Community leaders from Brooklyn to Berkeley recievedsupport to make their community-building dreams a reality.

Hakhel is the first-of-its-kind Jewish Intentional Communities incubator in North America. Derived from the Hebrew word for community, Hakhel means assemble, a term which alludes to the projects two-fold aim of encouraging and developing young communities, and using these communities as a method for engaging young adults in Jewish life, learning and service. Finalists received guidance from two expert mentors, Aharon Ariel Lavi and James Grant-Rosenhead, modest financial assistance, participation in Hazons Jewish Intentional Communities Tour in Israel, and peer-to-peer networking opportunities within the cohort, thanks to support from UJA Federation of New York.

The 2016cohort, plus some additional members of the movement outside of the cohort, travelledto Israel inMarchto learn from the Israeli experience, expand their horizons to new and different models of communities, andestablish long-term, direct relationships between the American communities and their Israeli counterparts.

Lavi and Grant-Rosenhead are founder-members of intentional communities in Israelandactivists and leaders in the Jewish intentional communitiesmovement. Together, they assist the Hakhel projects in conducting feasibility studies, creating work plans, and honing their long-term vision of internal development and external outreach.

Work at Home Mom & Pop

Gulienne Rollins-Rishon

WAHMP aims to create a communal space where Jewish parents of all denominations can come together, with young children in tow, to a shared office space, in order to pursue their creative or telecommuting endeavors. Our co-working environment, with on sight child engagement, will offer the standard amenities of a shared office environment, plus a kosher kitchen, private nursing space, and hours compatible with both parenting and Jewish lifestyles. Our space will provide not only office set-up and peer interaction for both adults and children, but also engaging networking opportunities, and workshops and lectures run by experts in Jewish spirituality, parenting, finance, and law. We also aim to provide an opportunity for our member artists to showcase and sell their work, and space for our members to collaborate on new projects.

Makom NY

Rabbi Debbi Bravo

Makom NY is a new kind of Jewish community on Long Island where all are welcome. They come from many backgrounds and are seeking Jewish learning, culture, connections and community.They are acommunity beyond any one movement where all people are personally welcomed and where social, denominational, faith and financial barriers do not exist. They look to embrace meaningful worship that uses the transcendent power of music toenable connection and spirituality; intergenerational programming of holiday celebrations, social justiceand Israel connection; immersive Jewish learning experiences for children that foster alifelong love of Judaism, an understanding of the modern Hebrewlanguage and preparation for Bnai Mitzvah; parallel adult and family learning experiences that allow families of allbackgrounds to discover and create their own Jewish identities; andJewish Life Cycle celebrations.

Haredi Tech Entrepreneurs

Ronnie Rendel

The ultimate dream of this community is a virtual kibutz of harediheads of families engaged in building, investing, and marketingtechnology products.The community will take in new members recently completing or in theirfinal years of yeshiva (or seminary), include training programs andguidance mentors directing new members in the right tech field andbuilding the right skills.The ideal is for the community to also provide housing for its members,in return for participation in its program, much like a kibutz.The biggest hurdle for a young family today is housing cost, andelevating this pain is a big value for joining this community.

As members create and participate in products, which are owned by thecommunity (which acts as a sort of a tech incubator and memberssharing equity), they become mentors and later leaders of thecommunity.

Beineinu

Rabbi Laurie Phillips & Daphna Mor

Beineinu is a New York City-based initiative dedicated to cultivating personal Jewish pathways that resonate with the unique needs of our modern world. They build community between them by offering meaningful experiences for all people of all ages. Whether youve long been a part of Jewish life, or are embarking on something utterly new, they invite you to join our gatherings and develop your own customized endeavor with them.

The concept behind Beineinu isthe Havurah model: our leadershipcultivates small communities formed from about 10 households, and implements a plan with each group. The group decides the content and the frequency of meetings, gathering throughout the year to explore and connect with Jewish learning and one another, developing and strengthening identity with relevance and meaning. Their first groups have come together in Brooklyn, Harlem, and on the Upper West Side.

