Breaking Bread and Building Community – CBEL’s Next Collaborative Gathering Jan. 08
Written by Tim Buckley, December 2025
The REC hall, which doubles as a bowling alley and a hub for mentoring youth, was set for almost 100 adults, arriving before 8 a.m. to line up for a free breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and a robust mug of coffee.
With no seating chart, some chose to find a buddy to breakfast with, while others sought new company. Each table was covered with white craft paper; an array of crayons and markers made it clear that we were supposed to decorate our own place mat with notes and sketches. A few seemed reluctant to disfigure the tablecloth but CBEL’s assistant director Ashley Russell made it clear that the more notes made on the table the better.
“Outcomes improve with your good ideas,” she predicted.
CBEL’s Collaborative gatherings, held every two months, have become legend for a handful of things. One is that the topic of the day is stimulating. Another is that the crowd is made up of people whose lived experience is more diverse than you could imagine, who continue to show up because of that mix. A third is that whoever you happen to be seated with at breakfast becomes a brainstorm partner for the half hour of discussion following a stimulating panel presentation from grassroots and grass-tops leaders.
The next breakfast gathering is Thursday, Jan. 08. The topic: From Fragile to Resilient.
Building resilience begins with civic engagement. Fixing population-level social shortcomings takes a boundary-shifting, hierarchy-bending effort from top to bottom. The breakfast Collaboratives set the table for bridging the gap between ideal and possible.
The panel for the topic From Fragile to Resilient includes:
Imelda Sanchez, Neighborhood Family Council member – Kennedy Neighborhood
Rich Kansky, Green Acres Landscaping, president
Val Jean Pratt, Salem Evangelical Church, after-school program manager (volunteer)
Bob Salazar, former School District Principal and School Board member
Justin Hopkins, Willamette Health Council, Executive Director
Building resiliency relies on improving near term issues like the threat of losing your house and finding healthcare that is effective and affordable. Longer term issues include building more financial equity and improving the academic outcomes of tomorrow's moms and dads.
Rich Kansky, a business owner and one of the panelists, came to his first Collaborative in August. “It was transformative for me,” he said.
Please join us, we hope it will be transformative for you as well!
