Microgiving.com

Microgiving.com

UPDATE: 2/4/2010
See the list. It's hard to know what people's circumstances are, and it's not the amount, it's the sacrifice involved in the giving, so I want to just toss a shout out to everyone for caring and being there. I know what some have been through and what their giving might mean, but some I don't know their circumsances, or don't know them at all. I don't want to assume giving is easy for any of you or in any way less generous or less of a sacrifice than anyone else's. We thank you.

I do want to say a special word of thanks to Tiffany, who lost her husband last year to a brain tumor. I've been there and done that. It can, depending on location, be a bit like having Alzheimer's, brain damage and cancer all at the same time. Tiffany, thank you for your strength of spirit and remaining a caring, giving, and hopeful person and friend.

UPDATE: 2/2/2010
Utilities paid!

UPDATE: 2/2/2010
You have collectively nearly doubled our first goal, which means we are (unofficially) making headway on our second goal, to pay the immediate need of back taxes and foreclosure. If I have understood the documents correctly, we should be able to keep foreclosure at bay a year if we can get that $3,800 or so paid.

I don't know what to say other than to keep repeating how overwhelmed, humbled and impressed we are with your response. I don't know if it's the human element (people care.. for us) you are responding to, or the people care element of our ability to pay it forward via both microgiving.com and providing the scholarships you've been promised, or if it's earth care you care about in supporting more permaculture training, gardening, and other workshops, or if it's the fair share you're responding to in simply sending us your surplus, or even tearing your cloak in half and giving us a the other half... but this is permaculture. As Larry Santoyo says, we don't *do* permaculture, we *use* permaculture in what we *do*.

There are 28 people using permaculture in what they *do* listed below. And now I'm tearing up... really... and it's all your fault.

I want you to know we're not just sitting on our butts waiting for help. I was out hustling avocado sales today, we'd already sold a piece of jewelry from my M-in-L, I'm looking into some, er, outside-the-box income generation, we've offered a half-interest in The Beastie (our F250 Diesel truck), and even have offered the house, itself, for sale on Craig's list. (An offer was made then revoked, actually.) Etc.

Perhaps most exciting, we're talking with two well-known permies about doing some training in Detroit, which is what this is all ultimately about, because one or two well-attended courses would make many things possible, but mostly would see us able to expand substantially on the scholarships you're all already setting in place.

You're all getting us further along than we are ourselves at the moment, however, so props to you for your generosity of spirit and material wealth. People care, sharing the surplus - big time.

We're in process of getting the money released to pay the utility bill. I'm trying to get some of it to also be able to install the Rocket Stove Mass Heater I've been wanting to do since we moved in. It will save maybe $1,000 over the next several months, maybe more, if I can get it installed. We need to do it very carefully because this is an old wood frame house. We'll let you know if that happens, or if we can scrounge up the parts. Kate Devlin has given me a couple sources for barrels, e.g.

Cheers

/update

While I was writing this, we met our goal! Rather, you did. Wow. I have to say I did not expect this response, at least not this fast. This was truly a "Hail Mary" pass. I'm blown away and would like to thank those who have responded to our request for support thus far.

Permies
Philip Chmiel
April Cavanaugh
Jeff Moore
Nancy Bowers
Jennifer Hartley
Anonymous (4)

Garden Permies
Bernard MacNamara
Steve Bean
Nicole Foss
Kris Kaul
Labib Nassim
Doug Myers
Gail Griffith
Cathy Strickland
Mark Dixon
Bruce Urner
Sherilyn Trego
Patricia Gozel
Peter Marschall
Tiffany Johnson-Sparks
Dave Jacke Anonymous(3)

Workshop Permies
Jeffrey Skeith
Anonymous

PDC Permies
Jackie Milijash
Stephen Kiluk

I now have to go check with the administrators at microgiving.com and see what this means in terms of access to funds and next steps. We've still got challenges to meet, and you've given me faith we can do that one way or another.

