Less Summer, More Solutions

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(Title borrowed from SoS Twin Cities!)

I just got back to the Pioneer Valley from a week in Hartford, CT at the Grand Aspirations National Gathering.

Spending the past week in Hartford, CT with 50 other young leaders in the transition to a sustaining economy was re-affirming and joyful. I feel more connected than ever to other people across the country who are refusing to accept the standards options laid out for youth and community progress. While we all faced struggles and doubts during our summer programs, coming together this past week proved to me that collectively we are more powerful, knowledgeable and hold more potential than I can imagine.

A few of my highlights from the week:

  1. We’re learning our to sustain ourselves. I’m a food person. At gatherings I tend to take on some responsibility for making sure everyone gets feed well. This gathering had the biggest outpouring of food donations of any I have attended (short of Occupy Wall Street’s kitchen!). We brought bags and bags of veggies from our farm in Greenfield, Mass. The Hartford team had preserved vegetables for us all summer. Sarah Murphy (formerly of the Detroit program) brought boxes and boxes of vegetables from her farm in New Hampshire. We talk a lot about growing our own food and sustaining ourselves. I’m excited to say we’re actually doing that.
  2. We’re building our identity as a national organization. This week we got to review, discuss and revise the Strategic Plan for Grand Aspirations. This afforded the opportunity to discuss what the purpose, role and vision of our group are. People who first heard of GA this summer, and those who helped found it five years ago (and those of us in between), came together and sought built our collective understanding and direction.
  3. Our struggles are bound up in each other. We all know that it’s not enough to just act in our local communities. The issues which effect our neighborhoods also act on national and international scales. That’s why I’m so excited that we talked about how to support new programs in an accessible way, how to learn from the struggles other communities face and value the connections we build across geography and culture.
  4. We’re getting some serious stuff done (but having lots of fun). Listening to presentations and conversations this past week, I learned about so many successful strategies and projects. From the new Bike and Walk Center opening in S. Minneapolis, to the hundreds of pounds of compost diverted from the waste stream in Middleton, to the hundreds of homes canvassed for energy efficiency in Iowa City, to the solar installation training going on in Highland Park, to the Yard Sharing network in Chicago, to the… okay you get the idea. We are achieving results.

Some of the best advice I got this summer came from a farmer named Ricky in Orange, MA. He encouraged me to always be thinking about what comes next, and to prepare for my next project before getting too burnt out on my current endeavors. He farms full time, but felt burn-out on the horizon. So he started devoting one day a week to his wood working practice.  There is always more to be done on the farm, but he chose for himself to set that boundary, and grow in a new direction.

For me, that’s what the GA national community is about. Every time I feel discouraged or doubtful, I hear about something new that inspires and motivates. I can shift what I’m doing to better meet my needs, and lean on the people around me for help. Spaces like the National Gathering can help us become agile and resilient individually and collectively. It’s those spaces which keep me coming back for more.

Yeah, it was that fun. Photo: Leo Qin.

Capping Off the Summer

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August Gathering was a fantastic cap off to my Summer of Solutions (SoS). I arrived to this gathering confused about the purpose of SoS and my experience in Portland. Now that we’re done, I’m less confused and more resolved in my future objectives.

August Gathering began Monday in a Lutheran Church somewhere in Hartford, CT. Program leaders and volunteers from every nook and cranny of the US participated in sustainability workshops, agenda planning sessions, and urban farming tours. It was a gathering of different accents and experiences that created and shared a common vision.

What I ultimately learned from all this is that sustainability is a value I support, but it isn’t a cause I plan to actively participate in. However, I do plan to keep in touch with the friends I’ve made here and to offer what little I can to the Portland SoS program over the next year.

What really affected me here is the way we ate this week. Many of the participants who worked on farms brought with them a heap of tasty vegetables. Previous to this week, I’ve never spent one without eating meat—and vegetables have always just been an addition to my meal, never the centerpiece. Now I’m seriously considering a vegetarian diet because this week we ate like royalty. It’s nan-sense how good we ate (an inside joke, har har har), and I’m ecstatic to implement this change in my life.

