Ari Witkin, 22, has thought a lot about faith.

"I really believe God is much bigger than religion," says the 22-year-old Minneapolis native, who graduated from Goucher College with a bachelor of arts degree in peace and religious studies last year.

Though Jewish by heritage and practice, he feels right at home in his first job out of college, which takes him to churches around north Baltimore.

Witkin is a VISTA volunteer assigned to the Greater Homewood Community Corp. as an events coordinator for the Greater Homewood Interfaith Alliance.

The coalition of 25 churches and synagogues in the area says its mission is to "reach across the racial, economic and religious lines dividing people in Baltimore City in order to heal human suffering and build human relationships and understanding."

At an age when many people are still figuring out what they want to do in life, Witkin is emerging as a pivotal figure in the alliance's mission. With a stipend of $11,000 for this year, he is the first and only staff member that the 10-year-old alliance has had.

And he is helping to organize a highly anticpated program by the alliance Jan. 21 -- one that could lead to the creation of more opportunities for poor children citywide.

The program will be held at 7 p.m. at the Bolton Street Synagogue, 212 W. Cold Spring Lane in Keswick, where New York Times Magazine editor Paul Tough will discuss his book, "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America."

Canada created the Harlem Children's Zone -- also referred to as The HCZ project -- a community-based organization serving more than 17,000 children in Harlem, N.Y.

The project, praised as "one of the most ambitious social-service experiments of our time" by The New York Times, surrounds lower-income children with college-oriented peers and adults in an effort to steer them away from "the street and a toxic popular culture that glorifies misogyny and anti-social behavior," according to the HCZ Project Web site, www.hcz.org.

The project is perhaps best known for "The Baby College," a series of workshops for parents of children from birth to 3 years old.

President Barack Obama has called for the creation of "Promise Neighborhoods" nationwide, based on the The HCZ Project, according to the Web site.

The hope is that Tough's talk and the public discussion that follows will lead to the creaton of a similar program in Baltimore, said Claudia Diamond, who chairs the social action committee at Bolton Street Synagogue. Diamond and Amy Myers, head of social outreach at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Charles Village, organized the talk with Witkin's help.

Witkin said several nonprofit groups are applying for Promise Neighborhoods grants, including Living Classrooms, the Center for Urban Families, Towson University's School of Education and the University of Maryland School of Social Work. And, 25 nonprofits in the area that work with children have been invited to Tough's talk, he said.

Witkin has earned the respect of people like the Rev. William Au, pastor of Sts. Philip and James Catholic Church, in Charles Village, and chairman of the Interfaith Alliance.

Au said having a staff person, especialy one as committed as Witkin is a godsend.

"I wish he would stay," Au said.

And Diamond said, "Hats off to him. He's smart. He's idealistic. He's also practical."

"I feel blessed," said Witkin, who hopes to stay in Baltimore after his VISTA service ends. "For me, real spiritual practice involves a variety of worship experiences."

And although many of his fellow graduates now work for big organizations such as USAID, Witkin said he wants to work at the "microcosmic" level to promote everything from better schools to businesses hiring more people with criminal records.

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