Photo: Stock Exchange/Salted House

I’ve looked and looked. Maybe it’s out there and I just haven’t seen it. Where is the short term housing that we desperately need? The  safe, affordable, possibly short term, housing that gives people a breather. The number of people standing at the precipice of homelessness, and falling into it, numbs my mind!

A lot of innocent people are going to get hurt.

If this unprecedented collapse takes with it the shame and humiliation that is inherent in our views about money and success, then we can grow from the experience and reach a new plateau of wisdom.

A business man in an industry that has been turned on its head repaid his investors their guaranteed 20% return, though he is looking at financial ruin and considers himself a failure. So far, he does not feel successful because he measures success on the bottom line. As the smoke clears and the paradigm shift settles in, hind sight will surely show that integrity trumps money as a measure of worth. He’s got the integrity thing in spades. Nevertheless, people have to eat, wear shoes and live indoors.

Instead of yet another policy paper describing our housing crisis, let’s put together local coalitions of real estate mavens, city council representatives, housing cooperators and building trades people to locate buildings that can be quickly modified to function as short term housing to get people off the street, sleeping indoors, eating decent food and having a place to put at least some of their belongings. Then let’s help people process this devastating experience so that it doesn’t become an albatross leaching every shred of self esteem from their identity.

Tornadoes follow a twisting path, devastate most of a community, flatten houses to match sticks, while leaving a few buildings intact, sometimes right next door. This is sort of like that. The rug is being pulled from under people who played by the rules. The bankers that we tax payers bailed out lavished bonuses like it was 2007! Fairness – the illusion talks about unfairness that is inherent in life.

Although the sense of failure is humiliating, the pay dirt is in learning the lesson, healing, and growing from the experience. Shame not only doesn’t get us anywhere, given that the game is rigged, it is misplaced.  A lot of innocent people are going to get hurt.

A new approach

The severity of the problem and the paucity of ideas gives my imagination free rein. I envision “housing fairs” with innovative housing solutions on offer. This could include as many different varieties of housing as we can dream up: households with room mates, households functioning as families, dormitory-type housing, cooperative apartments and any other concept that works. A dormitory arrangement might appeal to people who want a comfortable place to stay and would welcome, and pay for, meal service and maintenance.

Orphanages, which met the needs of an earlier era, are obsolete due to the wide acceptance of birth control. At this moment in history, our only housing models are designed for nuclear families, which comprise only 25% of our population. The other alternative is mostly single-person housing. This doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of huge numbers of our population. The very fundamentals of our culture have shifted radically and we need housing models that reflect our changed landscape. We cannot solve this problem without new models and we need them immediately. See 11 Reasons Why House Sharing Works.

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Stop by often to learn about the creative approaches to taking a whack at these issues that undermine our families and our culture. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Photo: Stock Exchange/2-story Southern charm

Does the economic collapse have within it the seeds of social change that will set us on a path to a more stable society? Just as the seeds of certain pine trees are released only by the heat of a forest fire, this collapse is forcing many to consider alternatives they would not have considered in a more comfortable, secure time.

Housing, for example. How and where we live, and with whom, are all ripe for evaluation. The following list is intended to broaden your perspective by considering  eleven benefits of house sharing:

1. Better food: An essential element for life, food can be both a joy and a nuisance. Food runs the gamut from delicious and nourishing, to dull and uninteresting, to harmful and even toxic. How and what you eat has a direct impact on your health and your wallet. Living with people who enjoy food and  plan menus, shop for ingredients and prepare interesting, healthful meals dramatically increases your odds of eating well and enjoying better health.
2. Better stuff: Admit it. Wouldn’t it be great to be less attached to your stuff? Of all your possessions, probably only a few dozen are genuinely important to you.  Living with others is an opportunity to choose the best of the best. Put the rest in storage, have a garage sale and donate the remainder to charity. Sorting and deciding is the hardest part.
3. Live better for less money. Living in a household committed to thrifty, ecological living can keep money in your pocket. Imaginative and creative menu planning, taking your lunch and snacks is healthier for body and bank account. Clear-eyed budgeting and management, combined with a handy knack for fixing things can make a big difference. Even doing laundry at home puts money in your pocket.
4. Division of labor. If your idea of cooking is picking up a slice of pizza on the way home, perhaps your skills and interests run to cleaning, household repairs, household finances, gardening or car maintenance. In a well managed household, it all needs done. Children, who seem naturally conversant with electronics, can make valuable contributions too. Dividing the labor among more people increases the likelihood that you can do more of what you enjoy and fewer tasks that you detest.
5. The joy of generations. Living in an inter-generational household can be a grounding, rounding experience. Single people who have not changed enough diapers are missing an important part of life. Both children and adults benefit from elders’ wisdom. People living alone become accustomed to their routine, less adaptable and their social skills get rusty. The difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
   
