Small Working Models for Community

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I thought we could all list things that are working now in communities that would be potentially useful as models in the post Y2K era. These might give us some indication of what might work on a small scale. I can start by mentioning "community supported agriculture" initiatives, that bring small family farmers together with people in their city markets and co-op (parent participation) nursery schools. Anyone else have anything to add? Thanks, Amy Marsh

-- Amy Marsh (canaryclub@aol.com), October 06, 1999

Answers

One thing that we're doing is a community resource library. We started about 5 years ago by telling our neighbors that they could become "members" by donating 5 good quality, non-fiction books. Once a person becomes a member, then they can check out 3 books at a time, for 3 weeks. We now have about 3000 good books, on lots of topics: gardening, health care, parenting, "how to" books, carpentry, sewing, cooking, etc. etc. At first we were hesitant to put some of our own better books in our library, for fear of misuse, but so far everyone has treated the books with respect and care....I think because they know that it's partly their library. Everyone contributed.

-- Margo (margos@bigisland.com), October 07, 1999.

I have a very simple plan....

The neighbors across the street, and to the right and left all have hardworking fathers who like to hunt when the season comes...they all have young children.

They are all nice honest folks.

Whatever resources our family has to keep these children warm, fed, and as cheerful as possible will certainly benefit the little community we have.

Once we have these four families in some type of stable situation, I suggest that the men (to prevent boredom) get involved together in reaching out further down the neighborhood.

Play it by ear, help people, be honest, be aware, gather information, encourage, know your limits, explore your limits....if people see you as a leader you must learn to delegate well.

Many of today's charitable or community activities (and methods) are functional because we have a highly productive economy which creates free time. Most of these approaches were evolved inside this system...if the system changes radically, new approaches are needed.

A string earlier this month discussed the value of the 12 step program....An existing 12 step group which is meeting regularly may be an excellent vehicle to create a community that functions...but expecting to teach and implement the 12 step program to strangers in the middle of a crisis might be a waste of time.

-- Thom Gilligan (thomgill@eznet.net), October 09, 1999.


Margo -

i love your idea of a community library, where physically does it exist, how do people access it?

somewhere on another thread was brought up the idea of creating a farmer's market in your town. that really intrigued me, but i was afraid it was too late for this year to try to get organized (obviously too late for produce). if things don't go too far south next spring, i'll be working on that in our community.

i'm interested in more ideas on the community building/re-building efforts.

-- Cowardly Lion (cl0001@hotmail.com), October 11, 1999.


C.L. About 6 years ago my husband and I incorporated as a non-profit organization in the state of Hawaii (not to be confused with 50lC Federal Non Profit, which is more involved, and costs quite a bit to get). Then we began a community garden...we turned most of our yard into garden beds, encouraged people to help us garden in exchange for produce, and we also accepted "subscriptions": a family would pay us a set amount of money at the first of the month, and every Sunday we would deliver a bag of fresh produce to them (whatever was ready to harvest that particular day: lettuce, carrots, pok choy, herbs, bananas, etc.).

Then we started a natural food buying club. We got some catalogs from a distributor in California, set up an account with them, got permission from the USDA to be able to process food stamps (we live in a very poor, rural area) and we told a few families about it.

At the same time, we enclosed our carport, including a separate outside entrance, and guest bathroom. This room became sort of a community room...it is where the food gets delivered, and where people come to pick up their orders.

Next we started the community library, which I mentioned earlier. We built shelves that cover one wall of this room.

Gradually, we became more "official"...we now have "hours" when people can come into this room, like a regular business. During these hours, people can buy produce, pick up their food orders, look at books (or check them out, if they're a member), study maps (one other wall is covered with maps of our area, and the world).

Our area, like many rural areas, doesn't have a community center, yet every community needs a place where people can gather to share ideas and network. Also, a couple of times, we have presented guest speakers who had topics to share that the community had an interest in.

Having a room with an outside entrance allows us to keep our living quarters private.

-- Margo (margos@bigisland.com), October 11, 1999.


Years ago, when I lived in the SF Bay area, I belonged to a "food coop" or private food club. Rather than place orders and combine into one for bulk, we organized as sort of a food club. We used one person's garage and kept bins of grains, peas, beans, etc. We had a scale and price per unit list. People brought their own bags and containers. That way, they could get a jar of peanut butter, rather than a 20 lb. can. Only one person would handle food stuffs that had to be touched, like cheese wheels. We took turns working so many Saturdays a year. Three people would work - two on money and one on food handling. Everything was carefully cleaned and put away when all was finished. It was a nice arrangement...

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), October 12, 1999.


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