Our Reflections on Visiting Interfaith Peacebuilders in the Northeast U.S.

As Regional Coordinators for the United Religions Initiative, one of the core parts of our job is to listen to our members - to understand what their local context, the projects and programs they are working on, their dreams for the future and current struggles. While the phone, email, Zoom and Skype are great tools to do this, nothing can replace the opportunity to do this listening face-to-face. So, we set out on a 9-day trip to visit our grassroots members and like-minded interfaith peacebuilding organizations to build relationships; discern trends; help make capacity-building connections to resources, organizations and individuals; and discern how to URI can continue to grow in response and service to our member’s needs and request.
As part of a URI staff exchange, Nivy Balchandran, Regional Coordinator for URI in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, traveled to the U.S. to join Sari Heidenreich, Regional Coordinator for URI in North America, on this trip from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Concord, New Hampshire. We spent countless hours in conversation, getting to know one another and sharpening each other’s skills in community-organizing, capacity-building, communications, outreach and more.
We have been so enriched by this time on the road that we want to invite you to join us on this journey through the video and photo essay below! If you have questions about any of the topics, programs or organizations we mention below, please do not hesitate to reach out and ask for more information or an introduction to them! You can also read a written version of this report here: urinorthameric...
In Peace,
Sari Heidenreich and Nivy Balachandran