Published
Nov 1, 2010 Published
Monday November 1, 2010
Alliance
still pressing for change
By
Juan Perez Jr. WORLD-HERALD STAFF
WRITER
In 1995, a group of 34 Omaha-area religious congregations formed an interfaith collective designed to learn about their community's concerns and push for change.
They called themselves Omaha Together One Community, and its leaders frequently tell of how the group pushed for infrastructure improvements in the city while helping establish summer programs for at-risk youths and advocating for workers' rights.
OTOC marked its 15th anniversary during a weekend convention at Benson High School, which involved 500 members of 35 different community groups who used the opportunity to prod the city's mayor, police chief and public schools superintendent into working with the organization.
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Group of 500 Helps Empower Local Citizens
by Shelley Russell
OMAHA (KPTM)-It's an organization that's been helping empower local citizens to make their communities better for 15-years.
Omaha Together One Community, also known as OTOC, has spent years working to make Omaha a better place to live.
Sunday afternoon, nearly 500 OTOC members met with City leaders to present their concerns.
"We had over 125 small group meetings with 8-12 people where they had a chance to share stories of what was bothering them, what kept them up at night and what pressures their families face," said OTOC Co-Chair Brianne Kemp. "And through those stories, we hear in different parts of town that there are people having a hard time with housing, people don't know how to interact with the police, people are having a hard time finding a job."
Kemp said OTOC listens to individual stories and creates an agenda.
From that agenda, an individual signs up for what's called an "Action Team" where they research the problem and present solutions to City leaders.
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Channel
6 WOWT
Omaha
Together One Community Celebrates 15 Years
"Claiming
The Dream For All"
A celebration was held Sunday marking 15 years of Omaha
Together One Community. More than 500 leaders from 35 different congregations,
schools and community organizations were in attendance at a ceremony held at
Benson High School.
A celebration was held Sunday marking 15 years of Omaha Together One Community. More than 500 leaders from 35 different congregations, schools and community organizations were in attendance at a ceremony held at Benson High School.
Mayor Jim Suttle, Omaha Police Chief Alex Hayes and Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Dr. John Mackiel heard stories from members. As one explained, the effort of the organization is ongoing.
"The notion of Omaha Together One Community was created, was to cross geographic boundaries, cross religious denomination boundaries, cross racial, ethnic boundaries, try to find ways we can come together,” said OTOC’s Deb Romberger.
The theme of the celebration was "Claiming The Dream For All."
Posted November 1, 2010