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Frederick News Post

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Courtesy Frederick News Post, permission pending
Coffee House Conversations Deal With Issues of Police, Race

By Danielle Gaines

Entering Dublin Roasters on Saturday afternoon, things looked much the way they usually do. Groups of people sat talking and sipping coffee with chairs clustered every which way around tables.

The topics of conversation weren’t far from usual coffeehouse fodder: community relations, social issues, police relations, race relations. But on this Saturday, the two dozen or so visitors were taking part in The New Horizons Support Network’s first of four “Coffeehouse Conversations.”

The planned conversations are aimed at bringing different groups and people together to address racial inequality and other complex social issues in Frederick, said the network’s executive director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones.

“Frederick is a wonderful town. It’s a wonderful community. It is, in many ways, on its way to being exceptional,” Rosen-Jones said. “People that I’ve talked to don’t want to be just ordinary.”

The goal of the meetings is to help the Frederick community by talking through sensitive issues without using divisive, polarizing language, Rosen-Jones said.

For panelists names and details, see full article at
Frederick News Post 

“It can be very uncomfortable,” Capt. Jason Keckler, deputy chief of the Frederick Police Department, said of the conversations undertaken Saturday. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be had, he said. “We’ve made a lot of strides over the last several years, but we have a way to go. Things like this are a good part of that.”

Keckler, who has been with the department for more than 20 years, said he is committed to fostering change within the community.

Article continues here at Frederick News Post....

New Horizons thanks the Frederick News Post for their generous support of our efforts; other days, other pages.  

Coffee house conversations on race relations will be held today

Frederick News Post

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Courtesy Frederick News Post, permission pending

By Ed Waters, Jr.

Frederick has not experienced the explosive problems of race and police as in Missouri and New York, and a local program will work to alleviate that happening here.

New Horizons, an organization dedicated to bringing diverse views together and working things out, will hold a coalition building event from 3 to 6 p.m. Jan. 31 at Dublin Roasters Coffee, 1780 N. Market St., Frederick. The program is sponsored by New Horizon’s Small Zones of Peace Project.

“Frederick is not Ferguson. Frederick has a lot of strengths. There can be things Frederick can pass on to Ferguson. But there still needs to be talks before there are problems,” said Anastasia Rosen-Jones, executive director and founder of New Horizons, based in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

Anastasia Rosen-Jones

There is diversity in Frederick, said Rosen-Jones, who was a practicing psychotherapist, as well as an author, researcher and who hosts two online radio shows.

Rosen-Jones said she uses her clinical skills in treating personality and relationship addictions as organizational skills to bring diverse people and groups together. “It’s getting people to talk across the aisle. To talk about sensitive issues like police and African Americans, faith, other issues in a low-key way. We don’t tell people ‘do this’, but get them to work together,” Rosen-Jones said.

Article continues here at Frederick News Post....

Group to hold dialogue on race in Frederick

Frederick News Post

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Courtesy Frederick News Post, permission pending

The New Horizons Support Network, a nonprofit which offers mediation, educational and camp services, will hold a hold a discussion about race in Frederick County from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Dublin Roasters Coffee on North Market Street.

The goal of the meeting will be how different groups and individuals can work together to address racial inequality, with an eye to forming a coalition.

The network's executive director, Anastasia Rosen-Jones, and other community leaders will open the discussion with brief comments, but the focus of the event will be on comments from attendees. 

Those interested in participating or attending should contact Rosen-Jones at 240-409-5347 or zonesofpeacenh@aol.com. More information about New Horizons Support Network is available online at zonesofpeacenh.blogspot.com. 

— Kelsi Loos