Below is what I wrote before I was aware we'd met our need for the utilities:

Our faith in community, friendship and the kindness of strangers has been restored by your kindness and generostiy. In less than 24 hours, we've reached a little over half of what we need to pay the power bill after recieving a shut off notice.

Many of you know our story, but some of you may not. It's simple, really. What follows is what we posted at microgiving.com:

I, Killian, and my wife, Hyun Sook, and our son, Conor, were living in Korea, making a good living, saving money, going to Starbucks while the Earth warmed, prices rose, energy declined. We decided we needed to be part of the solutions, not the problems, so we sold everything, headed to the U.S., bought an old truck, and drove till it seemed right to stop. In Detroit. Being teachers, we wanted to teach, so we have started a program to teach people sustainable living skills, e.g., how to harvest and use water, build a rocket stove for heat and cooking, grow an organic, no-till garden... to live sustainably, thus have a degree of self-reliance and independence, but to do so as part of a community.

We've gone broke doing so, and a year-and-a-half later, our utilities are going to be shut off and our home is in foreclosure due to back taxes (taxes from before we bought the house.)

We need to keep the lights on and heat going: $961.68 due, $433.55 to avoid shut off. Property taxes are almost $9k with $3800 due in March to avoid foreclosure. If we can make it to Spring, we can start courses and selling our produce again.

Our project page is here, if you would like to help us reach out goal: https://recipients.microgiving.com/profile/killiankob

Our first goal is to keep the utiliies on. After that, we'll try to avoid foreclosure for back taxes and avoid shutting down the Permaculure and Resilience Initiative - Detroit. Returning to Korea is a very real option that we are having to prepare for. On paper, it would be a good choice. We could both get jobs, but we'd spend little time together as a family, would lose our home here and would still spend a minimum of two years just getting our heads back above water, then another couple saving up. Again. Four or five years to end up where we are now makes little sense. I believe it better to make this work. We can grow much, if not most, of our own food, capture rain water, and will slowly work to get our home to be energy neutral. We currently have most of the materials we need to build a straw bale greenhouse and would like to add a rocket stove mass heater for heating. Renewable electricity will have to wait a bit. We'll get greater efficiency closing the envelope on this drafty old house built in 1917.

However, if we can't figure out how to at least get to the spring or mid-summer so our gardens and training programs can begin to support us, we'll have to return to Korea this month. Our issue, no yours, but we're glad you're inerested enough to make it yours.

I go back and forth on whether we have failed, or are in process of failing. We came here to teach permaculure and have done that. There are a dozen or so new permaculturists in the world, and, the out-of-pocket costs for them on average have been 1/3 of typical costs. So, we've done what we set out to do... sort of... and succeeded in making it financial ly accessible. Several of our students have paid nothing out of pocket in lieu of work exchange, for example. This is gratifying. But, we've not been able to pay ourselves.

Why has it been so difficult to make such a good idea work? They range from simple naivete to failed partnerships and everything in between. That's a story for another day. I am planning to write that up soon. Perhaps if I wait long enough i will be a story of success, of a comeback!

So, if you think it worthwhile to help us keep doing this - after all, it always was a Robin Hood-esque business plan - please follow the link above or contact us abou investment or partnership. If you would prefer to invest or support our programs directly, please use the button at the above left. Investment opportunities are possible, and welcome. Our company is a Low-Income LLC, or L3C. The L3C must have as part of its bylaws and primary function a social good it is intended to support. The L3C was speccifically design to facilitate Program-related Giving via bypassing the need for special letters from the IRS, which can take months to get. More information is available here: http://www.michiganfoundations.org/s_cmf/bin.asp?CID=10388&DID=23108&DOC=FILE.PDF

In line with the intent of the L3C statute, our purpose is to offer training in regerative design principles and green tehcnologies, i.e., permaculture, including natural building, DIY power generation and natural urban gardening/farming to individuals and groups that otherwise would not be exposed to such concepts and/or find them economically out of reach.