6. Livelier social life. The people who are inclined to this lifestyle are probably interesting and engaged with the world and this makes for a lively atmosphere.
7. Live better. Living in gracious surroundings, with a compatible group of people who choose each other wisely, show up on behalf of the household, work out their differences in a healthy, mature way can be delightful. This arrangement brings amenities such porches, gardens, yards, and vintage homes within affordable reach.
8. Have your friends come to your house. Opening your home to others is one of the joys of having one. Being a guest in home has a different quality than gatherings at restaurants or hotels. In a large home, you could host holiday festivities. Providing that household members agree, being the home base for family reunions is conceivable. Household members may choose to take a trip themselves, giving you and your guests more accommodations and privacy.
9. Healthier lifestyle. Although many are shy and private, healthy humans are naturally social beings. The independent lifestyle that we take so much pride in, for many is isolating to an unhealthy degree. Many seniors contemplate assisted living arrangements when they mostly need to be around people. Even a grade schooler or a teenager could qualify. Many children go to an empty home until their parents arrive from work. A healthier environment for everyone would be one with people that they are attached to and rely on. Nurturing those bonds takes time, attention and care.
10. Help when you need it. How comforted would you feel knowing that a responsible adult was there if your child had to stay home from school? For serious illness, caregivers for chronically ill people burn out quickly, in part because too few people share the load. If round the clock nursing is required, converting a spare bedroom may be a better choice than a nursing home. The Census Bureau reports that there were 2.4 million registered nurses in 2005. A considerable number have let their licenses expire, although they still have the knowledge and skills. Keeping people who need care at home and having a nurse stop by makes sense.
11. Experience a deeper connection to others. If households form wisely, and consciously work through their issues, connecting with others is a natural consequence. The experience of living with others can bring great joy. The other side of that coin is that it can bring great sorrow as well. You can’t be open to one and not the other.

Connecting with others, for many, is the elephant in the room that we don’t talk about. It is perfectly conceivable to have no meaningful contact with others in the course of a day, week, month or year. This reality spawns misfits and violence that are all too familiar. Although we tsk tsk that things have gone to hell, the dysfunction that is embedded within our culture is not going away until we replace it with healthier customs.

Change is banging on our door and calling us to a new lifestyle. It is within the capability of some to make this leap. New Community Vision will be working with community groups to host gatherings to discuss the potential of alternative housing. Please visit Alternative Housing Models to see the varieties of housing that are possible in our new world that is on its way to becoming brave.

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Stop by often to learn about the creative approaches to taking a whack at these issues that undermine our families and our culture. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Photo: Stock Exchange/Screw it!

Learn how to lower your costs for utilities, mortgage payments, transportation, and food.

Co-presented with CUB, I-Go Car Sharing & Growing Home

·      Citizens Utility Board

·      I-Go Car Sharing

·      Growing Home

DATE:       Wednesday, July 28

TIME:        5:45PM to 7:45PM

LOCATION:  Illinois Action for Children | 1340 S. Damen | Chicago, IL 60608 | Free parking next to building

REGISTER:  Call Jennifer @ 773-769-5800, ext 224

Presented by

North Side Community Federal Credit Union, HUD-Certified Housing Counseling department

Photo: Sound ConneXions, Seattle

At the first Sound ConneXions Chicago Forum, on Saturday June 26th, participants with passionate ideas to fill some of the holes that gape everywhere in this economy brainstormed together. Many of the old systems didn’t work too well for lots of folks in the first place. Now, some of them don’t work at all. That sets the stage for social innovation.

Sound ConneXions recognizes social problems as opportunities to use entrepreneurial principles and community assets to release the potential for collaborations that cross traditional boundaries.  Our vision is the creation of scalable, sustainable social enterprises to empower communities while providing  social, ecological and economic benefits in the following areas:

~ Arts and Culture
~ Health and Wellness
~ Education and Development
~ Ecology and Environment

We were honored to have Dan Bassill of the Tutor/Mentor Connection, our spotlight presenter, explain the organization’s impressive work.

The mission of the Tutor/Mentor Connection (T/MC) is to provide an organized framework that empowers and encourages adult volunteers to contribute their time, effort, ideas and advocacy toward creating life-changing solutions for children in educationally and economically disadvantaged areas.

