects as particularly important to improving the effectiveness of our democracy.”

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Media Contact: Kira Hamman, urbanruralaction@gmail.com

UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

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Uniting for Action: Pennsylvania community strengthening program prepares to launch statewide in May
Non-partisan initiative aims to build connections and address local challenges across Pennsylvania's divides amid Covid-19 pandemic

[Philadelphia] – April 27, 2020 – An innovative program promoting collaboration across geographic, socioeconomic, and ideological divides in Pennsylvania will kick off online on May 7. Uniting for Action: Pennsylvania is a joint initiative from the Free Library of Philadelphia, the PA Project for Civic Engagement, and national non-profit Urban Rural Action.  

The program is free and open to the public. Program organizers expect 50-100 participants from urban, suburban, and rural areas with wide-ranging views. They anticipate attracting residents who want to take action themselves to improve their communities, the Commonwealth, and the country at a time of unprecedented challenges to public health and economic hardship.

“Libraries have long been conveners of brave conversations about what divides us and what we have in common. The Uniting for Action program takes that a step farther by connecting Pennsylvanians across distances and differences for meaningful civic engagement,” said Andrew Nurkin, Deputy Director of Enrichment and Civic Engagement at the Free Library. 

While program participants will begin the collaboration online, they intend to continue by gathering in person for summits at Gettysburg College and the Free Library of Philadelphia when this can be done safely and in line with regulations.

Program participants will meet once a month online for structured discussion, small group brainstorming, and collaboration focused on taking action. The action will come in the form of projects within and across communities that participants design themselves. 

“There are three types of people: Those who love to argue, those who are only interested in their own ideas, and those who love to work together to make communities better across America,” said Chad Collie, UR Action Pennsylvania State Director and community leader in Adams County. “Uniting for Action is uniquely dedicated to the last of those three.”

According to program organizers, community projects might include social media campaigns that promote respect for different political perspectives, efforts to counter misinformation, and initiatives to address local Covid-19-related needs. The community projects will benefit from support from the Free Library, Penn State University’s McCourtney Institute for Democracy, and Gettysburg College’s Eisenhower Institute.
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“People sometimes scoff that programs like this are ‘just talk,””  said Chris Satullo, Co-director of the PA Project for Civic Engagement. “In my experience, though, diverse, well-done dialogues like this can frame problems in wise ways that lead to smart solutions and real-world impact.” 

​Media Contacts:  
Chad Collie, UR Action, Adams County, urbanruralaction@gmail.com 
Kaitlyn Foti, Free Library of Philadelphia, fotik@freelibrary.org 

The Free Library of Philadelphia advances literacy, guides learning, and inspires curiosity.
The PA Project on Civic Engagement helps diverse groups hold productive dialogues across differences of belief, position, or partisan allegiance.
UR Action brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

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Urban Rural Action Speaks Out on Gun Violence

[Waynesboro, PA] – August 7, 2019 – Urban Rural Action mourns the loss of the 31 people killed in back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton last weekend, as well as the approximately 100 Americans who die each day due to gun violence. We stand with communities across this country recovering from gun violence and committed to a more peaceful future.

As a young organization working on the frontlines of one of America’s most divisive issues, this bloody weekend begs us to reflect on what we know about gun violence, what we believe, and what we plan to do about it:

What we know about gun violence:

1. The U.S. has experienced more than 250 mass shootings in 2019[1], a uniquely American crisis. 
2. Nearly 36,000 Americans are killed with guns each year. In 2017, gun deaths reached their highest level in at least 40 years.[2]
3. Gun violence takes numerous forms. Nearly ⅔ of gun deaths in the U.S. are suicides. Domestic violence, urban gun violence, and unintentional shootings also account for large portions of total gun deaths.

What we believe: 

1. We cannot accept a status quo in which gun violence becomes the norm in our streets, schools, and houses of worship. While no single measure will “solve” the gun violence problem, that is no excuse for doing nothing.
2. Treating those with different views on guns as our adversaries is unlikely to address our underlying political and social divisions and may worsen them instead. Addressing gun violence in Congress and our communities requires constructively engaging people who have different perspectives from our own.
3. We should advocate for legislation likely to reduce gun violence, but we shouldn’t wait for our legislators to act. We need to come together in person to take action within and across our communities – urban and rural.

What we plan to do about it:

1. We’re piloting a gun safety and violence prevention partnership between more rural Franklin County, PA and more urban Washington, D.C. beginning September that will unite firearms organizations and gun violence prevention groups that have never worked together before and traditionally viewed each other as adversaries.
2. The centerpieces of the program are collective action projects that participants will design and implement in both Franklin County and D.C. to strengthen gun safety and/or reduce gun violence across the two communities. 
3. We’ll share the outcomes of this collaboration with you, and we stand ready to support groups that would like to replicate this effort in their own regions.

If you’d like to support our efforts or learn more, email us at urbanruralaction@gmail.com.
 
The UR Action team
 
[1] An event in which four or more people are killed or injured with a firearm: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting
[2] Giffords Law Center https://lawcenter.giffords.org/facts/gun-violence-statistics/

Media Contact: Madeline Rose, urbanruralaction@gmail.com

UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.

 

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Urban Rural Action Wins Grant from Vera Institute of Justice to Reduce Incarceration in Adams County and Philadelphia
Grant is part of Vera’s In Our Backyards Community Grantees program, benefiting 16 organizations in 7 states

[Adams County, PA] – June 5, 2019 – The Vera Institute of Justice announced Tuesday that Urban Rural Action and the Pennsylvania Prison Society won an “In Our Backyards Community Grant” to build consensus between urban and rural communities on criminal justice reform in Adams County, PA and Philadelphia. Through the “Consensus-Building for Incarceration Reform” (CBIR) program, UR Action will advance collaborative efforts to reduce incarceration and improve jail conditions in Adams County and Philadelphia.

This grant was made available through Vera’s In Our Backyards initiative, which has been at the forefront of research and analysis around the rise of incarceration in small cities and rural communities such as Adams County. This changing geography means that while campaigns in cities like New York, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Philadelphia have secured powerful commitments from elected leaders to close jails, hundreds of smaller communities across the country are grappling with a rising but quiet jail boom.

CBIR aims to strengthen the influence, advocacy, and consensus-building capacities of a network of criminal justice reform advocates, community leaders, and jail officials in Adams County and Philadelphia; increase the network’s familiarity with data on incarceration rates and jail conditions; develop advocacy strategies to reduce incarceration and improve jail conditions; and build relationships among participants through homestays and shared meals.

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“Mass incarceration negatively impacts families and communities in urban and rural areas across the United States,” said Joseph Bubman, founder and Executive Director of UR Action. “Strengthened urban/rural collaboration on criminal justice reform will not only address systemic inequities, reduce recidivism, and save taxpayers money, but can also foster relationships and trust across the urban/rural divide in the process.”

UR Action will implement CBIR in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Prison Society, founded in 1787 by signers of the Declaration of Independence to ensure humane conditions in Pennsylvania prisons and promotes criminal justice laws to “return our fellow creatures to virtue and happiness.”

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Media Contact: Madeline Rose, urbanruralaction@gmail.com

UR Action is a non-profit that brings together people across the urban/rural divide for local action to strengthen our communities and our country.