History

My first vision of the Communities of Peace came at the US Capitol in June, 2000 when Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked for input from about 20 of us on the potential for a US Department of Peace, to operate at a cabinet level.    Most of the people indicated that they thought that it was either impossible or a very long shot.  I had a vision of communities actually modeling the ideals of a “Department of Peace,” in a sort of bottom-up version, while the top-down iterations of the resolution took place.  It appeared to me that, in this way, what was really doable would show itself, feeding the political process as it went along. 

The next step came months later, from a child’s vision on September 22, 2000 at our peace program at the Pentagon, where we were dedicating a peace pole for the Pentagon Chapel.  Eight year-old Brynn Stalvey announced that she wanted her third grade at the Bonnie Brae School to start a peace quilt that would be made only by children.  That quilt would contain the children’s depictions of peace, as well as containing their feelings of what “peace on earth” would be like for them.  The quilt was named the Children’s Cloth of Many Colors, and was modeled after one made mostly by adults.  That initial adult quilt was the vision of Peace Troubadour James Twyman

That initial program, described elsewhere in this site, was followed by the Emissary of Peace program, then the Peace Forums, then grew into the Communities of Peace program.  Like water, it wanted to flow into the next steps.  The Masters Group, our nonprofit organization that had sponsored the Pentagon ceremony, was the initial sponsoring organization for the program.  The next transition took place when the Children’s Cloth of Many Colors Foundation was formed to hold the project; when the program expanded, the name was changed to become the Communities of Peace Foundation. 

Warrenton, VA was the first community to officially declare itself a “Community of Peace,” on September 10, 2002.  Since that time, ten communities in the United States have taken on various elements of our programs.  International program outreach has been extended to Afghanistan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Costa Rica.  

Descriptions and backgrounds for all of the above elements of this program are found on this website.  The purity, sweetness and love of the child remain key elements in our Communities of Peace program.

                                                -Gerry Eitner, founder and president