Brettler Family Place photo essay

The latest images from Brettler Family Place at Magnuson Park/Sand Point. By next year this time, the air hammers and heavy equipment that resound around these soon-to-be 52 housing units for formerly homeless families will be replaced by the sounds of kids playing!

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Family housing site from the south showing buildings in progress and foundations being readied for construction

JustServe AmeriCorps recruiting for a year of service and a lifetime of change

JustServe Heroes Wanted!

JustServe AmeriCorps Members are on the frontlines of anti-violence work in our community. Whether serving in neighborhood-based nonprofits, inside the criminal justice system, or with faith-based organizations, JustServe Members make a profound difference in the communities they serve. And their year of service makes a profound impact in each Member’s life.

JustServe is hiring for the 2010-2011 term. For more info about the program and how to apply go to the JustServe webspage.

Vandalism and theft at Marra Farm

Peace Scarecrow

This post is reprinted from the Lettuce Link. blog:

Not Cool: We have some shocking and disappointing news from the farm this week. This past Friday, July 15th, volunteers and staff arrived at the farm to a disconcerting scene. Someone had broken into each shed looking for valuable tools to take. Not only hand tools, but the much-needed (and expensive to replace) lawnmower and weed whacker had disappeared in the night. In addition, the P-Patch shed had been opened and all its contents overturned, although it appears that nothing went missing. Neighbors chased away some teens throwing the unripe apples at farm structures Thursday night, but the two occurrences seem to be unrelated.

Even more frightening, while inspecting the shed, our Marra Farm Giving Garden Coordinator Sue McGann found what looked like (and was confirmed to be) bullet holes in the walls of the P-Patch shed. The police officer who arrived at the scene believes that the holes were made by someone using the shed as target practice. The police wish to assure everyone in the community that they are still safe in the area. Even so, all of these events are a disappointing show of disrespect towards the farm property and the people who work on and benefit from the farm’s operations.

Upon hearing this news, Julie Simon, a long-time volunteer scheduled to work at the farm the next day with a group of friends, first made a detour.  Her detour was a shopping trip and out of her own pocket, she replaced the lawn mower and weed-whacker.  It was heartening to arrive and see the shiny new items. More than replacing stuff it was her thoughtful act of kindness that was totally unexpected and really lifted our spirits.  It is a reminder that we do this work TOGETHER and that it is only through caring for one another that we can truly nourish our community.

Marra Farm Giving Garden is a project of Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link program. For more info about Marra Farm, contact Sue McGann at 206.694.6746 x1 or suem@solid-ground.org. For info about Lettuce Link, contact Michelle Bates-Benetua at 206.694.6754 or lettucklink@solid-ground.org.

Families of the incarcerated coming together for change

JustServe AmeriCorps is inspired and supported by many grassroots organizations working for justice and safety in our community. One of those groups is the Black Prisoners’ Caucus, a group of incarcerated men organizing within Washington State Reformatory, Monroe.

“Men of Vision” by Monica Stewart, from the Black Prisoners’ Caucus website

Founded in 1972, the Black Prisoners’ Caucus leads workshops and dialogue inside the prison for personal and community transformation. The BPC also hosts an annual Criminal Justice Summit at Monroe, bringing community leaders into the prison to discuss the root causes of crime and violence, and solutions and alternatives to incarceration and recidivism.

On Saturday, August 14th, 2010 the Black Prisoners Caucus will bring families of the incarcerated together at the Evergreen campus in Tacoma, to connect with each other and with others who are working for social change.

The Families Summit will…

• Bring loved ones and families of the incarcerated together with community leaders and organizations for available resources, so they can begin to collectively organize and unify as one.

• Offer a platform for families to address personal issues and experiences with other families, community leaders and organizations in order to raise awareness.

• Educate families and the community on issues that exist within the criminal justice system that affect the lack of treatment services, rehabilitation programs, proper education and job training availability – all of which contributes to a high recidivism rate among newly released offenders, while connecting families to organizations that provide resources, support and family assistance.

• Establish an online network (I.C.O.N.) comprised of families, support groups and organizations to assist in their efforts to unite, organize, advocate and collectively work towards a more humane justice system that works for families of the incarcerated and the community as a whole.

Food, childcare and transportation will be provided.

Here are three ways that you can support this work:

1) Spread the word about the Families Summit to your contacts in the community.

