CONNECTInterfaith for All
Interfaith for All is a collaborative initiative dedicated to fostering mutual understanding and cooperation among diverse religious communities. By organizing interfaith dialogues, educational programs, and community service projects, it aims to bridge divides and promote a culture of respect and inclusivity. Through these efforts, Interfaith for All strives to build a more harmonious and connected society.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
Social support networks
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
According to the Institute for Economics and Peace which distributed the Global Peace Index, sectarian strife has quickly emerged as the leading cause of global violence over the last 20 years. Religious and racially motivated violence has risen across the United States with Los Angeles being no exception. At theroot of this problem is a breakdown in civic engagement among communities of faith. While there are activities and programs to address interfaith issues, many are aimed exclusively at clergy and leadership.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
This program addresses a critical need to bring communities at the grassroots level, welcoming everyone with an interest in interfaith relations and building collaboratively among and within our communities to make a more interconnected and vibrant Los Angeles.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
Linking communities of faith has been shown to decrease religiously motivated hate in communities, leading us to a long-term vision that through our events and as we scale with local partners, we will see a reduction in religiously motivated hate, bias, and violence in Los Angeles County.
What evidence do you have that this project, program, or initiative is or will be successful, and how will you define and measure success?
This is an early-stage program. We will be measuring success based on attendance, demographic qualifiers ensuring a diverse community is reached, and post-event surveys and selected interviews to gauge how people are moving on issues of religious perception and willingness to engage outside their faith community in relation to our events.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 1,100.0
Indirect Impact: 16,000.0