Because creating community is an integral part of the spirit of Hospitality Pantries, it follows that community organizing is an essential underpinning of the process. We also understand that it doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't just happen on its own. Since the early 90's, we have collaborated with Genesis Organizing, Inc., a non-profit directed by Beth Carroll Hunley. Beth has worked for 20 years in a variety of settings in East Tennessee communities organizing coalitions to address poverty and hunger issues. Together we began to develop an intentionality for creating community through our work by working across racial, economic, and denominational lines to bring people together around issues of hunger and poverty.

During the initial phase of the development of our new Northwest FISH Hospitality Pantry (while we were still drawing up building plans and fund raising) through our community organizing effort we began to initiate and engage the participation of the surrounding neighborhoods. We began the Northwest dialogue, spending a year and a half listening and learning from congregations and residents of Northwest neighborhoods. We then pulled together a council composed of many of those we met during this process who guide the policy of this work, holding up values of respect for human dignity, and inclusiveness, and built relationships between this group and congregations across the wider community so all could come together to craft a vision for the new work.

Our Community School will:

• Discover and call forth talents and abilities from diverse women---African American, Latina, and Anglo, from churches and neighborhoods, both lower income and middle-class;
• Provide training for them in how to act together to improve situations in their neighborhoods and community;
• Create community among participants across denominational, class, ethnic and economic lines by building relationships around their common values and interests.