Tutor/Mentor Connection’s leverage of other organizations and Sound ConneXions’ mission of supporting social innovators dovetails perfectly, i.e., connects the dots.

Using the powerful Open Space format for brainstorming, other ideas explored included:

• Greg Vaughan and Autumn Franger explored funding possibilities for the co-officing business that they plan for Rogers Park.
• Wendy Balman gained insight about inviting a consulting organization that innovates complex social systems worldwide to locate in Chicago. This is such an exciting city, with so much creative energy, of course they need a location here!
• Cheryl Jekiel is passionate about exploring new ways to celebrate the end of life

The Sound ConneXions model powerfully supports social innovation that 1) fills a need that the market has failed to meet; 2) is environmentally sustainable; 3) scalable; and 4) meets the triple bottom line principle of profit, planet and people. The triple bottom line means that a business has to make a profit while not harming the planet and benefits people with good working conditions and living wages.

Photo: Stock Exchange / Blackboard

I don’t know anything about children. I often feel incompetent and that I miss the point. As one of the youngest in my family, I wasn’t around younger children until I started baby sitting as a teenager, the first job I ever hated.

Failing as a 13-year-old, assigned to keep the third and fourth graders quiet during lunch time, may have set the tone. In Stockton, Illinois, the Holy Cross Catholic School policy was to assign a pair of eighth grade girls to eat lunch in various classrooms while the nuns ate their lunch together in the convent. Although we didn’t have to teach anything, we did have to keep them quiet.

Clueless, but taking my responsibility seriously, I devised a brilliant plan: I wrote a dot on the blackboard which I instructed them to look at while they ate. Obviously, if they had to stare at a dot, they couldn’t turn around in their seats, and would, of course, be quiet.

Not knowing what to do, I made up a cockamamie rule and clung to it like dying man. With no guidance, intuition or perspective, the futility of it did not deter me from my approach. My family, of course, found this endlessly amusing. It’s a painful, embarrassing memory. A friend and gifted Montessori administrator was astonished that a 13-year-old girl was put in that position in the first place.

National Public Radio aired a poignant story in which a bilingual nurse interpreted by telephone for non-English speaking patients and English-speaking doctors. A Mexican couple brought their fevered infant wrapped up in a blanket to see a doctor. When told that the child was too hot, they were confused and said that all pictures of Baby Jesus show him wrapped in blankets…

Walking down the street tonight in Logan Square, a young father watched his toddler race outdoors and seemed surprised that the kid just wanted to GO! Not knowing what what to expect, he will probably try to control the child, although a watchful eye in a safe area may far better for the child’s overall development.

If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.

Jackie Kennedy

The point of these stories and a tale of two mothers, is that not knowing, you punt. In many areas, the stakes are low. With children, however, the stakes are very high indeed. One consequence of our relative social isolation is that the people who have experience raising healthy, confident children don’t have enough interaction with the people who need their wisdom. Our culture is full of people in every economic strata who care for children with only the dimmest idea of what to do. At the same time, loads of people know a lot about children and how to care for them are everywhere! They would be not just willing to help, but feel honored to do so.

Tackling the thorny conundrum of social isolation on two fronts makes sense: 1) nurturing communities that are aware of and resourceful to each other and 2) exploring housing models that are appropriate for various demographic groups. We base our housing aspirations on the nuclear family model, even though only 25 percent of our population lives that way! Single family homes are not ideal for single parents, young adults who have aged out of the foster care system, older people, disabled people, families and many other groups as well.

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Stop by often to learn about the creative approaches to taking a whack at these issues that undermine our families and our culture. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Photo: Stock Exchange/Horton Group

My laboratory to study human nature, particularly children and the adults who care for them, is Chicago’s public transit system. Traveling northbound last week on the Pulaski bus on two consecutive days, I witnessed two mothers, with polar opposite maternal styles, their children and the outcomes.

The first mother traveled with two daughters, whom I guess were four and five years old. The girls giggled in the seat in front of me as their mother sat across the aisle. Something annoyed the mother who came over to stand beside them. She told the nearest one to “Shut up.” She wasn’t getting results which brought more “shut ups” and “I’ll give you something to cry about.” One of them dropped, or threw, the sippy cup on the floor. The other cried. And so began their familiar destructive dance which may have played out for generations.

