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Omaha Together One Community (OTOC)
“Instead of everyone moaning and groaning about our problems and feeling helpless, we develop leaders, gather a sense of strength, seek answers in a way that people don’t feel bruised, and work together to make changes.” In a nutshell, Fr. Frank Baumert captures the essence of successful community organizing and describes the methodical process used by Omaha Together One Community (OTOC).
The neighborhood around Holy Name, Fr. Baumert’s parish in inner-city Omaha, Nebraska, struggles with violence and poverty. Nevertheless, OTOC has helped to energize concerned people, to replace hand-wringing with effective action that happens to embody Catholic social teaching.
OTOC is a multi-ethnic, ecumenical organization of some twenty-five churches, schools and parent groups, and 300 individuals committed to promoting a safe, healthy environment for children and their families.
With help from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, OTOC evolved from a temporary committee to a sustainable organization fifteen years ago. Catholic groups compose more than half of the OTOC membership, reflecting the population of Omaha. Omaha is a historically segregated Midwestern town, home to successful insurance, banking, and meat-packing businesses. Its residents reflect the ethnic diversity of the United States and the economic reality of the 21st century. OTOC was and is the only forum in Omaha where people come together across racial, economic, and confessional lines to discuss the issues that both unite and divide them—and then work together for solutions.
OTOC began as a group of religious leaders who gathered to discuss how the needs of their parishioners were not being met by the systems in place in their community. Rosie Volkmer, an early OTOC leader, says the group was inspired by Putting Children and Families First: A Challenge for Our Church, Nation, and World, the 1991 pastoral statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“What the bishops said at that time was so heartening,” says Volkmer. “They spoke of things that would make life better for families and children,” which is an ongoing focus for OTOC efforts. OTOC has many interests and has worked to improve youth programs, relationships between the community and the police, worker safety, and parental involvement in schools. It has led efforts to reduce violence, replace sewers, weatherize homes, and encourage neighborhood revitalization. It has promoted just wages and working conditions for employees of the meat processing industry.
Typically, OTOC raises issues in meetings held in households throughout the city. OTOC organizer Mark Darby says, “We listen to what people say. We do heavy research on why the conditions exist, and we ask clear questions.”
A network of community leaders trained with funding from CCHD helps mobilize OTOC members to meet with local officials to present workable longterm solutions.
for immigrant driver’s certificates.
Fr. Norman Hunke, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in suburban Gretna, Nebraska, and a long-time OTOC leader, says the organization’s thoughtful approach has given it “traction in the community.” He says it provides a structure for religious groups and organizations to develop working relationships and address actual local issues.
The agenda of OTOC embodies Catholic social teaching, says Fr. Hunke. “We have a rich tradition that helps us approach these issues. I’m not sure the other denominations are that steeped in it,” he says. “It comes down to the Church’s stand that a worker has rights and dignity. Social justice is not an option, but a requirement for anyone who considers himself or herself a Catholic.”
Fr. Hunke describes speaking at his former parish, St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, about conditions in meat-packing plants in Omaha. “I had heard of abuses and gross indecencies, such as fast [processing] lines, crumpled arms, repetitive motion injuries, and lack of bathroom privileges, where workers urinated on themselves rather than leave the line. I think a lot of people thought those days were past.”
Concentrating on worker safety, food security, and just wages, OTOC supported the right of the meatpacking employees to vote on whether to unionize. Volkmer says OTOC brought together people from all over Omaha to push for a new sewer system in the oldest part of the city. Population growth and the passage of time wreaked havoc on an old system that combined sanitary and storm sewers. When the city considered a bond issue to fund sewer improvements, it did not include any projects in the older, poorer areas of Omaha.
From OTOC house meetings on other issues, Volkmer says, “I knew the people who had raw sewage backing up in their basements. OTOC mounted a postcard campaign asking why the sewer bond excluded that part of the community. Postcards were received from people who were directly impacted and [from] people from the other side of the city.”
The campaign was a success, and Volkmer attributes it to people getting to know one another through OTOC.
“We had an impact on a serious problem,” she says. “I’m impressed by the difference it makes when people of faith work together to seek solutions to things that are of great importance to our community.”
CCHD funding is crucial to the success of OTOC. Grants support the salaries of key staff members and ensure that training programs identify and develop new leaders. Volkmer says help from CCHD is also a reminder that “Our Catholic Church and our bishops encourage us.”
The issues OTOC tackles are driven by the member congregations, says Joseph Higgs, OTOC’s lead organizer.
“Ultimately, this is about teaching people to take action on their own behalf.”
Fr. Hunke says, “OTOC is a voice for people without one. It surfaces issues that are real to the community. It does its homework and decides whether or not to take a stand. ”
Looking ahead, Higgs says the organization is challenged to maintain its diversity and animate and give new meaning to its name, Omaha Together One Community.
“We’re the only organization here that pushes ordinary people to talk to each other, to challenge each other and discuss hard issues,” he says. Its effect on members is deep and abiding. “We’re so committed to this way of living our faith we can’t imagine not having an organization like OTOC,” says Volkmer of the group’s members. “There is just such a sense that this is what our faith calls us to do. OTOC is a vehicle to live out our faith and make a difference.”
This article is excerpted from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s “Helping People Help Themselves” newsletter (2010), Issue 1