BUCHANAN — Two individuals, from two different walks of life, recently met in a back room of the Buchanan Area Senior to solve a complex problem: how to support diversity in Buchanan.

Karli Wendorf and Rev. Sid Mohn, of United Church of Christ, throw around ideas such as holding public meetings to having businesses place supportive stickers in their windows.

“There’s no one answer about how to do this,” Mohn said. “That’s why we are here.”

Wendorf and Mohn are two members of an organizing committee for One Buchanan, a new organization in Buchanan aimed at promoting diversity and making the city into a place that welcomes people of all races, nationalities, religions and sexual orientations. Other members of the organizing committee include Mayor Brenda Hess and people of diverse populations, including members from the LGBT and disabled communities. There are currently seven members total.

Though founded in 2017, One Buchanan is just now making big steps to integrate themselves with the public, and, as a result, will host an event to introduce themselves to the public in February.

“One Buchanan is an effort to declare that city welcomes diverse populations, and that it’s a city that embraces diversity and is a city that cares,” Mohn said. “We want to include all residents in our community.”

Mohn and Wendorf said that the idea for starting One Buchanan came from similar initiatives in other cities, such as One Chicago, an organization formed in to federal immigration policies. Though One Buchanan is following in the footsteps of initiatives in larger cities, the group will be the first of its kind in Berrien County.

Though there was not an inciting incident in Buchanan that One Buchanan is a response to, members of the organization recognize that there are issues in Buchanan need to be addressed, many of which are the same ones that exist on a national scale, Mohn said.

“The One Buchanan committee has recognized that there are some communities that are fraught with division and polarization between different groups, even some hate speech,” Mohn said. “Buchanan wants to declare itself to be distinct from such communities and cities. … We were [prompted to create One Buchanan] amid national reports of cities torn apart by conflict. As community members, we want Buchanan to make a positive impact.”

Wendorf said that though the group has been operating for some time, the group has taken a while to go public in order to make sure the group had a clear focus and was gaining input from a number of different perspectives.

“We wanted to make sure we were doing everything organically,” she said.

The group is currently focused on creating an overall atmosphere of acceptance in Buchanan, but also plans to deal with issues of diversity and inclusion on a case by case basis, by allowing people to bring complaints and concerns in the community to One Buchanan’s monthly public meetings or to members directly by emailing them at weareonebuchanan@gmail.com.

The primary function of the group would be to serve as a listening ear to community concerns regarding diversity, and to ensure that those concerns do not turn into larger issues, Mohn said.

“Let’s say there were concerns of bullying of LGBT students at the local high school,” Mohn said, providing an example of how One Buchanan would address an issue in the community. “The council would tabulate the concerns we have heard, then seek to meet with the principal or superintendent to indicate that these are community concerns that are surfacing. Then, we may provide a recommendation for the district to consider as part of their response.”

Both Wendorf and Mohn said they strongly believe in the message of One Buchanan and that they believe, with community involvement, the group will be successful.

“I’ve been taught to be an advocate for diversity and inclusion,” Wendorf said. “I live here in Buchanan, and I think it’s important to make sure these things stay alive here.”

The One Buchanan coordinating council meets the last Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the Buchanan Area Senior Center. Meetings are open to the public. The group will host a special introductory event from 4 to 6 p.m. on Feb. 3.