PLEASANT RIDGE ­ Participants want Cincinnati and suburban schools to start exchange programs. They're urging neighbors to meet each other for dinner and to visit libraries and festivals in other communities.

        ''We're trying to break down barriers any way we can,'' says Scott Hatch, who co-hosted a Neighbor to Neighbor meeting in Pleasant Ridge.

        ''The first time we met, I think everyone was nervous. But now people are really feeling more comfortable with each other.''

        ''We are making friendships,'' co-host Ruth Snouffer says.

        Since its first conversation in November, the group has met every month at Pleasant Ridge Presbyterian Church.

        Participants invited students from Pleasant Ridge Elementary School and the Indian Hill School District to one meeting. The idea for a student exchange grew out of this.

        At another meeting, a woman who teaches diversity classes at a real estate company held a training session. The group hopes to have a picnic and softball game this summer and has talked about learning about other races by visiting different churches.

        ''We want to put our words in to action,'' Mr. Hatch says, ''so we can actually accomplish something.''

The Police
Violence up, arrests down
Changes made since April 2001
Q&A with Police Chief Streicher
Q&A with former F.O.P. president Keith Fangman

Neighbor to Neighbor
Community meetings produce results
Going beyond polite silence
What your neighbors said
What do you think?
What's happening in 145 communities
A sampling of communities:
• Mount Healthy
Pleasant Ridge
• Milford
What institutions are doing

Related Links

Neighbor to Neighbor home page
Matters of Race: Bridging the divide in Greater Cincinnati
On the Same Page Cincinnati
Live Without Hate
Common Ground
Cincinnati 2001: Year of unrest
Unrest in the city: Archive of riot coverage
Unrest photo timeline
Jim Borgman on race