Cheers, and thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Rocket Stoves and Rocket Stove Mass Heaters

 A rocket stove is a very efficient wood burning stove. The design causes the fuel to be burned more completely than a typical wood stove such that they are virtually smokeless once they are warmed up. There are many ways to design a rocket stove or rocket stove mass heater. In the following configuration, it is primarily being used as a heater for an room, and specifically, a bench. However, the top of the barrel can be used for heating or cooking food.

All photos captured from Paul Wheaton's rocket stove mass heater workshop how to tutorial video.

Rocket Stove Mass Heater core.

Fuel intake on left, opening for heat riser on left.

Improved heat riser: vermiculite and clay infill.

Heat riser in place.

Steel barrel being placed into position.

Finished!

Here are more links to simpler stoves. I'll add screen captures and descriptions later!

good explanation of the theory and design.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uh2VExcdbY&feature=related

Small rocket stove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO-vPyCShLg&feature=related

other stoves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqUsUMlyIeQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-BQMpaW-E0&feature=related

Brick stove

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSMR2ANIZ7E&feature=related

Solutions and Survival: My Experience in a Community of Impact

This is a guest post by Zach Holden, a GELT program participant, reflecting on his experiences exploring community outreach.  Cross-posted from solutionaries.net. Thanks to both.

 Authored by GELT-er Zach Holden

As we came to the door, I was feeling pretty negative. Tired, frustrated with the cancellation of our early morning appointment, I had bitterly informed my partners that they should take the ‘lead' on this house, that I just wanted to follow orders and let one of them take up the task of explaining who we were and everything we were doing to the home owner. I had a vague sense of ill ease as we reached our destination on Hill Street in the northwest of Highland Park, as the last time we had lugged a weatherization kit through the neighborhood, we had been told we were ‘in the wrong neighborhood' by a group of teens.

When we came up the front steps and knocked on the door, I noticed the tape holding together the screen door and the lingering smell of stale tobacco, thinking we were in for a interesting experience. We heard a man hollering at us, asking who we were. A woman soon came to the door, asking who we were and who we were looking for, telling us she didn't want our ‘shit', Needless to say, we were taken aback by her rather aggressive manner, and the weatherization was nearly dead on arrival, until the man, her husband, informed her that he had in fact signed up. She was further relieved when (in direct contravention of my previous promise to my partners) I explained to her that our service was in fact free, and that we would not only give her the supplies but actually install them as well. When she realized we weren't trying to scam her or otherwise pull some trick, her demeanor instantly shifted from stand-offish to absolutely friendly, and a smile came over her face.

As we headed into the basement, her husband offered a brief explanation of her initial resistance to us- there had been a ‘death' recently, and tensions were running high. I didn't have to wait long to hear the full story. As I burned my fingers trying to install CFLs, she told me that the death in question was in fact a triple murder that had recently occurred on the block, leaving three young men dead, with no news coverage and little hope of justice. She explained her initial hostility, saying there was a huge drug problem on the block.

These were the first revelations of many. As we worked our way through her home, sealing holes, replacing bulbs and sink heads and putting up weatherstripping, we learned that she had reclaimed the home from drug dealers who had taken over the house after her mother's death, and how strangers still showed up at her door looking for a fix (she thought we were of this category), how drive by shootings were a regular occurrence (instead of putting plastic kits over windows with leaky edges as we might in other homes, we covered the windows taken out by a recent shooting). How murders were common and a 90 year old woman had been raped on the block just the other week. How she wanted to get out of the neighborhood, but she was living on her unemployment checks after losing her job as a medical assistant.

This is the sort of situation that can present the central problem of organizing around environmental and sustainability issues in places like Highland Park. How could she devote attention to protecting our national parks or atmosphere when protecting her home is a matter of life or death? I honestly believe that the solution lies in programs such as Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT), and weatherization in particular. It allows for a community and its residents to work together not only to save money on their utility bill and understand environmental impacts, but to also reconnect with one another. Weatherization makes both environmental and economic sense. I hope it can present an outstanding site to develop the necessary, mutually beneficial relationships in places such as Highland Park.

Urban Growth, A GELTer talks about reaching out.

