Since 2018, community leaders across Chicago have been coming together at Building Blocks of Peace to collaborate on taking collective action to improve their neighborhoods. Building Blocks of Peace is a spring workshop series that centers around the idea of hyper-local place-based commitments made by individuals and organizations.
This year, Chicago Peace Fellows Alum acted as some of the facilitators for these workshops, learning and sharing the roles they play in the safety of our communities, the social fabric and well being of our neighborhoods. The program was specifically timed to occur before Memorial Day, since gun violence in Chicago typically rises in the summer.
Building Blocks of Peace (formerly ‘Love Your Neighborhood’) was initially started in collaboration with Vance Henry, who served as Chief of Faith-Based Initiatives under several Chicago Mayors. The program aimed to connect local community leaders to facilitate dialogue about improving their communities. “Building Blocks of Peace is a collaboration that belongs to everyone involved… we believe that we all can learn from each other across neighborhoods and methodologies.”, says Nate Tubbs, a 2023 Chicago Peace Fellows alumnus who is involved in planning and facilitating the workshops.
Building Peace with Faithful Presence
Central to Building Blocks of Peace is the idea of faithful presence, which encourages participants in the program to be active in, and committed, to their neighborhood. Nate elaborates “The idea is that just having a great event or program isn’t enough, but that we need to be present and faithfully involved somewhere and committed to that place. It is a place-based focus, we’re not asking people to be everywhere, but to be faithfully committed somewhere particular.” To reflect on this idea, participants were asked: “If you or your organization were to leave your block, would anybody notice and would anybody care? Have you been involved in such a way that people notice that you do good for the community?”
We can’t take a satellite view towards our communities when we think of ways to improve them, the people closest to the ground are our experts.
-Michael Henderson, Director of the Chicago Peace Fellows and Workshop Facilitator at Building Blocks of Peace
Building Blocks of Peace has successfully grown with a change in its format: from a series of Zoom meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic to a workshop series that brings in local practitioners to facilitate. 2024 Chicago Peace Fellow alumnus, Tony Daniels, has been part of both formats, initially getting involved at the Zoom meetings to then facilitating panels, where he spoke about his work with block clubs. Tony, the president of the Adams Block Club, 5500, a non-profit organization celebrating 50 years this year, notes how participating in the Chicago Peace Fellows inspired him to step up as a facilitator: “During our 2024 Peace Fellows Program, I was really inspired and encouraged to present trainings for block club captains, as a lot of what I experienced was trial and error. During the program, I realized there are a lot of people who want to start block clubs, enhance their clubs, and think differently.”
Strengthening Block Clubs, Community Associations, and Grassroots Groups
Many of the participants in Building Blocks of Peace are involved in their neighborhood through block clubs, community associations, organizations, and congregations. These backgrounds encourage fruitful conversations as participants and facilitators share their experiences managing their organizations and working in their neighborhoods. Tony explains, “When you gather these types of people together, you are inspiring people to ask ‘What can I do?’… Helping your neighbor is not complicated, but you can add systems and structures and order to it that helps people know how to better get after it.” Tony found particular value in a workshop called “Weaving a Community of Care”, by Robbie Johnson, Outreach Community Coordinator at The Firehouse Community Arts Center.
Tony explains “I’m an ideas person, I can come up with a thousand ideas and get people excited, but then it’s like ‘How do you flesh this out?’. Robbie talked really simply about some of the things that you can do to be a good neighbor, but also to think outside the box about how you can care for people, how you can show up for them and be intentional.”
Robbie’s class helped you think about your seniors, helped you think about your youth, helped you think about the children on your block and how to plug into them in a way that is not threatening and not invasive, but caring.
-Tony Daniels, 2024 Chicago Peace Fellow and President of Adams Block Club, 5500
Nate, who serves his community through the Island Civic Association, found particular value in connecting with LoLita Canady, a 2025 Chicago Peace Fellow and the Executive Director and President of the Rosemoor Community Association. After connecting with her during these workshops prior, Nate has found great value in the relationship they have built: “I think we have common goals and common struggles. For me to hear from her perspective and to learn from somebody who is in a similar type of organization, but a different context, is really helpful and encouraging.”
Following each workshop session, participants in Building Blocks of Peace go on an optional prayer walk where they explore the hosting neighborhood to learn about the structures, people, organizations, and work that is being done in the community. Tony led the prayer walk following the workshop hosted at Breakthrough in Garfield Park this year.
“It helps people see what’s happening in the community from a different lens; it gives participants a way to reflect on why you care about what you care about.” he says.
On the prayer walk, Tony encourages participants to pick up trash along the way: “We are contributing something besides the prayer that allows people to engage as well.” The prayer walk invites people to see how they can approach change in their neighborhood. “It’s that place-based idea, this is the place that others are committed to. And when you see how others are committed to their places, it inspires you to be committed to yours.” Nate adds.
While the framing of Building Blocks of Peace is hyper-local, the workshop is deliberate about inviting participants to cross neighborhood lines, sharing and borrowing from other communities.
We have hosted a three-part series for a number of years, with one on the North Side, one on the West Side and one on the South Side. Each features local leaders from those parts of the city with this idea that we all have something to learn from each other. As good as some examples or methodologies are, the goal is always learning and asking what it means for your specific context.
– Nate Tubbs, 2023 Chicago Peace Fellow and Director of Civic Engagement, Together Chicago
By sharing techniques, practices, and community, Building Blocks of Peace empowers community leaders to serve their neighborhoods while centering their individual contexts. Learn more about Building Blocks of Peace and view past workshop recordings at www.buildingblocksofpeace.com
