The City of San Luis Obispo launched the Belonging Project, a new initiative designed to bring community members together through conversations and public events focused on connection.
Through quarterly events, the city’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the project aims to create spaces where residents, students and local organizations can discuss community issues and learn from one another.
“We wanted to create a vehicle that brings people together and focuses on what connects us rather than what divides us,” said Matt Pennon, Manager of San Luis Obispo Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “There are many more things that we have in common than things that separate us.”
The program builds on previous collaboration between the city and Cal Poly called the Community Belonging Series, which primarily involved students. The new project expands the effort to include the diverse community across the San Luis Obispo.
The first Belonging Project event was titled, “Knowing Our Neighbors: The Heart of a Community is Knowing Our Neighbors: Health, Language, and Culture,” was held on February 25 and had 36 attendees from community members, students and participants from across the county.
The session focused on how language and lived experience, particularly within Mixteco communities, can shape interactions with public systems and the health care industry.
Pennon, who has been working for the city for less than nine months, has spent much of his time building trust across departments and within the community. He described belonging as something that requires action, not just intention.
“To me, belonging is a verb,” Pennon said. “It requires action. What are the things that we do to make it so that everybody actually does belong?”
The project is free to attend and will continue with events once per quarter. Organizers are already planning future sessions, including a May 13 event focused on inclusive public engagement in collaboration with Cal Poly’s debate team.
Pennon said the long-term goal is to make the Belonging Project a foundational program within the city, creating ongoing opportunities for residents to engage with one another and address community challenges together.
“We are not going to be able to move forward together as a community if we don’t have conversations,” Pennon said.
In addition to the event series, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is developing a “Responding to Hate and Bias Toolkit,” which will provide resources and strategies for community members to address bias and support one another.
Pennon said the initiative comes at a time when national and local tensions can make community connection more difficult, but also more necessary.
“When we come together, we can overcome some of those real challenges,” Pennon said.
The next Belonging Project event is scheduled for May 13 and will focus on building inclusive public engagement. The session will be held in collaboration with Cal Poly’s debate team at the San Luis Obispo Public Library.
More information about upcoming events and how to get involved can be found on the City of San Luis Obispo’s website.