This is a guest post by GELT PDC participant Ayola White, cross-posted from solutionaries.net. Thanks to both.

Urban Growth

authored by GELT-er Ayoola White

Green Economy Leadership Training (GELT) has been filled with varied challenges. One day we’re constructing raised beds out of wood reclaimed from abandoned houses. The next, we’ll discuss applications of permaculture and the dangers of nuclear power. Since we are constantly defining and redefining our goals as a group, our activities tend to be hectic. Last Friday afternoon, we took on yet another challenge: canvassing residents to find candidates for free home energy improvements.

Hitherto that sweltering afternoon our primary interaction with the Highland Park community involved people from the neighborhood coming to us. Kids helped us pull weeds and remove bushes. Adults sat in on classes, sometimes, or walked around, carefully observing our work. Friday was the first day that we, the participants of GELT, collectively went to meet the people we’ve been working to serve. Armed with clipboards, sign-up sheets, and flyers, we fanned out.


 


Upon reaching the first household in my assigned turf, the southernmost region of Highland Park, I was stunned to discover that the words I had so smoothly recited that morning were not so smooth anymore. It was as though I suddenly had no clue what I was doing anymore. Luckily, my inner nervousness and confusion didn’t flow outward enough to repel absolutely everyone, and I was able to gather a few signatures in the first hour or so. I eventually tweaked my spiel to something that was comfortable for me to remember. But still, in the journey between each door, I kept scrutinizing my tactics. Am I talking too fast? The way I stammer is so embarrassing! Am I saying too much? Did I forget to say ‘thank you’ to that last lady? Is there something in my teeth?

Even when I was able to overcome self-consciousness, though, I felt that there was a moderate disconnect between me and the people I visited. Thankfully, most were friendly, and no one slammed a door in my face, but the people appeared wary of me sometimes. Given my unfamiliar face and the clipboard I was carrying, perhaps I was mistaken for a census worker or a salesperson before I opened my mouth to speak. Some were incredulous that the home energy visit I was describing was free. Others seemed suspicious of me, and they asked me where I was from and whether I worked for a utility company and was trying to get them to switch their service. It was as though there were walls of thick glass separating us, sometimes, making communication challenging.

In addition to reflecting on my own actions those of others, I was also mindful of my physical surroundings. My canvassing partner and I covered a total of three streets in that afternoon. Each street had its own character, its own look. One street was filled with lovely houses and breathtaking gardens, but there weren’t that many people outside enjoying them. The next had houses that were shabbier, but more people were congregating and conversing on porches. The last one was a mix of the two. What a contrast from my neighborhood, where every house, every street is a copy of all the others.

Despite the many abandoned and decrepit houses I saw everywhere, I noticed that immense vibrancy existed among the pockets of squalor. People were walking around, greeting their neighbors. Kids played together and adults watched out for them. What’s more, there were plants growing EVERYWHERE. Lawns, left untamed, exploded with greenery. Leaves and vines grew out of stairs and floorboards. It’s as if millions of sinewy green hands are emerging from the ground to pull the houses into the earth. How ironic it is that places like Highland Park are often thought of as sites of urban decay, when so much growth is taking place.

Since our goal in GELT is community building, not gentrification, it is vital to tap into the positivity that already exists here, rather than assuming that we have all the answers and that we’re here to rescue the weak and the downtrodden. On Friday, we GELT-ers made connections through our canvassing work that I hope will evolve into a strong network of people who will shape their neighborhoods into comfortable, sustainable living spaces. Together, we’ve already gathered about 50 signatures from people who want to make their homes more energy efficient. From here, our impact shall grow.

Together We Rise

This is a guest post by Monika Kothari, a participant in the Green Economy Leadership Training program.
 
 Together We Rise

For the past few days, my younger brother has been reading a book for school called The Fate of the Earth. If the title weren’t depressing enough, the book primarily consists of an account of the hysteria over the rise of nuclear arms, the resulting existentialism, and what those arms mean for…well, The Fate of the Earth. Supposedly, with the development of these weapons in the 1940s, humans officially became the first species in history with the potential to devastate not only our own population, but every other species, and quite literally the entire planet. Even today, nuclear annihilation is on the world’s mind as the greatest potential manmade disaster. 

