Saturday, April 26, 2025 • 1:00-3:00 pm

Breaking Bread Community Conversation: What are we losing? Where do we want to go from here?

Booker T Washington Community Center, 1114 W. Johnson St, Staunton

Every spring, Building Bridges for the Greater Good invites the public into conversation around important issues affecting our community. This year’s Breaking Bread event will focus on how decisions that are being made in Washington will affect the Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro area – and what we want to prioritize as a community and as a Commonwealth going forward.

Building Bridges is an all-volunteer community initiative that was founded to work towards the vision of “a community of equality, unity and love where everyone can thrive.” They believe the past decade witnessed greater recognition of the need to address the legacies of historic harms and to enact policies to help create a community in which all can live in dignity, with safety and belonging. Yet as Building Bridges founder, Mr. Ophie Kier observes: “Many of these gains are now threatened and we are facing the challenge of how best can we, as a community, hold onto our values and continue to make progress?”

The event will start with a few speakers briefly describing some of the likely local effects of national budget cuts and policy changes. This will be followed by table group discussions, where everyone will have a chance to talk with neighbors about the implications for their lives, their concerns and their hopes. The program will conclude with a whole community discussion about how best we might respond in order to ensure that everyone in our community might thrive.

Speakers for opening remarks include:
· Leslie Beauregard – Staunton City Manager
· Dr Ryan Barber – Waynesboro City Schools Assistant Superintendent
· AnhThu Nguyen – Chair, Staunton DEI Commission
· Shonny Kier Cooke – Director of Workforce Programs, Piedmont Community College
· Dr. Amy Tillerson Brown – Dean, Mary Baldwin College

Because this is an important election year for Virginia, we are inviting those who want to be candidates for state office to participate as listeners and their campaigns can set up tables to connect with voters.

To continue with the tradition of having conversations while enjoying home baked treats, Building Bridges is also inviting community members to bring homemade cookies to share, if they are able.

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