Over the past few weeks this has been happening in our very own city Arleta, Pacoima, how ever you want to identify it. I’m very proud and happy to have found great people that keep inspiring all of us to create sustainable projects in our community. From gardening, to circles about our struggles and the simple joy of gardening, like life -it just keeps on giving. Thank you all. Lets keep building and supporting each other, where ever we are.
We, at Hapeville, have had a very busy fortnight. Things other than Farming Bards with very strict deadlines seem to have taken over our lives. We have been pushed and pulled in different directions, have not slept, and constantly thought about Farming Bards, with this antsy feeling of not being able to do much about it gnawing at us.
Yes, we have felt guilty and over-stretched for time, until we, the program leaders, finally got a Sunday to get together and reflect on our goals. And, of course, Farming Bards came out on top, with very verdant colors. At this point, we took what we think was an important step. Instead of brooding over what we should have done, we decided to start fresh again. We made a new to-do list to mark the beginning of Spring!
Here are some of the highlights from what we are planning on doing this month:
1) Sell saplings at our community Spring festival two weeks from now
2) Make flyers advertising our theatre workshop
3) Lay out the program for the opening week of our workshop
4) Get ready for our project workshop on the national call
5) And, most importantly make sure that we work on Farming Bards every day of the week
We would love to hear what’s going on at y’all-s end! What do you do when you get overwhelmed? How do you get back on your feet? And, more importantly how do you keep yourselves from becoming overwhelmed? We would love to listen and learn!
Summer of Solutions: Ithaca has hit the ground running from every angle. Program development and partnership work has succeeded tremendously in solidifying local allies, contributors, and educators, and in formulating program design for our 8-week program. Dynamic mechanisms of outreach have been employed to target potential participants, many of whom have gone on to apply to SoSI through our first round of applications.
We also just recently launched our Indiegogo site, full of comprehensive information and opportunities to donate, the link to which is below:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/summer-of-solutions-ithaca
Additionally, we are very proud to announce that we have been awarded a $435 grant through Sustainable Tompkins, an organization that has been at the forefront of community organizing and sustainability in the area.
Our next steps include fundraising veraciously, processing our second round of applicants, continuing to reach out to local partners, and fine-tuning program details. Continue checking in for more exciting updates!
GFS Middleton (aka Growing Food and Sustainability) just launched an Indiegogo campaign! Learn more and donate on our Indiegogo page!
One of Growing Food and Sustainability’s core goals is to train and inspire a new generation of youth leaders to create their own solutions to the world’s challenges. Our Indiegogo campaign is focused on raising money for stipends so that we can train youth through our summer internship program. Last summer, two local college students participated in our internship. This summer, we plan to select five interns to participate in this leadership development experience. Interns learn through peer-lead trainings as well as by taking an active, hands-on role in our organization. They learn how to plan curriculum for the summer garden camp, serve as camp counselors, workshop leaders, and meeting facilitators, coordinate community workdays, harvest days, the weekly compost pick-up, and the weekly produce delivery, and will learn green entrepreneurship skills by helping to run our farmers’ market stand. Our goal is to make sure that every graduate of our internship program leaves with the skills and knowledge to start an initiative of their own.
Though our experience has proven that young people of all ages do care about current social and environmental issues, we realize that summer jobs must often take precedence over unpaid programs. By providing stipends to interns, we will make sure that these opportunities for enrichment and growth are available to all. Through our model of peer-to-peer training and collaboration, we believe that summer interns will develop leadership and organizational skills that will prepare them for the future as much or more as any summer job. Continue reading
Hello all! My name is Elizabeth Kahn and I am currently one of the program leaders for the Twin Cities Summer of Solutions 2013 program. I was a part-time participant last summer and I am excited to continue my involvement with the program for this summer. I am excited once again to work in the Minneapolis area. It is a great city with a lot of potential for sustainable development.
The Summer of Solutions program teams up with many different organizations and various people to get the word out about sustainability in the city. Last year I did research with an ARISE, an organization, that looked into implementing alternative energies into the abandoned Ford Power Plant site in St. Paul, MN. I also worked with a group of participants from Summer of Solutions last year creating a “farming business.” Or goal was to make a business installing urban gardens in people’s yards and teaching people how to can their food; because we had such a short amount of time to implement everything, we ended up creating cookbooks that we sold in the Minneapolis area with local recipes in it. We used the money funded towards the program. Working with ARISE and the farm group was a great experience. We are planning on having the same organizations that participated for last years program to continue on this summer as well. Continue reading
My reflection from last Friday’s gathering at Canterbury Elementary where a group of great people put hands on the land that we’ll all be tending for the season. I was very happy to have worked with those who showed up.
We came across a couple of teachers that showed interest in what we as a team of (7) were doing. The teachers asked questions like, “What school do you all go to?” and “Are you high school students?” We answered that we were all members of the community, some in college etc. Teachers briefly shared ideas and included that they too had worked hard in the garden but that there were to many bugs that were no good for gardening and did not continue. Challenges will come about and part of creating some lube for those challenges will be through communication and meetings.
The following are my thoughts on working in a collaborative manner. Continue reading
Exciting news!! The leadership team of Cultivating Intergenerational Leaders (the Washington DC program) is in the process of looking for an additional program leader! We are looking for a college student who has an interest in food and environmental justice as well as a passion for working with youth. We currently are reviewing the applications and starting our first interviews. In order to apply, applicants can visit:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dERMRkpZXy11UlFLdXFDTUFLcUFjYnc6MQ#gid=0
While Josephine and I have helped jump-start the program, we look forward to welcoming a new program leader to our team to help our efforts and will post a follow-up blog announcing our new program leader very soon!
– Jeremiah
Outreach team at work!
Though the Little Rock team has not done any specific anti-oppression work yet, issues of race and class have begun to surface. In particular, our plans for community events and fundraisers have sparked some interesting conversations. After our March meeting, a few folks stuck around to talk informally. One participant posed a question regarding an upcoming door knocking session: how will the majority Black, low-income community where we work respond to the diversity of our group? Several people told vivid and fresh stories illustrating a lack of acceptance for racial mixing from both white and Black people in our community. Little Rock, like the rest of the South (and the rest of the U.S., for that matter), has not found its way to racial healing or equity despite incessant talk about our role in the civil rights era with the Little Rock Nine, Daisy Bates, the Freedom Riders, etc.
“In 2012, the CEE Bankwatch Network, in cooperation with its partnering organizations from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland and Slovakia organized a series of contests for best citizens’ sustainable project proposals: ‘Better Ideas for EU Funds’.”
Our Sofia, Bulgaria, program’s project “Bees in the City Park” was selected as one of these projects!
“The project – settling of a bee colony – will be implemented on the roof of a public building in one of the many parks in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. Workshops for both children and adults will be run by professional beekeepers, biology teachers and volunteers. Children will be given the opportunity to produce some honey themselves.”
Check out this short video clip of program leader Elena being interviewed at the event!
An update from Summer of Solutions Arleta!
In mid-February, we met up and discussed some visions that we have for the garden at a local elementary school which include monthly or biweekly cleanups and tree care. We took a short tour and learned some background info on what we’ll be diggin’ into and plant the growth that is deeply welcomed in our lives and those of our community. There is an application that will need to be filled out to be able to work as a volunteer during the day and after school hours. There is a lot yet to be communicated, but for the most part things are moving forward. 
We will be continuing to do some work on Fridays. Come and share your visions and work on spreading a beautiful message through gardening to the 1000+ children attending this elementary school. There will be some milk and cookies, and maybe coffee too. 
Solutionaries 