The truth is that humankind developed destructive potential long before the rise of nuclear arms, and the greatest threat to our extinction today is not a nuclear threat, but an ecological and environmental one. We are the only species that is knowingly and voluntarily causing its own demise…literally. Okay, so I know we all know the story. Everyone and their mother has seen An Inconvenient Truth, heard politicians use catchphrases like “green energy” and “sustainability,” and thrown things at Glenn Beck. But too many of us, like me, are used to sitting on our butts at home, preaching from a high horse about turning the tap off while brushing our teeth.

The most difficult part of “environmentalism,” from my point of view, anyway, is internalizing it. Learning to see it as a movement that is not foreign or outside of oneself is difficult. When we watch the news, we are passive creatures, mentally absorbing oil spills, holes in the ozone, floating piles of garbage by the Great Barrier Reef, and distancing ourselves from them. But when we encounter those things up close and personal, and when we can physically see the differences our personal choices make, we realize how big and important this whole thing is. And it becomes most evident on a local/community level. I know it all sounds cliché, but it’s true.  And that is why I have decided to spend my summer in Highland Park, Michigan as part of the Green Economy Leadership Training.

 

 Until now, I have been a hypocrite in many ways. I’ve never been particularly involved in “The Movement,” and always held this mindset that being “environmentally conscious,” that is, aware of my impending death and The Fate of the Earth, was enough. I can pretend to be “liberal,” whatever that word means today, but like most Americans, I am extremely resistant to change. And I guess some of us have just become dismissive and nihilistic about the whole issue. But fortunately, it’s not all gloom and doom. The good news is that there actually are people in the field everyday, researching, implementing, organizing, and working towards solutions.

Why did I decide to spend the summer in Detroit? As someone that wasn’t born here, this city has always seemed like a fascinating study in urban decay. Maybe I felt that way because the only times I’ve actually been here were on my way to Canada. I’ve passed abandoned buildings and neighborhoods like silent skeletons, and found it difficult to imagine that this was once the center of the Midwest. But in reality many of these communities are still teeming with energy and filled with people of all ages that are eager to participate.


For the first few days of GELT, we have been learning about something called permaculture design, which includes an understanding of everything from the importance of soil to water catchment systems to replicating natural patterns from nearby ecosystems. So…uh, what exactly is permaculture? (A week ago I would have given you a blank stare.)  Fair enough; it’s a term that Microsoft Word doesn’t recognize. It’s short for permanent agriculture, and it’s more of a paradigm shift than anything else, one that involves developing permanent, sustainable methods of growing food and living in community.

The way I understand it, permaculture offers one of many possible solutions to the triangular problem of peak oil, climate change and economic instability and is one that is particularly well-suited to urban and suburban environments. It’s a different way of seeing the world, using existing patterns in nature and working with nature, rather than seeing it as an obstacle as humans tend to do. To some degree, it involves seeing things that “aren’t there”: noticing how the wind blows, how the water flows, how the ecosystem functions, and incorporating these elements into living and garden designs.
The overall idea of the work we are doing involves using a bottom-up approach to change the system, working at the community level to affect change on a small but potent scale. And with permaculture, we are truly starting from the grassroots.  I’ve found that sticking my hands in dirt not only satisfies my craving for hands-on experience, but is kind of spiritual in a way, and it’s not just because I’m sharing my blood with a massive colony of mosquitoes. I’m learning to appreciate life at it’s most basic level – the soil.

I was raised in a pretty religious Jain family, and taught at an early age to “live and let live,” respect all beings, and all that jazz. But most of my family never considers the consequences of their own actions, especially the deceptively little things. When the results don’t have a clear dollar sign in front of them, then it’s out of sight, out of mind, right? Well, humans are very visual creatures: we need to see results, cause and effect. And in Highland Park, we’re trying to produce results that people can see, and reproduce in their own homes, by implementing ecologically conscious permaculture techniques and allowing the public to help and learn during the process.