The following day a mother boarded with a child riding on her back in something like a sling, a length of fabric tied in front. She settled into her seat, untying the fabric so that the child, who was probably two or three could sit down. The child fussed in a manner that could have escalated into a tantrum. “What’s wrong? What do you want?” In the special communication between mother and child, she discerned that he wanted to stay tied on her back. Accommodatingly, she stood to rearrange the fabric and, as he contentedly settled in, she stroked his hair and kissed his forehead.

We like to think that women inherently know how to care for a child. Although that may be true in the animal kingdom, for human beings it is a dangerous fantasy. Especially in the beginning, motherhood is a bewildering journey, requiring engagement with a helpless person who communicates primarily by crying. The illuminating book, The Goddess Within, discusses the feminine archetypes and their characteristics. Women of the Demeter archetype are born nurturers, with an instinctive knowing of what children need. But women of all archetypes are mothers, each with their own style and approach. If the mothers of young mothers were clueless, they will have no idea how to nurture their own children. This can manifest in an extreme need for control with no understanding of human nature. Many children become confused, fearful, and angry with very low self esteem.

Given a mother’s immense influence, with lifelong consequences for children and society, nurturing these families should be Job One. The human spirit is remarkably fragile and remarkably resilient. In every life, painful incidents become lodged in our psyches which, unless examined and reprocessed in a healthy way, can have corrosive effects. To compensate, we often develop coping mechanisms that we are completely unaware of and cause us to repeatedly trip over the same scenario, with no awareness that it is a re-run of our own making.

As the economy ratchets down, with no idea how low it can go or where it will end up, my goal is to beat the drum for healthy families and healthy communities and to facilitate gatherings to explore alternatives that support us in this uncharted environment.

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Photo: Stock Exchange/Dream

Tax considerations required that each of them purchase a replacement property within 18 months. Kay’s attorney suggested that she pair with another person in similar circumstances. Arlington Heights prohibited non-family members from living together in the same house, so they looked elsewhere and purchased a large former boarding house in Evanston. The gang presence made for an iffy neighborhood. The neighborhood has gentrified and the house has been beautifully rehabbed. Theirs was the first mortgage granted in Illinois to two non-related women.

Neither of them had jobs, Kay hadn’t worked outside her home in 15 years and both wanted to stay at home with the children. Janet’s background in market research led her to work with Quaker Oats’ marketing department but a wholesale restructuring in the 1990’s eliminated all of their contacts. One simple letter to the management saying that they could offer a seamless transition led to a meeting. Their new computer crashed at 6:00 the morning of the meeting, rendering them helpless. A quirk of fate intervened with a 9 a.m. call from Quaker requesting to reschedule the meeting for the following week. The transition must have been seamless. Quaker Oats remains a client, as does Gatorade, McDonald’s and many others.

Processing the fallout from a divorce with others going through the same thing was probably a god send for everyone. The children recognized that they were a family, referring to each other as “brother” and “sister”, long before their mothers did. Janet and her children spent the first Christmas with her parents, but by the second Christmas, they wanted to stay at home with their family.

In the early days, they rented the third floor to Northwestern students who provided a welcome male presence for the three boys ranging in age from 3 to 11 years. Michael, 3-years old, followed 11-year old Ted around saying “I love you, Ted.” Not every 11-year old boy would welcome the adoration of a 3-year old, but it suited Ted just fine.

Money was often tight, and the roof leaked, but the mortgage was always paid. Rituals and traditions bound the family together. Each holiday has its own special menu, served only on that day. Waiting an entire year to savor it again adds to the anticipation and enjoyment.

Although their business is obviously successful, the real victory is that each child went to college, well prepared to launch into life. It is testament to the cohesive family that each one settled in the Chicago area after college. The odds are not generally stacked in the favor of children living with single parents, a demographic with one of the highest rates of poverty. Most divorced women end up working in typical jobs, with confining hours, often long commutes, but steady, tiny paychecks.

Combining resources made it possible for these two women to take advantage of the opportunities that came to them. Their solid foundation enabled them to provide the stable environment in which children flourish. Both women gave permission to tell their story.

As people follow the normal trajectory of life, alternative living situations may be more appropriate at various life stages. The economic collapse and housing crisis presents a compelling case to look at alternatives that may have been unthinkable back in the olden days, before 2008. Although the housing crisis has been with us for over a decade, we must look at it now, with fresh eyes and ideas. House Sharing – a possible road map is just one idea.

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Photo: Stock Exchange/Missed Opportunities

Everywhere I look, a family or an individual seems to be falling through the cracks, so I usually write about whatever tugs at my heart.

