The Key to Safe Neighborhoods | A Felt Sense of Belonging

Written by Tim Buckley, April 2026

Why do children form cliques? It’s a natural tendency, plus they learn it from adults. What purpose do cliques have – even those of gangs? Adventure. Status. Money, too. But the most important reason people join groups is acceptance. Belonging.

At the next CBEL Collaborative (MAY 7 - Register Here), you will see a different kind clique-building. And, you will experience belonging in a larger context. The silos that keep us apart in arbitrary ways are diminished.  Instead, Collaborative gatherings mix leadership and constituents across old boundaries.  A panel made up of both grassroots and grass tops leaders will stimulate a discussion among the rest that will be unusually stimulating and productive.

Connection and Belonging: The Foundation of Safety is May’s topic. Listen to and visit with Maribel Calderon and RJ Navarro about their lived experience of neighborhood leadership. Talk to Maribel about her role in the Community Violence Reduction Initiative. Likewise, talk with Keizer and Salem Police Department Chiefs Copeland and Womack. From them, you’ll hear more about a first-of-its-kind meeting in which gang-affiliated youth, local law enforcement, employers and public service providers met to help youth escape the gravity of gangs and find traction in pro-social ways.

Having participated in that novel first meeting as the co-chair, Maribel said the outcome – though only the first of a series of meetings – was “encouraging.”

“At the start, the youth seemed distant and unfriendly towards each other. But by the end of the meeting, they were gathered, helping each other out with employment applications and even laughing a bit. It’s a good sign that these kinds of effort will pay off,” she said.

Please join us on Thursday morning, May 7, at 8:00 a.m. at The Rec on River Road in Keizer!