The Faith and Justice Initiative (TFJI)

At Unlikely Partners, we believe that Faith and Justice conversations are not just talk, they are the work of truth telling, listening, and working together.

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We believe the people closest to the pain are the ones closest to the solution, and their voices must lead the way. Every person bears the image of God, carrying dignity and power, and when we honor that, we unlock the wisdom needed to heal our city.

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This work cannot rest on one group alone. Restoration requires all of us! The community must rise with its strength, the church must stand with its moral courage, and the police must choose to protect and to serve as partners in safety and healing. This is why the Faith and Justice Initiative aims to facilitate conversations, meetings, and events between 3.5% of Akron's key institutional leaders to ensure they are:

• Informed by data, as well as the lived experiences and real stories from youth and families

• Connected to the work in the neighborhoods

• Taking steps toward practical changes in behavior, policy, practices, and investments that benefit all of Akron

 

Alone, each can only go so far. But together, community, church, and police can rebuild trust, reclaim our streets, and restore neighborhoods as places of peace and promise.

This is not about saving, it is about standing, about implementing changes not just as a product of the current leadership, but as a permanent systemic improvement.

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It is about building a new future from the ground up, a future where justice is equal, where hope is not a slogan but a lived reality, and where our children can walk freely, without fear, in a community that belongs to them!