Caring Communities succeed when mutual understanding sets the tone.
Community Homes of Lebanon County has enjoyed success for over 50 years, fostering caring relationships between management and the residents based on understanding each other’s points of view.
“Relationships succeed with mutual respect and the ability to be sensitive to open-minded listening while learning about the other person’s perspective. We are always looking for learning opportunities,” says Community Homes CEO Charlie Rush, “Here is an example – we were made aware of a workshop about caring communities that involved ten men at the Cook County jail in Chicago, sponsored by McCormick Theological Seminary.”
The workshop was called “Community, Conflict, and Restoration.” We learned that even the best communities can be fragile. It is important for community members to focus on healing and rebuilding damaged relationships. Questions were discussed, like “What causes conflict? Who is harmed? Who can restore the relationships and rebuild the community? We learned that when it comes to villains, victims , and saviors, we are all in this together. Stay open-minded and work it out. Caring communities endure when we recognize that we are all capable of contributing to conflict and being harmed by it, rebuilding relationships, and healing. It is a team effort.
God reminds us how much we rely on one another to build caring communities.
(Reference – The Upper Room Disciplines 2024:A Book of Daily Devotions (p.180). Upper Room Books. Kindle Edition.