We’re working with some local homeowners, properties, and vacant lots, to create “community spaces,” which can range from playgrounds and daycare centers to urban gardens and educational facilities. The nature of the properties we are working with allows us to work with a tabula rasa when it comes to design: because many of the internal structures of the buildings have been destroyed, it’s easier for us to start from scratch. And, from there, the idea is that we can design whatever we want…so far, we are trying to be as ambitious with our plans as possible. There’s been talk of greenhouses, basketball courts, and large urban gardens, among other things.

But obviously, one “sector” we need to take into account is the neighborhood, and we must also bear in mind the needs and desires of the people living in the area. Making nearby residents a part of the process is essential for the success and longevity of these projects, because, in the end, it is their space to maintain and pass on. While the scale of the visions of the different members of SwOT may vary, the general consensus seems to be that we want Grove Street, our current workspace, to develop into a model green neighborhood for the city, state, and country. Hopefully, through our efforts and the support of the community, we can make that kind of positive change.
 
Penned by Monika Kothari, a student at Michigan State University and GELT-er for life

GELT is a multi-city program of Global Exchange in partnership with:

• GreeNation
• Global Exchange
• Zaida
• W.A.R.M.
• PRI-De
• Chiwara Permaculture Design
• Highland Park NAACP
• Highland Park Home Owner Collective
• City of Highland Park
• Highland Park High School
• Grand Aspirations
• Energy Action Coalition
• Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition
• DC Project

Permaculture & Detroit’s Urban Agriculture Movement: What is Done, Not What is Said

by Rhamis Kent

A million thoughts are racing through my head as I prepare for my upcoming trip to Detroit to teach a PDC next month. I’m hoping to develop relationships with those leading the urban agriculture movement in what many call "America’s first post-industrial city". This undertaking is hugely significant for the global permaculture movement, in general – and America, in particular.

Well over 80% of Detroit’s population is African American – the demographic most severely impacted by the economic disruptions seen most recently. With the collapse of the automotive industry, the city’s unemployment rate is officially 30% – although many say real unemployment is easily in the 50% range. The burgeoning urban agriculture movement that has emerged in its wake has been a revelation. However, it hasn’t been without its problems.

I had an opportunity to speak with a local leader actively addressing the myriad issues related to food security there. He’s an African American man named Malik Yakini who heads an organization called the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network. Many of those reading this may bristle at the organization’s title – the ‘Black’ part, anyway. As if that holds any special significance or deserves mentioning in the discussion about food security or urban agriculture.

But to be very honest, it has everything to do with those issues. Fresh, high quality food is extremely difficult to come by in many American urban centers – especially in poor communities of color. In blunt terms, the businesses that deal in that trade have little desire or interest in operating in these areas. Frankly, their reluctance to do so is no surprise. Concerns about public safety & profitability are legitimate in many cases. However, that’s merely an indication and symptomatic of a much deeper, pernicious, and hard-to-solve problem.

Mr. Yakini participated in a panel discussion about urban agriculture that took place at The University of Michigan-Dearborn last month. Take a few moments to hear what he has to say. The issues he raises need to be properly understood and acted upon. Another person on the panel worth looking up is Dr. Oran Hesterman from the Fair Food Network. Both offer critical insights into this increasingly important matter:

PRI-De: A Detroit Story

by Killian OBrien January 28, 2010

Detroit: time to turn the problem into the solution

Permaculture in Detroit seems like a bit of an oxymoron, but urban agriculture is blooming all over the city. From the city-wide efforts of The Greening of Detroit in educating people on gardening techniques to the smaller-scale efforts of individuals such as Kate Devlin and her Spirit of Hope garden to groups such as the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network and their 2-acre D-Town Farm and the Georgia Street Community Gardens/Collective, community gardens are being sown on vacant lots dotting this city of nearly a million, filling the holes left by the loss of nearly half its peak auto industry-driven population. Photos of the streets of Detroit from eras long past and rusted nearly away show tightly packed, neat homes. Today, half those homes have devolved into ruins or grassy, often debris-filled, lots. Estimates on the number of lots range from 60,000 to 80,000. Those numbers don’t include the many parks now being left largely untended by the city government.


