Civity Leader: Jordan Feyerherm Organization: Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA) “When I think about what a welcoming community looks like,” says CFRA’s Jordan Feyerherm, “it’s not just saying the right things. It’s coming together and working for your fellow community member when they need it and when someone comes to threaten that sense of community.” …
Category Archives: Blog
A Civity Social Contract
It is time to be honest with ourselves about the social contract of the United States, the core of our shared understanding about who We the People are and how we are going to be with each other. Most of us learn the basics of this social contract in elementary school. We are stirred by …
Civity Dreams
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are having weird and vivid dreams. Some of these dreams may be due to the anxiety many of us are feeling; others are due simply to the radical shifts in how we are living our everyday lives. One of the ways, apparently, that we as individuals respond …
Where We Gather – Missing Our “Third Places”
The COVID-19 shelter-in-place protocols are keeping us apart. Soccer and baseball fields lie empty, as do picnic tables and playgrounds, beaches and trails. Restaurants and coffee shops are in-and-out or delivery operations. Barber shops and hair salons are closed. The doors of churches, synagogues, and mosques are locked. And library buildings are quiet. Not even …
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The Way Out of Tragedy
In Greek tragedy, irony describes a situation in which the significance of a character’s actions or words is known to the audience but not to the character. What I heard in the interview, in contrast, struck me as the opposite of irony – a situation in which the significance of a character’s actions or words …
Civity Is Up to Us
The fundamental question facing any community or society is how its members are going to be with each other. This question is more pressing now than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic is taking lives, and the shelter-in-place directives aimed at saving lives are devastating many people’s livelihoods. A natural disaster is creating a social and economic …
We Are All Connected: Civity in the Time of COVID-19
Dear Friends of Civity- We hope you all are holding up (and for many of us, holing up) and staying safe and healthy. We realize the current environment is unsettling, disconcerting, and scary. For us, it is a time to be grateful for the people we are in relationship with – our loved ones, our …
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Civity and Civic Engagement
The civity work of building relationships in communities doesn’t fit into standard categories . . . People sometimes ask us: Is civity about inclusion, diversity, and equity? (Yes.) Is it connected to democracy? (Yes.) Is it like community organizing? (Yes.) And what about civic engagement? How does civity relate to that? Both Malka and I …
From Civity Leaders to Civity Leadership
When we seed civity in a community, we start with a workshop for leaders in which participants practice being authentic and putting difference on the table. We follow up with support and coaching that assists these leaders as they incorporate civity into their groups and organizations. The root of seeding civity is awareness of the …
Seeding Civity in Welcoming America Communities …Moving Forward!
Earlier this fall, in partnership with Welcoming America, we offered our services to four of their Welcoming Network members following an RFP process. We have now started seeding civity in San Jose, CA; Champaign-Urbana, IL; Salt Lake County, UT; and Pittsburgh, PA. One of the most exciting things about these new communities is getting to …
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