The Sidewalk Talk Listening Bus Tour
Join us as we bring the transformative power of listening to cities across the U.S.A. this May during Mental Health Awareness Month and our 10th Anniversary!
Community Care Starts With Listening
The Sidewalk Talk Listening Bus Tour is an invitation to foster more community in this divided time in our country—one heartfelt conversation at a time. Community is the medicine we need to elevate our mental health. This is our second tour, building on what we learned in 2017, when we saw firsthand how listening in public spaces can transform people and communities.
Maybe you’ve had one of those days—when the world feels heavy, and hopeless creeps in and your mental health takes a hit. Then, out of nowhere, you see these caring faces: a few chairs on the sidewalk, a sign that says "Free Listening." You hesitate. Who are they? And then you sit down and share your story. A stranger looks at you with warmth and says, “I’m here. I’m listening.”
And something shifts. Your breath deepens. Your shoulders drop. You remember—good people are still out there. You are not alone. And you leave feeling more capable of facing this moment because your whole body knows we are in this together.
At a time when loneliness and division weigh on us all, this tour is about weaving connection back into our country—because real community isn’t just nice, it’s necessary for our mental and social health. Sidewalk Talk isn’t an organization coming in from the outside; it’s a grassroots, volunteer-led movement made up of people from all walks of life.
Do you want to move beyond the stress of us vs. them and create a community of we? Then this is the place for you.
This video went viral in 2018 and was seen ten million times.
Monday, May 5th - Kansas City, MO
Tuesday, May 6th - St. Louis, MO
Wednesday, May 7th, Louisville, KY
Thursday, May 8th, Cincinnati, OH
Friday, May 9th, Columbus, OH
Daily Agenda
☑️Noon - 2 pm - FREE Lunchtime Listening Training At Partner Venue TBA.
☑️ 4 pm to 7 pm - Sidewalk Talk Listening on the Sidewalk - Address TBA (sign up to listen with us here).
☑️ 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm - Volunteer Dinner or Community Potluck.
Saturday, May 10th, Pittsburg, PA
Daily Agenda
☑️ Noon to 4 pm - Sidewalk Talk Listening on the Sidewalk - Address TBA (sign up to listen with us here).
Tour Schedule & Agenda
How You Can Get Involved
1. Listen With Us
Be part of the tour as a listener! You can join for the entire journey or volunteer in just one city. Applications are now open for both options:
2. Purchase Merchandise
Show your support by purchasing our exclusive Bus Tour T-Shirt Here.
3. Help With The Following
✅ Host a Lunchtime Listening Training
Seeking a local organization to provide space and host lunch for up to 20 attendees. Free and open to the public. Training lasts two hours.
✅Recommend High-Traffic Locations for Free Listening Events and Permitting
Ideal sites are near transit hubs or shopping areas where people run errands.
Social venues (cafes, bars) tend to be less effective for listening events.
✅ Identify Potential Financial Sponsors
Looking for organizations or businesses interested in supporting this initiative.
Sponsors will be recognized in press, signage, bus branding, postcards, and social.
Sponsorship donation amount: $1,500.
✅ Help Arrange a Community Dinner or Potluck
Looking for inclusive faith-based organizations or restaurants willing to host a potluck or sponsor a meal.
✅ Assist with Hotel Accommodations
Seeking local hotels willing to offer a six-room courtesy block.
✅ Connect Us with Local Media
Looking for radio stations, newspapers, and media outlets to help generate interest.
Sponsor The Tour
Sponsorship Levels:
$100: Get a link to your business on our bus tour website.
$250: Logo included in a collective post on social media (2x) + benefits of $100 level.
$400: Individual logo placement on socials + benefits of the $250 level.
$600: Logo listed on the Bus Tour or School page + benefits of $400 level.
$1,500: Logo on printed materials for the bus tour or school program + benefits of the $600 level.
$2,000: Logo on printed materials for BOTH the bus tour AND the school program + benefits of the $1,500 level.
Make Sponsorship Donations Here By Clicking on Donate To Right or Mail In Paper Check
In-Kind Contributions:
Do you have a space we can use, a discount on hotels, or food to feed our listeners? In 2017 several churches, mosques, and synagogues hosted us for an evening potluck. Is that your organization? Email us at bustour@sidewalk-talk.org
Check Donations
Make check payable to Social Good Fund and write Sidewalk Talk in the memo field.
Mail check to:
Social Good Fund
PO Box 5473
Richmond, CA 94805-4021
Please also email cityleaders@sidewalk-talk.org to let us know of your sent contribution.
Why a Bus Tour?