The two discussions I attended and appreciated most were about how to incorporate different people into sustainability initiatives. We all agreed the lack of diversity in sustainability activism is not progressive; yet none of us had an idea of how to become effectively inclusive–it’s still a work in progress. Through discussion, I learned there are ways, difficult as they may be, to incorporate diverse groups of people and to help impacted communities. I might seek further opportunities with the Portland hub during the year.

The best part of this gathering is all the connections and friends I’ve made. I don’t know what will become of them or how they’ll be involved in my life in the future, but I’m hopeful something special will result from being involved with such an ambitious, inspiring, and brilliant group of people.

So the future is still ambiguous for me, but from this gathering, I’m certain to be involved with sustainability initiatives in some capacity in the future, to visit friends in different areas of the US, and to live a healthier, environmentally friendly lifestyle. I’d say this gathering was a success. Thanks again, Grand Aspirations!

The Summer is Coming to a Close

Aside

The summer is winding down and Portland Enrichment recently went out for their last canvass on Saturday August 11th. On Sunday the 12th, the group volunteered at the farmers market for the last time of the summer as well. In one-way or another, I’m sure everyone in our group learned a lot from their experience with Portland Enrichment. Everyone had a chance to communicate with literally hundreds of people during the summer. I believe an important skill is learning about how others interact, and we interacted with a variety of great people and received some in-depth feedback about Lents.

During the summer we knocked on about 1000 doors and collected around 200 surveys. At the conclusion of the program, Portland Enrichment will release its End of Program analysis and final statistics. We will be able to fully assess data from the residents of Lents. Many people in Lents will be receiving emails from our partner organizations, which explain how they can get involved in the community. Our team encountered many people who were enthusiastic about getting involved.

At the beginning of the program I didn’t expect that we would have as many people as we did commit to participating in community actions. Out of the people we had a chance to talk to, I would estimate more than half of them took the survey and challenge. Unfortunately, we knocked on a lot of houses where no one was home. Something our group will address at our next meeting is the best times to canvass. This summer we usually canvassed on Saturdays in the early afternoon. This seems like a logical time to catch people in their homes because typically most people have weekends off from work. However, many days this summer were very nice and I’m sure a lot of families were out enjoying the weather Portland has to offer this time of year.

We will try our best to reach as many people as possible next summer. Nowadays, it seems people are so busy and some people don’t spend much time at home like they used to. But it does seem like many people are still eager to get involved. While canvassing, I heard a few people say how they wish they could communicate more with their neighbors and have more community events or block parties. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems people don’t talk with their neighbors like they used to 10-15 years ago.

I remember talking to a man who had four kids, had a job, went to school and was also involved with the community. I thought that this man must not have time to do anything. It was great getting to hear stories from the residents of Lents. It has been a pleasure getting to know people in the community and I plan to see some of the people I met again in the future.Image

Celebrating a Bounty of Food, Friends, and Fun

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Cross-posted from Growing Food and Sustainability

Yesterday was our biggest event of the summer, our Harvest Festival! We invited friends, family, neighbors, and community members to join us in a celebration of Growing Food and Sustainability’s first summer. Much has happened since Natalie and I first dreamed-up this program last October. A few highlights include…

  • Creating a 5,000 square foot Youth Farm where we have harvested 923 pounds of produce to date
  • Running a 9-week summer program for 26 students from 4-16 years old
  • Donating (and delivering with our bike trailer) 373 pounds of produce to the Middleton Outreach Ministry Food Pantry and 145 pounds to the Middleton Senior Center
  • Composting 887 pounds of food waste from Bloom Bake Shop and Roman Candle Pizzeria
  • Building a team of youth leaders to run our program. Ain and Lauren, our full-time participants, we simply couldn’t have done any of this without you! And to all of our committed part-time participants (Abby, Alyson, Asha, Colin, Katie, Lennea, Liz, Matthew, Morgan, Neil, and Teague), you kept our program rolling and contributed your talents and energy exactly when we needed them!