2) Get involved in the August 14th organizing committee, helping to get food, drink and other supplies donated for the event.

3) If you have access to a car, sign up to be a volunteer driver helping to transport families to the event.

For more information, please email bpc@blackprisonerscaucus.org, call Cammie Carl at 206.619.4655, or call Sherrell Severe at 206.937.2701.

Community Farm unveils final design

Thanks to the Urban Farm Hub for beating us to what should have been or own news! We’re just basically copying their post, but hey, our staff person wrote it:

The Seattle Community Farm at Rainier Vista is excited to unveil its final design! The feedback we heard from the Rainier Vista neighborhood has helped to develop a beautiful design for growing, sharing and gathering around food in the Rainier Valley.

Our volunteer landscape architect, Eric Higbee, has been working with the Seattle Housing Authority, P-Patch Program and Solid Ground in order to create a garden design that will enrich the Rainier Vista neighborhood and immediate surroundings.

The prominent characteristic of this design is the “long tables.” Three long tables will stretch the width of the cul-de-sac at S. Lilac Street. These tables will be used for teaching, eating and harvesting. This space belongs to everyone in the neighborhood… coffee, barbeques and birthday parties are all encouraged!

A children’s garden will be developed south of the cul-de-sac, while terraced garden beds will be built on the northern end. Compost bins will dot the western edge of the garden, and there are plans for a street painting in the cul-de-sac. We heard from many residents that the space should be fenced in; a four foot fence is planned for the food production space in the garden.

If all goes as planned, groundbreaking will begin in July. Community members are invited to join the work parties beginning in August, with an opening celebration on September 25, 2010. If you would like to be involved with small construction projects or artistic contributions to the garden, please contact us! You can reach Leslie Heimer and Jamie Robinson, of the Farm’s Outreach & Development team, at 206.694.6829 or urbanfarm@solid-ground.org. Developments can be followed on the Lettuce Link Blog.

About the author: Jamie Robinson is an AmeriCorps National Service Member with Solid Ground.

Thank you for making the Fremont Outdoor Movies event a HUGE success!

Moviegoers, hands full of blankets and lawn chairs, began lining up to snag a good spot in the parking lot on 35th and Phinney at 6 PM on Saturday July 10. By the time the gates opened, the line was snaking down the sidewalk and around the block. Together this group of Ghostbusters fans raised $3,360, 50% more than last year! And it gets better, the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents matched this incredible amount, which means the Fremont Outdoor Movies on Saturday night raised a grand total of $7,000! This will all go directly to Solid Ground’s Family Shelter – which provides long-term and short-term emergency shelter as well as case management services to homeless families in the Seattle area.

Solid Ground volunteers greet folks at Ghostbusters

Family Shelter’s primary goal is to help families find more permanent housing. In 2009 the Family Shelter program temporarily housed 105 families through the enhanced and voucher programs. Roughly 60% of the 374 individuals served through Family Shelter in 2009 were children under the age of 18. Tamara Brown, the Solid Ground’s acting Housing Director, stated that, “we continue to be amazed at the abundant giving from the Fremont community each year – and we are thankful for such caring, generous neighbors.”

“Our team has been supporters of Solid Ground through the Fremont Outdoor Movies event and done several projects about emergency housing over the last six years,” said Tonya Hennen of the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents. “We love working with Solid Ground because we feel that as an organization it offers such a wide umbrella of services to assist those with many kinds of needs on its mission to eradicate poverty, including a focus around housing access which the CoHo Team particularly supports.”

The success of this event would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of the Fremont Outdoor Movies and the CoHo Team. Fremont Outdoor Movies Event Producer, Ryan Reiter perfectly described the atmosphere as “fun and laid back. Everyone loves movies and it is a great way to help create change within our community; it continues to be a huge success and we are proud to be a big part of that.” As the MC of the night, Reiter provided entertainment until the movie began with games and trivia, adding to the fun atmosphere of the event.

A special thanks to the CoHo Team of Windermere Agents and the Fremont Outdoor Movies. And thank you to everyone who participated in the event and made it such a huge success!

Who you gonna call? CoHo Team and Fremont Outdoor Movies!

Volunteers needed to harvest backyard fruit!

Lettuce Link’s Community Fruit Tree Harvest is gearing up for the 2010 season and we would love for you to harvest with us!

