John Vasconcellos and Maureen Sylvia Armstrong, two members of the leadership class, believe the solutions can be found within the community and will be found best in a communitywide dialogue. The dialogue itself will help rebuild the damaged fabric of the city. Tonight, New Bedford Acts, their new organization, invites the general public to the first in a series of community dialogues to discuss possible ways to stop the violence on our streets. More than 100 people have already signed up to participate. But you need not sign up to take part. Simply come to New Bedford High School, 230 Hathaway Boulevard tonight.

The meeting will run from 7 to 9 p.m. with the last half hour left open for people to sign up for a smaller discussion group of 10 to 12 people who will brainstorm over the following three Tuesday nights. A final meeting is planned for Tuesday, April 5, at which each of the small groups will report their recommendations.

This will be the basis of a strategic plan of action for the city. New Bedford Acts is modeling its work after successful work led by the federal Department of Justice to heal communities after violent racial incidents.

More than 20 New Bedford people have been trained in the last few weeks to be facilitators for the smaller dialogue sessions. Ross Grace Jr., who will give a keynote address tonight and speak about the history of the violence, says the goal of New Bedford Acts is to encourage everyone "to step up."

"We believe that not one of us has the answer, but by coming together we will come up with better solutions," said Mr. Vasconcellos. To learn more about New Bedford Acts, you can visit its Web site at www.newbedfordacts.org

This story appeared on Page A12 of The Standard-Times on March 8, 2005.