Hempstead community members have recently formed the Hempstead Restoration Coalition in an effort to bring peace to the community.

Board member Johnyne Rees said there has been a history of conflict in the community, particularly racial conflict.

“Hempstead has had issues in the past,” she said.

Rees and other members of the community went to a racial reconciliation seminar in June, where Dr. Jack Gaines spoke about racial conflicts, presented messages of peace and presented his book “My Brother’s Keeper; Not My Brother’s Killer.”

“It was so powerful,” Rees said.

It was there that Rees and other community members decided to form the Hempstead Restoration Coalition.

Mayor Michael Wolfe recently commissioned the organization. The goal of the organization is to bring peace to the community instead of conflict, according to Rees.

She said the goal extends beyond the issues of racial conflicts, but that is one of the issues the community faces.

The Hempstead Restoration Coalition will be holding its first conference, “Beyond the Dream,” Jan. 14 in the Hempstead Community Center located at 635 Business 290 East.

Gaines and his colleagues will be the guest speakers. They will explore the root of the problem of conflict and reveal their answer.

Gaines is an author, leader in international racial reconciliation events and internationally acclaimed speaker.

The conference is free and open to all. “Beyond the Dream” is from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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