Fruit is a valuable community resource. In 2009, Community Fruit Tree Harvest volunteers harvested more than 19,600 pounds of apples, plums and pears from Seattle fruit trees and delivered it to people with limited access to organic produce (through food banks and meals programs). Harvesting this fruit depends on significant community support.

Community Fruit Tree Harvest volunteers…

• “Scout” trees in your neighborhood to see if they are ripe before sending volunteers to harvest.
• Harvest at scheduled work parties.
• Be “on call” to harvest fruit in your neighborhood. (An email will go out to the volunteers in a particular neighborhood when a tree there is ripe. Available volunteers will make arrangements for picking.)
• Provide garage storage for ladders, picking buckets and/or harvested fruit.
• Deliver harvested fruit to food banks and meals programs.

If you would like to volunteer, please attend one of our volunteer orientations and fill out a volunteer application.

Tuesday, July 27, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Ballard Library (5614 22nd Ave NW)

Wednesday, July 28, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Wallingford, Solid Ground (1501 N 45th St)

Thursday, July 29, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Northeast Library (6801 35th Ave NE)

Monday, August 2, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, Douglass-Truth Library (2300 E Yesler Way)

If you’re unable to attend an orientation, we’d still love to have your help! Contact Sadie at fruitharvest@solid-ground.org or 206.694.6751.

If you have fruit to donate, please contact Seattle Tilth’s Garden Hotline at 206.633.0224 or help@gardenhotline.org.

Other fantastic Seattle Fruit Harvest programs:

City Fruit, Phinney / Greenwood

City Fruit, Crown Hill

City Fruit, SE Seattle

Community Harvest of SW Seattle, West Seattle

Colman Neighborhood

Brettler Family Place taking shape at Sand Point

Cool: The 52 units of housing for formerly homeless families that Solid Ground is building at Sand Point/Magnuson Park are really starting to take shape! First floor walls on two of the legs of townhouses are up, foundations for the apartment wings are being readied. You can start to imagine just how many people Brettler Family Place will house! Photos from July 7, 2010…

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Lunchtime fresh picks

How about some crisp yellow chard on this hot summer day? This gorgeous photo is from Marra Farm volunteer Steve Tracy. You can view more of Steve’s lovely veggie photos on the Lettuce Link Blog.

Even better than the photos? All this stunning, nutritious, organic produce is delivered regularly to South Park’s neighborhood food bank, Providence Regina House!

Forum on food sources features Lettuce Link

Where should we get our food? The choices are endless and many of us want to do the right thing, especially when it comes to our health and our family’s health.

Join staff of Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link program and other community panelists at the Pacific Science Center on July 13 for a discussion on the pros and cons of getting food from three different sources: supermarkets, restaurants/fast food chains, and farmers markets/local gardens.

Participants will focus on the question, “What should be the balance of these three sources in my community?” Guest panelists will take your questions.

Event is free but pre-registration is required. Refreshments provided. Call 206.443.2896 or email forums@pacsci.org to register.

Tuesday, July 13th, 6:30-8:30pm
Ackerly Family Gallery, Pacific Science Center
200 Second Ave N, Seattle

Double your support for the Family Shelter by watching Ghostbusters this Saturday

Cool: Come watch a classic film, enjoy the beautiful Seattle summer, and help raise funds for Solid Ground’s Family Shelter program at the Fremont Outdoor Movies on Saturday, July 10th. Family Shelter provides short-term and long-term emergency shelter for families with children under the age of 18. This Saturday’s movie will be the classic comedy/fantasy film, Ghostbusters.

The CoHo Team of Windermere real estate agents is generously sponsoring this annual benefit at the Fremont Outdoor Movies “theater.” Donations will be matched – dollar for dollar – by the CoHo Team. All donations made at the door (or before the event online: type “CoHo Team” in the additional information section of our online donation form) will go to Solid Ground and be matched by the CoHo Team. And while the suggested donation is $5, there is no limit to what you can give!

So come get some laughs and some good karma on Saturday, July 10th at the Fremont Outdoor Movies in the parking lot on N 35th & Phinney Ave.

Questions? Email annar@solid-ground.org or call 206.694.6857.

We can’t wait to see you there!

If this blog didn’t motivate you, check out a trailer for Ghostbusters: