A professional writer and educator in Fort Collins, CO, Ellissa J. Tivona, Ph.D., is also a member of the local Fort Collins Not In Our Town Alliance. In a recent contribution to Coloradoan.com, Tivona shares her thoughts being part of a community that stands together as one in times of need. 

I've made a decision. On Sept. 11, 2012, instead of dredging up nightmare images of 9/11, I intend to remember where I was this year.

Within hours of a fire bomb at a local mosque, citizens gathered to proclaim that hate was not welcome in Corvallis, Ore. 

The searing controversy over the proposed Islamic Center near Ground Zero in New York has exposed deep divisions and unhealed wounds in our country.

The debate continues around the building of an Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero. According to a New York Times report, the center's organizers reached out to key interfaith leaders, including those from the Jewish Community Center, Trinity Church and the 9-11 victims' families, but they did not anticipate the firestorm in the media that followed.