Solidarity in Service has been many things - a community initiative, leadership training, a combination of programs and projects designed for service. Bust most of all, it's a commitment to a dream - a dream to inspire hope by building partnerships that will eradicate violence.

Solidarity in Service began with five goals:

	1. To form partnerships between community leadership adults and youth, and between those "serving" and those "being served" so that all people - regardless of age, class, race or other distinctions - would be recognized as valued resources and gifted allies in finding creative solutions to social problems. 2. To increase awareness of specific community issues and the cycle of events that can lead to negative situations, especially those resulting in violence; and to improve the learning and leadership skills of young people interested in making a positive difference in their local area. 3. To mobilize the participating youth and adults to impact their community both by providing some direct services to people in need and by challenging existing systems and bringing about social change. 4. To celebrate the accomplishments and learning of the participating youth and adults, and to showcase their efforts and results in a way that affirms their success and challenges them (and others) to do even more. 5. To document this particular process of leadership, learning and service so that other community leaders (those who speak primarily Spanish as well as those who speak primarily English) can benefit from our experiences and be encouraged to develop their own initiatives.

Our guiding image was a balance scale, developed by Jim McGinnis of the Institute for Peace and Justice (Visit www.ipj-ppj.org). The pan of the scale with tiny pebbles is heavier than the pan with the larger rocks. These words summarize our strategy: "Pebbles of peace outweighing boulders of violence."

Violence, especially when it is random, is so overwhelming. Gangs. Drive-by shootings. Bullying. Rape. Murder. How can any one person make a difference? The rocks represent those boulders of violence that seem insurmountable.

The pebbles represent our small individual efforts of peace. By themselves, they seem like nothing. Again, what difference can one person make? But when we come together, our sheer numbers are powerful enough. Peaceful people, united by hope and determination, can overcome the violence that everyone is so afraid of.

Our context was a set of "Christian practices," from the Valparaiso Project for the Education and Formation of People in Faith. (Visit www.practicingourfaith.org and www.waytolive.org).

Of the eighteen practices, we chose to focus on these five: Truth telling, Making good choices, Forgiveness, Justice and Creativity. We established partnerships among leadership adults in Milwaukee, especially from churches and community/outreach agencies, from both the English and Spanish speaking communities. We planned two autumn youth forums, one in English and one in Spanish, and each forum involved youth as presenters and table facilitators. The content of the forums centered on violence and peace, set in the context of the five practices we chose.

During the forum, churches partnered with outreach agencies, and their young people drafted plans for projects, designed to address some issue of violence in Milwaukee. After the forum, the real work began, as churches and agencies began to carry out their plans. Fourteen projects resulted - there were peace rallies, workshops, service projects and prayer services. We held a reunion in the spring to celebrate our leadership, learning and service. Yet the partnerships and projects continue! Our forums and reunion are already being planned for the 2004-2005 "school year."

The first year of Solidarity in Service was supported by grants from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and the Valparaiso Project for the Education and Formation of People in Faith.

Click here to order a handbook, CD and videotape. They describe the Solidarity in Service process and can help motivate your community to initiate a similar project in your local area. Note: this resource is completely Bilingual, in English and Spanish.