This devastation didn’t come suddenly, but slowly, and as surely, as Katrina, but with more destruction. When the auto industry left town, they left a city. When they left their factories, they left the people. When they left, they started a slow cataclysm. New Orleans lost a couple hundred thousand people. Detroit has lost nearly a million – a slow-motion tidal wave of economic destruction. Unemployment is, and has been, far above the national average for a long time. There are no major chain grocery stores or warehouse-style stores within the city limits of Detroit, making the city a virtual food desert. Residents must either pay exorbitant prices for inferior food or travel out of the city to get decent prices and (somewhat) nutritious food. The best efforts of those building community gardens throughout the city still is but a brief shower in this desert compared to the wasteland that is this once-thriving city.
But what remains is a perfect template for rebirth: water, land, idle hands and a food desert. Detroit has the potential to become the first truly major American city that can provide a large majority of its own food, and in a way that protects the environment while reducing carbon emissions. It’s estimated that Victory Gardens provided up to 40% of all vegetables during World War II. With well-organized, intensive gardening, we can easily exceed that number. If ever Permaculture principles are to be applied on a massive scale, at a grassroots level, this is the place and this is the time.

But Detroit is not an easy city. She is wary. Many feel they have paid their dues here and look on strangers with suspicion. Long-term residents are often jaded beyond reaching. They’ve been left for dead, fooled time after time by big talk and little or no action. Consider Detroit the Show Me city. It’s not easy to come here with an idea or a plan and expect others to accept you. They won’t, by-and-large, even if they like the plan and see a buck or two hanging out of your pocket. They’ve seen both before. Of course, very few have ever heard of Permaculture, much less understand what it is. This can even be true among the “green” movement as one person said to me, “Permaculture isn’t the be-all and end-all” of agriculture. They were right. As you likely know if you are reading this, Permaculture doesn’t mean permanent agriculture, it means permanent culture. It’s not a system of agriculture, but of system design. It’s a way of designing our homes and communities so they can be sustainable and resilient. Food just happens to be a very important part of continuing to live and necessarily gets a lot of attention from anyone wanting to be self-reliant, eco-friendly, and eat fresh, healthy food grown in harmony with the rest of Nature.

Permaculture gardens in Detroit

Detroit needs a new permanent culture to replace the car culture that has abandoned it. Detroit has a plan in place to reorganize the city, but it is anything but harmonious with nature despite providing a lot of green space. Detroit is a very large city by area. The city plan outlines areas of the city large enough to be small cities themselves as areas for (re)development with large areas of green space surrounding them. Any permaculturist will recognize the folly of this as being nothing more than how cities have always been: pack the people together for efficiency and ship everything in. We’d rather see small, walkable, self-reliant communities built along primary thoroughfares that are both enclosed by green space and with each home(stead) having enough space immediately around it to grow at least their primary kitchen vegetables, perhaps connected by light rail, trolleys or other electrically powered mass transit system.

The Permaculture and Resilience Initiative – Detroit (PRI-De) will work with others to make Permaculture an important part of the rebirth of the Motor City as the Motor of Urban Agriculture. PRI-De will be offering PDC’s with a strong urban component in recognition of the great need for urban populations to redesign their access to food and energy within the context of an uncertain future. We will be applying the funds from paying students to provide Permaculture training to local residents on a scholarship basis. We will also expand into workshops that highlight green tech and sustainability.

Recession or not, people can provide for their own needs

Over time, we hope to have a staff that is virtually all local residents with some, if not all, trained at PRI-De. It is our hope these graduates will be active in creating Permaculture-based homesteads for themselves to demonstrate the value of their training, that they will be active in their neighborhoods helping their families, friends and neighbors to feed themselves, that they will be active in working for food justice and that they will help design a truly sustainable Detroit.