And now about that Harvest Festival…

Our wonderful volunteers made sure that everything ran smoothly and that everyone had fun! There were games, activities, music, and food for all to enjoy!

Farm Stand and Bake Sale at the Harvest Festival

Lauren putting our bike trailer to another use…

Bike-powered Hay Rides!

Our long-time friend and artist, Cathi, came all of the way from Chicago to run a ceramic plate-making activity! It was a hug hit with kids and adults of all ages.

Making ceramic plates!

Some of the kids took charge over the activities. Here, 6-year-old Elizabeth is running the face painting table.

Family face-painting

Seeing the faces of so many friends (old and new) at the Harvest Festival made me feel so supported in this work. Grandparents, parents, and family friends who have watched me and Natalie grow-up were there to cheer us on. I also realized how many new connections GFS has made within the community and how many new people I can now call friends. It felt incredible to know that the GFS team created this beautiful community in just one summer, and that these friendships and connections will continue to grow into the future.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to making our Harvest Festival such a success. We had so much fun celebrating with you and your generosity helped us to raise over $500 to send a group of our youth leaders to the Summer of Solutions National Gathering in Connecticut next week. THANK YOU!

~ Gabrielle, Program Leader

Building a Cooperative Energy Business, One Neighbor At a Time

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As we wrap up the Twin Cities Summer of Solutions program, I’ve been reflecting on how far the team this summer has taken the dream of community-powered energy.
Back in 2008, members of the Summer of Solutions helped launch Cooperative Energy Futures (CEF), which I have been working to grow since then. Over the years, they have gone on to help create such wonderful peer ventures as Worcester Energy Barnraisers, Appalachian Alliance for Renewable Energy, and the Community Power Network. Here in the Twin Cities, the models we have used for multi-lingual home energy savings trainings, bulk-buying of home energy products, and group insulation have been greatly aided by the waves of support Summer of Solutions has provided. This year has been no different.
Last winter, CEF ran a bulk purchase program for home insulation in Minneapolis, helping a team of neighbors hire qualified installers of home insulation at a lower cost.  Working together and buying in bulk makes the process easier, cheaper, and fun. This summer, CEF has formed a partnership with Applied Energy Innovations to create a parallel program called Grow Solar Minneapolis for buying solar electric panels ’s. You can learn about all the bulk-buying opportunities at http://cooperativeenergyfutures.com/bulk-buying

SoS Participant Christian Bangert tabling at a farmer market

Launching an integrated program that offers bulk buying of many services makes it easier to promote them and attracts a broader audience. Many people get excited by the very tangible example solar provides, but either can’t afford it or end up needing more investments in energy efficiency first. We’re promoting the following neighborhood energy bulk buying together:

CEF Board member Brianna Besch and Fred, an enthusiastic Corcoran neighborhood resident at a National Night Out block party.

Beyond creating the outreach materials and lining up the contract, it’s been all about outreach. We’ve hit the farmers markets (22 scheduled by mid October), attended community events, got in City Council and neighborhood newsletters, and gone door to door to meet and talk with folks in our neighborhood. We even had 14 of us going around to over 30 National Night Out events (an August 7th block party day that has several thousand local block parties in Minneapolis) letting people know about ways to get involved. As these neighbors are going about shopping for local produce, meeting, and having fun, some have stopped for information, others have gotten excited to tell their friends, and some have been simply overjoyed to learn what we’re doing.

The most exciting thing for me about this is the process of linking people-to-people community outreach with the process of growing a thriving business. As we line up the contracts, I can see the seeds of long-term employment positions for neighborhood residents in the revenue flows we are building even as we help folks save money. At the same time, the inspiration and excitement I hear from more and more neighbors as we present what we’re doing is infectious. I’ve been dedicated to making this dream a reality for over four years now, and at times it has been slow going, but I’m starting to see a wave of community support that is building CEF into a success.

As we leave the summer and head towards Fall, I look forward to seeing the cooperative growing, one neighbor at a time.