At a time when division and loneliness weigh heavy on our communities, the Sidewalk Talk Listening Bus Tour is about something simple but radical: showing up, listening, and remembering that we belong to each other. We wanted to visit part of our country that either some of us are from and haven’t been back to in awhile or where others of us have never been to meet people who might be really different than we are. This is a chance to weave connection and community across our country.
When we first did this tour in 2017, a woman got off her bike, walked over, and wept. "You just gave me faith in humanity again," she said. "That people can be inclusive and kind."
This tour isn’t about outsiders coming in with answers—or about making ourselves feel like good people. It’s about rolling up our sleeves, sitting down, and truly serving our communities by listening. It’s about practicing community as medicine and reminding one another that there are still people who will make you feel safe and loved with their ears.
Why these cities? Our operations director lives in Kansas City and we have a chapter leader in Cincinnati and Columbus. Three of us on the bus are from the Midwest. So we connected the dots.
Over six days, we’ll visit six cities, turning sidewalks into spaces of connection, kindness, and healing.
This tour is about:
Listening as healing. When we are deeply heard, we remember we matter.
Radical inclusion. Inclusive listening builds belonging and resilience.
Restoring faith in each other. Sharing stories creates bridges and helps us remember that our strength comes from connection.
It’s impossible not to love someone once you’ve fully heard their story.
Join us in making connection contagious.
Will you help put us in touch with sponsors and partners? bustour@sidewalk-talk.org
Who Is On The Bus?
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Travia Fitzpatrick
Travia has been listening with Sidewalk Talk since 2018 and currently leads communication and curriculum for the organization. Listening across differences and bridging divides is a core value of hers, and she believes in the power of listening to transform lives and empower people to become their best selves. As a wife, businesswoman, and mom to three young boys, Sidewalk Talk continually helps her step into her most authentic self while contributing to a meaningful cause. She is grateful and excited to be part of the upcoming Bus Tour, hitting the ground to listen in cities across the country.
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Kiera Miller
Kiera has been working with stories and storytellers for over twenty years as a librarian, editor, writer, workshop leader, and educator. She loves witnessing and facilitating the power of story. It's no surprise that she was immediately drawn to Sidewalk Talk when discovered during early Covid. Since then, Kiera has completed the listener training and 11-week HEAR course. She's learned that heartfelt listening is a practice with an ongoing learning curve— one that makes her a more effective teacher, parent, and community member. Kiera identifies as a third-generation Pathfinder. Her beacons are books, dogs, and kids. She's thrilled to be "on the bus".
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Dinah Olson
Dinah is a midwesterner living in Oswego, NY for the past 25 years. She is a Physician Assistant and Sidewalk Talk listener since 2019. She leads the Oswego, New York Chatper. When she saw the CBS Sunday Morning story about Sidewalk Talk she felt compelled to get involved. When the bus tour idea came up this year, she felt the same way. “I can’t not do this!” Dinah is so looking forward to listening in the Midwest.
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Schnell Reed Lindsey
Schnell is a doctoral candidate in the Community College Leadership Program at Morgan State University. Schnell has been in the higher education field for over 20 years. In the spring of 2022, she piloted the Sidewalk Movement at Montgomery College - Takoma Park Silver Spring campus with Dr. Stacey Peterson. She’s excited to bring her passion for heart-centered listening and desire to restore compassion and humanity to the individuals and communities on tour. Just look for the lady with the bifocals and bucket hats in your city!
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Traci Ruble
Traci founded Sidewalk Talk in 2015 and has been practicing psychotherapy for over 20 years, specializing in relational trauma and couples therapy. She believes that creating a safer, more just, and inclusive world begins with how we show up in community. Her passion for weaving connections and building bridges stems from her own experience of surviving her parents’ six marriages and being raised by a teen mom.
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Claire Crum
Claire started working with Sidewalk Talk in 2017 to create the entire operations infrastructure. Since then the mission of Sidewalk Talk has taken root. Claire and her husband both took the 11-week HEAR course for couples and now they are hooked. She hopes to bring care back to communities across her Midwest home.
Press
Sidewalk Talk's success is thanks to the press, who help get people out to the sidewalks. Traci, Travia, and Claire are available to speak with you about our mission and this year’s tour if you are a local news station, newspaper, or podcaster.
We welcome national coverage but are especially eager to connect with press in Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS, St. Louis, MO, Louisville, KY, Cincinnati, OH, Columbus, OH, and Pittsburgh, PA.
Bus Tour Sponsors
Without these sponsors and donors this tour would not be possible. Please thank them and support their businesses.