Trust, respect and diversity
 
These past couple of months I have had the good fortune of hearing from a number of community members about their efforts to engage other community members from diverse backgrounds.  I found in their sharing of stories a number of things that seemed common in the process of beginning to engage themselves with community members of diverse backgrounds.  A few I listed below are:
 
Ø Make personal contact
Ø Make no assumptions, be aware of your assumptions
Ø Attend their events or gatherings
Ø Have an open mind and be respectful
 
And upon further reflection, I saw that these approaches to engaging with diverse communities reflected what we heard at the Parent Institute on building authentic relationships which include trust, respect and reaching in to the diverse community.
 
The personal connections become a conduit to building trust across differences. And trust gives a place from which relationships can endure the ‘growing pains’ of relationship building. Trust increases the resilience necessary to maintain relationships when “stuck” on an issue. Trust helps sustain relationships and collaboration of efforts. 
 
“The only relationships in this world that have ever been worthwhile and enduring have been those in which one person could trust another.” - Samuel Smiles, British author and biographer.
 
We often hear about community outreach – the approach where others reach out to diverse groups  for the purpose of bringing them in to the community at large. Going in to a diverse community to attend an event or a gathering is an initial outward demonstration of ‘community in-reach’ which will bring better results of efforts of engagement. This outward demonstration is a first step to open up to learn about others and self. Community in-reach is likely to require patience which communicates caring and  respect that begins to evolve into trust.   
 
“You can judge a person’s character by the way he treats people who can’t help him or hurt him”. – Anonymous
 
Making no assumptions and being aware of your assumptions is likely to begin a journey of introspection. This journey of introspection is a foundation for building authentic relationships. It will take courage to ask the questions that will help build relationships based on trust and authenticity.  I refer you to the materials on authentic relationships that were presented at the Parent Leadership Institute event this past February at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing. 
 
You will find those materials at the GS website. In the homepage, look to the left side of the screen, click on ‘Events’ then on ‘Parenting Leadership Institute’ and go to ‘Support Materials – Documents. You will see three separate documents about authentic relationships.  
 
I know this can be the start of a exciting journey.