Unify Montrose Faced Its First Crisis

In 2023, we launched a pilot Civic Assembly in Montrose, Colorado, a small town on the Western Slope of the Rockies. We didn’t know what would happen, but our goal was clear: we wanted to test whether everyday residents could come together across their differences, learn from one another, and tackle a local challenge as a community.

To our surprise, Montrose didn’t just participate in the project; they took ownership of it. After our pilot wrapped, local volunteers created their own 501(c)(3), Unify Montrose, to continue the work we’d started with them.

For a while, Unify Montrose quietly put in the work to build its organizational capacity. It began hosting regular gatherings for people interested in addressing local problems in a different way. It worked with stakeholders to explore potential solutions to local homelessness during winter weather. And it introduced the concept of deliberation to a group of local students who wished to reach a consensus on after-school activities.  

Then the first real test arrived.

A local political fight caught fire, and some residents assumed that Unify Montrose was aligned with one side of the argument–or worse yet, instigators of the fight. In fact, the organization hadn’t taken a position at all, but that didn’t matter. In a climate where people everywhere are sorted into “friend” or “foe,” the perception of bias alone posed a serious risk.

For a moment, it looked like everything Unify Montrose had built might crumble. But how they responded made all the difference.

Instead of retreating, Unify Montrose doubled down on a principle that had defined their success from the beginning: openness.

Unify Montrose leaders increased public invitations to community gatherings, encouraging people to come see the work firsthand. No filter, no rumor mill. And they sat down with worried community members and local leaders, not to argue, but to listen and explain the mission clearly and calmly.

These weren’t debates. They were conversations…the kind where people actually take a breath, ask questions, and hear one another.

Listening doesn’t magically change every mind. It does something more valuable: it preserves relationships, builds trust, and creates shared facts. In other words, it lays the foundation for the next conversation.

In time, the larger political conflict went to the ballot box. Not everyone liked the result, but people accepted it, peacefully.

And through it all, Unify Montrose remained standing. The organization not only weathered the moment, it strengthened its reputation as a place where disagreement is handled with curiosity, not combat.

What Unify Montrose Teaches Us

Unify Montrose is now moving into its next chapter with a clearer identity and a stronger coalition. And the lessons from their experience are shaping our work in cities like Akron, Ohio:

• Build relationships early, throughout the community and local government, and across differences.
  
  
• Stay radically transparent and open in moments of tension.
  
  
• Create consistent spaces for listening before a crisis hits.
  
  
• Keep the mission steady, even when politics swirl around you.

Unify Montrose is poised to continue building its reputation as an organization vested in productive disagreement. And it continually reminds us of an important truth: healthy local civic infrastructure isn’t just possible, it’s powerful. And it might just be how communities shift from stalemate to problem-solving.

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