Mid Program Analysis Article

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Portland Enrichment is a group of volunteers whose mission is to create thriving and sustainable communities in the area of Lents. The Portland Enrichment program is currently conducting a listening project and community challenge to gain feedback from residents in the Lents area. With the feedback they receive, Portland Enrichment is able to assess what changes and actions need to be taken in the neighborhood. If residents in the area are looking to take action and help out their community, Portland Enrichment will connect them with the particular organization to get them started.

Portland Enrichment works with a variety of organizations that specialize in food security, energy efficiency, community engagement and other sustainable community solutions. The group of volunteers canvass in the Mt Scott Arleta and Lents neighborhoods in SE Portland and table at the Lents Farmers Market.

This summer is the second go around for Portland Enrichment and the group hopes to build off of last year. Portland Enrichments goals are to knock on 1200 doors and receive as much feedback as possible.

Portland enrichment is broken down in to teams to handle certain aspects of the program. The data management team, led by Leo Qin, recently released the programs mid program report. The analysis gives background about the program and describes the methodology that was used. The survey questions were designed so Portland Enrichment could see how people felt about their neighborhood, what they liked, along with what complaints they had.

So far the volunteers have knocked on 500 doors, collected 100 surveys and 66 people have decided to participate in community challenge actions. After taking the community survey, 2/3 of the people agreed to also take the community challenge. Twenty one percent of people chose to partake in Food Security actions. Portland Enrichment plans to table at community events and hold two mega canvass days to reach this summer’s goals.

Leo was able to analyze the survey questions that the group asked the Lents residents by using graphs and word clouds. The first survey question was “What is your favorite thing about your neighborhood.” As Leo outlines in his word cloud, the words: “community,” diversity,” “parks,” “farmers market” and “neighbors” were many peoples favorite things.

Data shows that on average the residents of Lents rate their neighborhood a “4” on ne a 1 to 5 scale (1 being low and 5 being high). This numbers describes how people generally feel about the community.

Those surveyed also expressed their thoughts on barriers to living in an ideal community, what their ideal community would look like, and their concerns for development. There are three more weeks until the end of the program and the Portland Enrichment team will come out with a final program analysis after its completion. Portland Enrichment’s survey can be taken online at pdxenrichment.com.Image

You can’t beet this! (A beet-filled week at GFS)

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Cross-posted from Growing Food and Sustainability

We had a new crop of young ones in our program last week and it was a blast! We painted signs in preparation for our Harvest Festival and harvested 24 pounds of beets!

4-year-old Finn, with a beet as big as his head!

Along with the excitement of new program students, we also had to say goodbye to the triplets: Ancha, Rama, and Modu. We are lucky to have had this family as a part of our program for our first summer. Their high energy and enthusiasm never wavered, whether they were harvesting and eating raw kale leaves, painting signs to decorate the garden, or engrossed in a Magic School Bus book.

Their mom, Viki, told us that she feels that they will apply all that they’ve learned through the program in school, at home, and in life. It is a wonderful feeling for all of us to have formed such a strong relationship with a family that will continue to be involved and support us in coming years.

With all the beautiful, ruby-colored beets laying around, I was inspired to paint portraits of the triplets using beet juice as a natural dye.

Ancha enjoying her kale. The beet juice is still wet and bright pink.

Rama taking in the garden. The beet paint is half dry.

Modu showing off his cherry tomato. The paint is dry and golden brown.

We sure will miss the laughter, shouts, and energy they brought to the program, and we’re already looking forward to seeing them again next summer.

Of course, I can’t end this blog post without a reminder for our Harvest Festival, this Saturday the 11th in Fireman’s Park from 4-7pm. I looked at the forecast and it is supposed to be sunny all day with a high temperature of 82 degrees. Should be fantastic! Come and join us for carnival games, live music, and purchase fresh produce, kale pesto, and baked goods at our market stand.

Hope to see you then!

