Community Conversations Aim to Bring Citizens Together

The Community Mediation Center, in partnership with local organizations, has planned “Community Conversations,” a series of monthly community dialogs where people of all kinds from throughout St. Mary’s County can discuss topics of interest and concern in a safe, encouraging and conducive space.

In St. Mary’s County, the Community Mediation Center wants to bring people together. This series will further the center’s responsibility to create a space for systemic change, according to Mia Bowers, the center’s executive director, in keeping with a hallmark of community mediation. The center’s outreach efforts have formed partnerships with a broad array of agencies, including many that are concerned the message of what they have to offer isn’t being heard.

“There’s a big disconnect,” Ms. Bowers said. But in addition to sharing their information, the agencies also want to hear from the people they hope to serve. “They can learn from the community,” she said. “You get to learn from them, and, in turn, they get to learn from you.”

The conversations that Bowers mentioned are geared toward creating new and lasting connections, through that open and honest exchange of information.

These conversations began in August 2023 at a gathering with the St. Mary’s Chapter of the NAACP. Next up will be a conversation hosted by the St. Mary’s County Museum Division at the US Colored Troops Interpretive Center at the Lexington Manor Passive Park on Sunday, September 24, 2023, from 2 to 5pm where the community is welcome to attend free and engage in the discourse.

For more information, call 301-475-9118 or go to CommunityMediationSMC.org.