Time USA - 06.04.2020

79

JOSEPH

BUBMAN

Common g round

It’s p ossible t o w on-

der w hether r oads

still ru n b etwe en

the s mall t owns a nd

farms that constitute

one A merica a nd

the s uburbs a nd

cities t hat m ake u p

another. “ There’s

been a r eal s orting,”

says Joseph Bub-

man, e xecutive d irec-

tor o f U rban R ural

Action, a n onprofit

dev oted t o b ridging

this d ivide i n U .S.

politics a nd s ociety.

The g roup p icks t wo

places a bout 1 00

miles a part —the

flagship p airing

is A dams C ounty,

Pennsylvania, and

Philadelphia—and

searches f or c om-

mon g round o n a n

issue t hat m atters in

both. I n o ne s ession,

small-town g un-shop

owners sat down

with u rban v iolence-

prev ention a ctivists.

The g oal t here wasn’t

consensus, B ub-

man s ays, but “an

openness t owa rd

collaboration.”  U rban

Rural A ction h as

late- summer ev ents

planned i n G ettys-

burg, Pa., Hagers-

town, Md., a nd C lare-

mont, N .H. B ubman

says, “We very much

intend t o w ork i n 5 0

states.” —Karl Vick

PALEE MOUA

AND MARILYN MOCHEL

Hope t hrough h ealing

Gaps b etwe en t raditional b eliefs a nd m ain-

stream m edicine c an l eave people without

care t hey n eed. T hat’s w hy Palee M oua, a

leader i n t he M erced, C alif., Hmong com-

munity, and nurse M arilyn M ochel s tart ed a

project t hat, f or n earl y t wo d ecades, h as i nte-

grated H mong s hamans i nto a l ocal h ospital,

Dignity H ealth’s M ercy M edical C enter. “ Before

the p rogram, t here was s o m uch f ear, because

nobody was a llowe d b ehind t hese c losed

doors,” Mochel says. —K.S.

KENNY KING AND

WILLIAM MARSHALL

Together t hey p ray

“Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning,” Martin

Luther King Jr. said in 1968, “is the most seg-

regated hour of America.” Even now, 80%

of Protestant pastors say their church is mostly

one race. So when Kenny King, 40, and William

Marshall, 41, pastors in Sikeston, Mo., decided

to merge congregations—one United Method-

ist with a largely black congregation and one

Southern Baptist with white congregants—

they expected some difficulties. But while the

church, now called Grace Bible Fellowship,

hasn’t shied away from tough conversations,

they’ve been meeting for six months and

they’re all still talking to one another. Their

secret for getting past differences, apart from

a belief in grace? “We ate a lot of barbecue,”

says Marshall. “It’s hard not to love someone

you’re really listening to.” —B.L.

EBOO PATEL

Belief i n e ach o ther

In a crisis, Eboo Patel points out, we care less

about what others believe and more about how

they work together. That idea is the seed of the

Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), his Chicago-based

nonprofit. On over 500 college campuses, IFYC

brings people of different faiths together, shap-

ing leaders who listen to all sides. “I like to say

that diversity is not just the differences you

like,” says Patel, 44. “We fully acknowledge

that people have very different ideas about

creation and salvation. But we also know those

lead to shared values.” —Belinda Luscombe

STEVE

POWELL

Stylish s upport

Stev e Powell pro-

vides t he h omeless

with t he r are g ift o f

being f ussed over.

The i dea f or h is

mobile b arber s hop,

dubbed Personal

Enhancement

Mobile, came to him

after h e f ell a sleep

praying. H e d reamed

of p eople c oming

towa rd h im u pset

and walking away

happy. “ We g ive

them a h aircut, c lean

them u p r eally g ood,

and we p ractice

job i nterv iew s w ith

them: “ ‘Pretend I ’m

the b oss,’ ” Powell

says. “So when

they c ome i n a nd

sit b eside y ou, y ou

don’t k now t hey ’re

homeless.” T he

client p ool i s a nyone

who’s s tru ggling, and

the b arbers include

people work ing o ff

community s erv ice.

A v eteran, Powell

steers some to mili-

tary r ecru iters. He’s

hoping t o c ontinue

roaming A rk ansas

providing comfort,

connections a nd

confidence—ev en

though t he t railer

that f unctions a s t he

barber s hop was j ust

stolen, chairs and all.

“The l ast t ime I s aw

it was Wednesday,”

Powell, 41, said on

March 2 0. “ We were

eight p eople f rom

1 0,000 h eads s ince

WHITE: MAGGIE KELLY; HOUSKA: AYSE GURSOZ; BOYLE: COURTESY BOYLE; HARGINS: GIA TROVELA; BUBMAN: COURTESY BUBMAN; PATEL: COURTESY IFYC; MOUA AND MOCHEL: TATIANA VIZCAINO; POWELL: COURTESY POWELL; KING AND MARSHALL: KRISTINA WOODY—UNION UNIVERSITY 2 015.” —K.V.

UWR.uniters.indd 79 3/25/20 4:24 PM