Natalie

Experimental Learning

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Part of the reason why I love Summer of Solutions is that I’m learning an incredible amount by doing hands-on work that includes gardening, speaking at community meetings, and building and painting at Spokes bike center. As much as I am empowered by these learning experiences the value of classroom learning cannot be discredited. In fact, one of the most remarkable aspects of the Summer of Solutions Twin Cities program is our EXCO class, Climate Solutions, Economic Renewal, and the Energy Transition.

EXCO, Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities, offers free classes that anyone can teach or take in order to build a community around social change. Summer of Solutions’ own Timothy DenHerder-Thomas teaches Climate Solutions, Economic Renewal, and the Energy Transition. My favorite part about this class is that I never know what exactly to expect, but I am sure to leave feeling awakened by the conversations that are shared.

For example, our first class was spent sharing our experiences with community and the environment and I left with a feeling of camaraderie with my fellow Summer of Solutions Twin Cities participants. One class was spent labeling all the climate changes we’ve ever heard about on a giant world map… I have to admit this particular lesson left me slightly depressed, but I was glad to learn all that I did about strange weather phenomena, fossil fuel dependency, and more. During my favorite lesson (so far at least!) we shared our ideas of what would convince the world that a sustainable, green economy can work. The brainstorming, collaborative thinking, and creativity I experienced during that class left me feeling so invigorated and excited to be a part of the environmental movement.

Overall I’m thrilled to indulge in so many different avenues of learning through Summer of Solutions Twin Cities!

Zelalem A.

Twin Cities SOS 2012

Fixing Up the Turners Falls Skatepark

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Post by SoS Pioneer Valley Program Leader Evan Scheltema 

This post I’ll be talking about patching up the Turners Falls Skatepark, with much help via tools and supplies from Bryan Dolan, Turners Falls resident and skateboarding guru.

The patching up of the park I did with a friend and part time participant of Summer of Solutions, Mason Poulin, came about as a result of the cancellation of a skateboarding workshop, set to take place as a part of the Summer Workshop Series, of The Brick House Community Resource Center. The park was dubbed unsafe to skate because of obtrusive objects and metal bits sticking out from the ramps, and recently a youth had been injured at the park. Unbeknownst to me, due to this the park was closed, and this was found out only days before the workshop, leading to its cancellation. In turn, I felt it should be fixed to allow kids to skate in an environment that promotes, not rejects, skateboarding.

Mason and Evan (l to r) work on the Turners Falls Skatepark.

It really is a shame that the park is in such a state a disrepair. When talking with Bryan (who, along with his girlfriend, is on the skatepark committee in Turners Falls), he told me that the park’s life may be limited to the rest of this summer/winter and maybe some of next year. Since it was in such a state of disrepair and maintaining was a job that required much too much time in the busy life of Bryan. This made me really sad considering I learned to skate at that very park back when it was over by Unity Park. Recently too, Greenfield lost its park leaving quite a few angsty youth with nowhere to skate. If the Turners Falls park were to close, there would be no more skate parks in all of Franklin County. Considering how many displaced youth I know personally and gauging from the interest level based on our outreach project, I would say that is pretty ridiculous. Especially when the skaters now get a lot of flak from the town officials and the paper about skating in other, non-sanctioned areas. It just doesn’t make sense to me. How can you take someone’s space, then get mad at them when they move to another?

So I guess the point I am getting at, is that skateboarding is necessary, and by removing a skatepark you will not get rid of the skaters. It is exercise, a sport, a lifestyle, an art form, and in my eyes, it is the adaptation of urban/sub-urban youth as a product of their environment. Skateboarding is limitless and stretches not only your physical limitations but also stretches your imagination to come up with never before done tricks and stunts unique to you. There is no coach yelling at you to get up and do it again, it is personal motivation and perseverance that lend themselves to skateboarding. Seeing the world through your eyes while on a skateboard will literally transform it into a massive obstacle course, and allows you to step out of your day to day mind into an entirely new perspective. So now I ask, why is this activity shunned? It escapes and baffles me. So lets all stand together and support skateboarding!

A skater in action at the T.F. Skate Park.