My recent alignment with Sound ConneXions, and Sound ConneXions Chicago, whose goal is to support social entrepreneurs engaging in social innovation, gives me the courage to take on a project that is too daunting to even contemplate as an individual: our housing crisis. I have every expectation that committed roll-up-the-sleeve do-ers, who work tirelessly to make a difference in the world, will show up at every Forum. Sound ConneXions Forums provide a platform to for social entrepreneurs to find each other, to discover common interests and to get to work cleaning up some part of the mess that we slog through every day.

Our housing crisis makes me crazy so that is the newly narrow focus of my effort. My goal is to inform and educate the public about housing alternatives that may be more suitable and supportive for the various stages of life, from just starting out to winding down. Demographic populations that may benefit from looking at housing in a broader context include: older people who don’t need nursing home care but need to be around people for a good portion of the day, single parents, seniors, disabled people, young adults who have aged out of the foster care system, veterans and their families.

Watch for more pixels, stories and clamor to raise the decibel level on housing for families, children, disabled people, veterans and more.

The first Sound ConneXions Chicago Forum is on Saturday, June 26th at Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. Please follow this link to sign up. We ask for a$15 donation, payable at the door, to cover the costs of lunch and refreshments. Please sign up at this link so that we know how many people to feed!

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.

Sound ConneXions

It is an organization dedicated to educating the public about social innovation and social entrepreneurship and supporting creative connections between idea formation and support, asset based networking, and creating new ways to do work in the world.

Sound ConneXions seeks to provide an effective infrastructure to support social entrepreneurs and connect them with the people and resources to catapult and scale desired social change.

What is our mission and vision?

Our mission is to create work that supports life and empowers communities through social innovation and collaboration between organizations and communities.

Our vision is to support the design, creation and cultivation of scalable and sustaining social innovations that empower communities and provide financial, social and ecological benefits.

What resources does Sound ConneXions offer?

• Networking
• Community Forums
• Open Space Sessions
• Collaborative Projects

Who are our members?

Business leaders, nonprofit directors, social entrepreneurs, communication professionals, social workers and community members who want to make a difference with innovative economic, social, and ecological projects.

How can individuals get involved?

For more information visit Sound ConneXions or view this slide show. To contact us, please email soundconnexionschicago@gmail.com or Terry@newcommunityvision.coop

Photo: Sound ConneXions, Seattle

What isn’t up for grabs? The environment, the economy, Congress, every state in the nation, the Gulf of Mexico, the Middle East, big corporations, small businesses, and the Catholic church, a 2,000 year-old institution, are all in the throes of wrenching change.

Do you long for a shred of stability? Don’t turn blue holding your breath for it.

Our diverse country is fragmented, disillusioned, angry and heartbroken. The big change is coming from the grass roots, not from Washington, New York or Silicon Valley. The Time Magazine article by Reihan Salam predicts

The transformation will be not so much political as anti-political. The decision to turn away from broken and brittle institutions, like conventional schools and conventional jobs, will represent a turn toward what military theorist John Robb calls “resilient communities,” which aspire to self-sufficiency and independence.

The Fourth Turning predicted that whatever is not working will collapse, and  durable solutions will rise from the rubble. Social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkeIn, World Café, Wiser Earth, and others reflect this shift. The Transition Town movement that started in 2008 in England  and is now worldwide, is based on the premise that we must create resilient communities, learn forgotten skills, including how to forage for food, and live off the grid to adjust to the hard reality that the world’s oil supply has peaked. In Chicago, Transition Rogers Park is committing to creating a resilient community.

The murky future gives no clue whether we will tip toward higher consciousness and light or sink back toward more darkness. Therefore, we face a moral imperative and a unique opportunity to create systems in which communities provide relief and comfort to each other. Plenty of people are more than ready to take our culture to a higher level. Knowing who these people are so that they can find each other could propel this shift forward. Sound ConneXions Forums provide the setting where people who are involved in social innovation gather with others to present their ideas and to brainstorm for new ones.

Join the first of many Sound ConneXions Chicago Forums on Saturday, June 26th from 9:30 to 4:30 at  Loyola University Chicago’s Water Tower Campus. We ask for a $15 donation at the door to cover expenses for lunch and refreshments.

Please register at this link Sound ConneXions Chicago Forums so that we know how many people to feed!

For more info: New Community Vision is eager to work with individuals and groups, such as Sound ConneXions, to spawn a movement to think about our social and housing paradigms in a new context. Community gatherings to address our universal challenges are the fertile soil in which durable solutions take root. Please subscribe to this blog and contact us for more information.