LEWISTON — Lewiston-Auburn hasn’t seen the kind of hate crime like that in Charlottesville, Va., where a white supremacist drove a car into a crowd of people Saturday.

But there has been an increase of ugly words intimidating immigrants since Donald Trump was elected president in November, YWCA Executive Director Kathy Durgin-Leighton said.

To counter that, Tuesday was the first day of a new local movement: Green Dot Lewiston-Auburn, which provides training to help bystanders know how to safely intervene and reduce local acts of hatred.

Eighty-five people from the community — church leaders, police, teachers, bankers, store workers and social workers — have signed up to become either a Green Dot ambassador or a Green Dot trainer. 

From Tuesday through Friday this week, Green Dot training is being provided at Callahan Hall of the Lewiston Public Library. People can choose half-day or full-day sessions.

Green Dot is a nationally recognized organization that uses research-based teaching to provide bystander intervention training to the Air Force, colleges and universities, and some communities throughout the country.

Durgin-Leighton shared examples of the kind of intimidation local immigrants have heard since November.

“Go back to your country!”

“How can you afford that car?”

“Can I see your Social Security card?”

Or, “I pay for your groceries!”

The words are often yelled at immigrants in banks, Walmart and grocery stories, Durgin-Leighton said.

Green Dot was asked to come to Lewiston, and agreed, holding 13 focus group meetings in April to understand what’s been happening, organizer Joan Macri said.

From the focus groups, Green Dot developed a curriculum for Lewiston-Auburn. Half-day training is being provided to those who signed up to become “ambassadors” who can answer: “What is Green Dot?”

The four days of training are being provided to those who signed up to become Green Dot trainers, Macri said.

Those trained “will fan out across the community to faith-based groups, law firms, Hannaford, Shaw’s offering from a 15-minute talk to several hours of training, said fellow organizer Jan Phillips. The Green Dot movement will spread. “It’s the ripple effect,” Phillips said.

The idea, Durgin-Leighton said, is whenever there’s a hate incident, “that is a red dot. The intent is to replace those red dots with green. We’re going to develop a map of L-A where we’re doing the trainings, where we’re reaching out. Those will all be green dots.”

Businesses and organizations where workers have had Green Dot training will put green dots on their doors or windows, symbolizing it’s a safe place where harassment will not be tolerated, Durgin-Leighton said.

Numbers ‘on our side’

Speaking to the Callahan Hall audience on Tuesday, Green Dot trainer Alberto Lorenzo said he has hope that the country’s climate will improve. Most people are good, he said.

“I know for a fact that the numbers in any community are on our side,” Lorenzo said. “The number of people who never have, and never will, harm another person is greater than those who will.”

Green Dot’s research shows for every person who wants to harm another, there are 20 to 45 bystanders. 

“Visualize that,” Lorenzo said. “The person who wants to do harm is on this side, the target on the other side. Standing in between are 20 to 45 people. You gonna tell me this thing’s not doable? With one Green Dot from one of these folks with their hand out (saying), ‘Hold on,’ or ‘No, it’s not OK,’ or ‘Let me call someone,’ the numbers are on our side. Bystanding intervention works!”

But it has to be done safely, which is where the training comes in.

He instructed his audience to write one Green Dot activity they’re going to do this week, anything from posting a story to talking to family to telling co-workers about Green Dot Lewiston-Auburn. Then, share it with the person next to them.

Becky Conrad, president of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, turned to Stephen Carnahan, pastor of Auburn’s High Street Congregational Church.

“I’m going to bring this to the chamber and share with the membership, that this community is prepared to embrace the Green Dot program and end some of the harassment that’s been happening in the community,” Conrad said.

Carnahan said his church has a food pantry on Thursdays and this week “I’m going to talk about being a Green Dot, that the food pantry itself is a Green Dot, that people who come to it can be Green Dots.”

PULL QUOTES:

“I know for a fact that the numbers in any community are on our side. The number of people who never have, and never will, harm another person is greater than those who will.” — Green Dot senior trainer Alberto Lorenzo

“I’m going to talk about being a Green Dot, that the food pantry itself is a Green Dot, that people who come to it can be Green Dots.” — High Street Congregational Church pastor Stephen Carnahan

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