Remembering our Past | Repairing our Systems | Reimagining our Community

How often do you think about the place where you live, its history and its relationship to systems of injustice? What can we learn about our society and ourselves as we examine the disparities between different communities within our city? Have you ever considered how Hastings Ranch and Northwest Pasadena came to be what they are today? Have you wondered which communities were displaced due to the construction of the 210 freeway and 710 stub?

  • "It's a sense of responsibility once you learn about your city. I think Reconcile Pasadena definitely provided that action step. For example, I feel very empowered to speak at a city council meeting now, and there are avenues to do that because of the connections that I was able to make through the cohort."

    —Alli B., Housing Pod 2022 Cohort 

  • "I grew up understanding new establishments are a good thing for the community. But then, I realized that for every good new thing that comes in, it takes out something else that might have more long-term value for the community. So, this has been a space to struggle with issues like gentrification and ask who is this community "uplift" for? These questions have made me rethink a lot of the presuppositions I had before.”

    —Nori. O, Pastor’s Pod 2024 Cohort 

  • "Given what I know now about Pasadena, my concern is that there aren't enough people in the city with this information. I want to let other people know about what the risk is if we don't get involved, if we don't collaborate, and if we don't learn from the past to build a better future together."

    —Christy M., Education Pod 2024 Cohort 

  • "I want to make sure that everybody has a place in this city….this tiny little city that is so powerful and thinks it's huge, that we can be a real microcosm of what we want to see happen in the U.S. I want us to push forward, especially as I think about housing, and I think about the unhoused and the people that are the most vulnerable."

    —Craig P., Pastor’s Pod 2024 Cohort

  • "What the cohort does is it gives you a community to work in. I think that's really important: to have somebody that you can talk to, who can make you aware of other things, can broaden your knowledge, can reinforce you and the struggle, and keep you there, so that you don't burn out by yourself."

    —Gilbert W., Housing Pod 2022 Cohort 

apply today

If you have any questions about this cohort, please email reconcilepasadena@cfrjustice.org