House of Bah Foundation Theory of Change

The Problem We’re Addressing

Rural Nebraska communities are more diverse than they appear, or than many residents

recognize. Immigrant families and longtime residents often live in the same towns, shop at the

same stores, and send children to the same schools without ever really knowing each other.

This isn’t hostility so much as distance: separate social networks, language barriers, and few

structured opportunities for genuine encounter. That distance, left unaddressed, becomes the

soil in which fear and misunderstanding grow. Meanwhile, conversations about immigration and

diversity happen largely in the abstract, on screens, in political rhetoric, rather than between

actual neighbors.

Our Core Belief

Division doesn’t primarily live in policy disagreements. It lives in the absence of relationship.

When people know each other, not as representatives of a group, but as neighbors with names

and stories and families, the conditions for understanding change. You can’t easily dehumanize

someone you’ve broken bread with. Our theory of change begins here: that genuine human

encounter, created intentionally and repeatedly, is the foundation on which more inclusive,

resilient communities are built.

If / Then Logic

If rural communities have few structured opportunities for immigrants and longtime residents to

meet as neighbors... then creating those opportunities, deliberately, in a welcoming and

low-stakes setting, can begin to close that distance.

If food is a universal point of connection, and if the food of immigrant communities is honored

rather than othered... then a shared meal becomes not just a social event but a statement about

belonging and mutual respect.

If people experience their community as more diverse, more layered, and more interesting than

they assumed... then they are more likely to see shared investment in that community’s future.

If local partner organizations are central to design and delivery... then the program earns trust it

couldn’t import from the outside, and creates lasting infrastructure rather than a one-time event.

The Change We’re Making

Growing Together: Rural Nebraska Community Dinners

Columbus, Nebraska