Pasadena mayor and leaders discuss how to build partnerships
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10/03/12
"We need great Samaritans, not
just good Samaritans," said Jill Govan Bauman, president and CEO of Imagine LA, an
organization working to address homelessness.
"Today, the needs of the homeless are
more complex than ever before," commented Bauman, at a luncheon in Pasadena on Monday, Oct. 1 focusing on
"Collaborative Leadership for the Common Good," hosted by Fuller Seminary's Max De Pree Center for Leadership.
Bauman encouraged congregations and faith communities to develop "sustained relationships," serving as mentors and friends with
homeless families, to help them transition into permanent housing and family stability.
"The process of partnership building among
faith communities takes time and a lot of relationship development," said Kevin Palau, president of the
international evangelistic Luis Palau Association, and one of the luncheon's
featured speakers, along with Bauman. "The right kinds of leaders need to be willing to be involved as
collaborators in a big vision to address the huge problems of the city.”
Palau described efforts to mobilize faith communities in Portland, Oregon for
an annual citywide campaign called "Season of Service," lasting from
May to October. Widely endorsed by Portland Mayor Sam Adams, the Season of Service connects congregations directly with the needs of the poor.
Welcoming the group to the luncheon event, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard praised the luncheon attendees' interest in building partnerships as a way of meeting community needs.
"Whether you serve in education, in
City government, in the marketplace, or other vocations, you are helping provide
great hope for the future of Pasadena,” Bogaard said.
Helping families off the streets and into housing, jobs, and education, is "like planting oak trees, one family at a time," Bauman said. Now, with more than 50 formerly homeless families in stable situations, Imagine LA is sharing its model of collaboration building in other cities. "This is a
faith-action program...for the common good."
Fuller Seminary's Max De Pree Center for
Leadership is directed by Gideon Strauss, who is also a senior fellow with the Center
for Public Justice, where he previously served as Chief Executive Officer and editor of its weekly
publication, Capital Commentary.
The next leadership lunch gathering will be
held on Friday, February 15, 2013, featuring guest speakers Eric Stowe, of the
clean water charity, Splash; and Jacqueline Fuller, Director of Charitable
Giving and Advocacy at Google.
For more information on the Max De Pree
Center for Leadership, email info@depree.org.