20 February 2023
TOPEKA (FOX 43)- Topekans are all invited, regardless of race, religion, age or ability to apply for this years’ round of Topeka’s Mosaic Partner Pairs.
If you’re wondering what the Topeka Mosaic Partner Pairs Program is, it’s best described in detail on its website:
The fundamental concept of Mosaic Partner Pairs is that by building deep and lasting individual relationships between people who may not look alike, or worship alike, or otherwise relate to family and community in the same way is essential to building access to the full range of community health and equity.
Once a pair is assigned, you meet three times per month. Anyone wanting to get involved with the program has to be able to set aside 2 hours per week to commit to meeting with your partner. Two of the meetings are more personal, one-on-one meetings while the other will be a cluster group meeting.
During these meetings, people will be taking a deep dive into those difficult and hard-to-have conversations that people tend to shy away from. The point is to hear a different perspective from your own and dive into that un-comfortability which, hopefully, will turn into discovering friendship, culture and community in the process.
Dr. Beryl New, the co-chair for Topeka United’s Mosaic Partner Pairs joined with Lara Waits, a Coach for the Pairs, to come on the Fox 43 AM Live show to speak about their experiences, as well as some specifics about new things they have going on this year. If you’re interested in watching that, we have it posted above.
This year, the program will kick off on April 15 and will go until Dec. 23. The deadline to submit your application to be involved in the Mosaic Partner Pair experience is by Feb. 28. If you’re interested in doing so, click here.