While Ya'll Farm, I'll Darn Some Wool Socks

Capacity building is not glorious. It isn't public, it isn't heroic or heralded in any newspapers. Yet I love it.

While most of the SoS team is out at Farmer Jesse's learning about planting sweet potatoes, or building bamboo raised beds for herbs, I'm here at the library trying to ensure that we continue to receive community support.

Today I worked with Greenhouse Grille to begin negotiations which will hopefully lead to mutually beneficial results. I spent a lot of time arranging the July 6th even with the library - they needed specifics, which seems to be the word of the week. Tonight is the national August Gathering call, when I present the green business & restaurant options Fayetteville offers. It's a little scary that our project will be scrutinized by so many eyes from around the country, but, it's great motivation to make everything look nice.

Capacity building for a project is a lot like darning wool socks in summer to prepare for a cold winter ahead when you know you'll need 'um to keep walking forward.

Oppression: is it real?

Yesterday I asked myself if oppression was still obvious, rampant, and what role it actually plays in the 2010 emerging green economy. I envisioned something like interstate highways dividing neighborhoods of color from community resources. I certainly didn't feel like it would affect Fayetteville Summer of Solutions.

But in the meeting with NCAT today, as I watched youth who had prepared measureable goals internalizing the condescending labels placed upon them, it dawned on me.

Having good ideas for green jobs isn't all we need to do. Half the battle for creating green jobs is fighting oppression by empowering youth and resisting the image that we're "cute".

We don't need to wait until we're older to have meaningful work. We don't need to wait until we're desperate for income to create value in what we do. The time to create green jobs has always been and will always be right NOW.

Wonderful Weekends!

I've been thoroughly enjoying weekends. Such wonderful things come from them, like drive-in movies and having clean laundry and dishes. After putting in 91 hours of work during training week and the weekends surrounding it, then working 9.5 hours today, weekends are such a sanctuary.

A combo of poor time management and random internet access has resulted in no posts since last Wednesday, sorry team! I've been busy mostly with helping empower people on a one-on-one basis. On Thursday, the National Center for Appropriate Technology called (it was Katy) and presented a possibility of financial support for SoS. That sent Ryan & I into a bustle of activity creating a goal-empowerment powerpoint presentation and trying to get everyone ready to present their goals tomorrow. It's coming up so fast, and I wish the best of luck to you all!

Speak from your heart with honesty.

Not Just Work

Today I felt we needed to start off with inspiration, to envision the food system we know is possible. At the meeting this morning, Ryan read a story about Will Allen and the ways he impacted Milwaukee and Chicago urban farming. There are so many ways to connect to the community with gardening - through the prison system, the medical system, schools and entrepreneurship training for teens, by cleaning up pollution and lead-poisoned soil with your garden, saving native species like butterflies and birds, welcoming immigrants to grow cultural foods, creating artistic and living masterpieces, cleaning city water...and the best part: one garden (with proper management) can do ALL of these things!

Today it seems to me that growing things is the root of all good, in the way that money may be the root of all evil. This isn't just a job for me, it's a way of life.

What I've been up to:
*convincing OMNI that youth are good, even good leaders, and will not dig up holes in their yard (anymore)! and that saying "we need leaders for the culture of peace" is not the best way to get people engaged

*e-mails to partners, reminders to restaurants that may give giftcards, phone calls to guest speakers, and meaningful assistance to SoS participants throughout the day

*crafting an agenda for Friday's "remember your training" goal-revamping meeting for SoS

*killing flies in OMNI's kitchen and sweeping the floor (which reminded me that we need weekly chores and a basket to draw them from - so I created one)

*compiling and e-mailing the results of Training Week evaluation, and filling out and SoS National Training Evaluation for program leaders

*working in, and despising, various Google Docs for SoS

My next step is inching quickly towards more capacity-building tasks, and less SoS-maintenance tasks. Making a timeline will help with that.

On a more personal level, today is my Dad's birthday, which somewhat surprised me because he's going thru chemo just like Farmer Jesse and I didn't really expect him to have another birthday. I'm not close to my Wisconsin parents, and in a way, helping Farmer Jesse is like helping my dad.

The Ultimate Sponsorship Letter

My main goal today is finishing up a Publisher letter to as many potential sponsors I can think of. For this letter, I need everyone's summer goals, like getting food stamps accepted at the market, making a trailside marketplace, bicycle rickshaw delivery, inner & outer city produce coordinator positions, etc. Once I get these compiled, I'm putting them together with a photo (you select one of yourself!) of each person next to their goals. Hopefully no one will be able to resist throwing a few bucks your way to support your mission this summer! Which I really, really like - you guys did a great job expressing your passion for local food and farming:

Vision: We envision a sustainable and accessible community food system that increases awareness and consequently creates a higher demand for locally produced, healthy food. This would be an efficient, mutually beneficial network that ties the community to its producers.

Mission:

Summer of Solutions: Fayetteville, a youth-led organization, strives to increase:

1. Awareness of the advantages of a local food system through educational events, workshops & other outreach programs
2. Production by utlitizing existing resources to develop urban and rural agriculture
3. Accessibility of local food by creating innovative networks of interaction between producers & consumers
   

First Work Day of Summer of Solutions!

Despite a groggy morning, we soared into our first work day for SoS Fayetteville. Thanks to Irish Breakfast Tea, I was able to stay awake during our first meeting and tried to provide support and reminders. Between nervousness at being the "adult", and tears of joy at seeing the cycle of empowerment take off in our group, I'm mostly excited to see what you will create for yourselves and the community in your green jobs this summer! I'll always be here if you need help.

Today, I reached out to some potential mentors, helped Havilah vacuum the offices, assisted with general tasks that came up at OMNI related to ya'll's projects, filled in 2 weeks of timesheets, created this blog, met with Gladys, talked to Opal the Arkansas VISTA coordinator and e-mailed her an update, watched and rejoiced at the video's progress, brainstormed where to send it to raise awareness and get sponsorships, considered the budget & payment issue, practiced time management and made my week's time map with work hours and goals, then went grocery shopping at ONF where I debated on the values & purposes behind not eating meat vs. not eating dairy. My biggest challenge was ensuring lunch did indeed happen despite everything else that was happening.

All in all, a productive and happy day!