GariNYC

David Kay, David Meyer, Leya Robinson, Morriah Kaplan, Noah Finkelstein, Tom Corcoran, Sara Zebovitz, Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff

Theyare a Jewish, social justice oriented group, hoping to create a network of communal Jewish life in America. They will be focused on our local communities by getting involved in neighborhood activities and taking action together with our neighbors. They host Shabbat dinners and share resources and thoughts on holidays with the Habonim Dror community, and hope to expand that. They see communal living and communal responsibility as essential to creating a world based on social justice and equality, and see our Jewish life as central to those values.

Kol Hai

Amy Hannes, David Nidorf, Doree Lipson, Emily Abramson, Simon Abramson, Felice Winograd Holt, Rebecca Stacy, Alan Rothman, Ayelet Singer

Kol ai (which means all life) is an emerging, Jewish Renewal spiritual community in New Yorks Hudson Valley. We gather for music-filled, joyful Shabbat and holiday services, as well as meals and other shared community experiences. Our ecumenical, intergenerational community is comprised of a diversity of people including families, retirees, young farmers and NYC friends seeking shabbat in nature. We learn through chanting, prayer, ritual text study and immersive experiences in the regions natural landscape.

The Beis Community

Hart Levine, Yael Levine, Rebecca Mintz, Nathaniel Moldoff, Aryeh Canter, Jordana Burstein

We are a group of passionate young professionals committed to building a community that is socially progressive and Orthodox. A hallmark of our activities has been a focus on intentional prayer, creativity in ritual, and Torah study as well as an openness and warmth that welcomes all Jews. We focus on inreach, outreach, and up-reach, encouraging those who are actively engaged in Jewish life to strengthen and support less involved Jews who are in search of their own faith and practice. Our goal is to use the incredible human capital in our community and our position in New York City to create an aspirational model for the Modern Orthodox communities of the future.

Lev BLev

Sara Shalva, Adam Simon, Nancy Cohen, Jennifer Zwilling Rosenwasser, Lori Simon, Alex Boyar, Jon Rosenwasser, Benjamin Shalva, Jeff Wetzler, Jennifer Goldman-Wetzler

Theircommunity grew out of a table of friends sitting at the Hkader Ohkel at Camp Yavneh in New Hampshire. As an emerging intentional community, they come together 6 8 times a year to celebrate Jewish life as families. Over some shabbatot or entire weekends or holidays they find inexpensive opportunities to gather to sing, hike, learn, discuss and live in community. At those times, when they manage to take the time and spare the expense to gather together at a family camp or small retreat, they realize how important it is for us to be with their chevra, especially on retreat: away from the business of usual life. There, they have the time to learn together and to take the time to reflect together on who they are and who they want to be.

Boulder Jewish Community Housing Initiative

Jeff Levy

The mission of the Boulder Jewish Community Housing Initiative (BJCHI) is to establish a Jewish Moshav (the Moshav) in Boulder, Colorado based on cooperative community, Jewish culture and religious practice, social justice, and sustainable environmental practices. The Moshav will be a denominationally unaffiliated, pluralistic, multi-generational community of households, united by a connection and commitment to Judaism, sustainability, and social justice, who have come together to live Jewish-inspired lives in community and in harmony with nature and Jewish and natural rhythms of the year. The Moshav will consist of two limited-equity cohousing communities one senior and one intergenerational totaling approximately 60 sustainably built housing units, 25 of which (40%) will be affordable to low- and moderate-income households.

Berkeley Moshav

Roger Studley

Residents of Berkeley Moshav who ideally would constitute a village diverse in age, family composition, economic circumstance, and Jewish observance will engage together in Jewish ritual, study, and culture, creating a milieu in which daily Jewish life will be normal, rich, and fun. In short, Jewish life would strengthen community, and the community would nurture Jewish life. As a part of the surrounding community, we hope to engage neighbors in communal events, both those that share our traditions (such as a Sukkot meal) and those that simply create more community (such movie nights in our common house). The idea is both to develop the Jewish lives and identities of ourselves and our community and then to share these lives and identities as we engage the wider world.

Members include Roger Studley & Chai Levy, Asaf Shor & Hilla Abel, Bridget Wynne & Julia London, Chaim & Nell Mahgel-Friedman, Chasya-Uriel & Ahava Steinbauer, Daniel Barash & Mark Jacobs, Glenn Massarano, Harriet Schiffer, Jenny & Josh Kirsch, Judy Gussman, Michael & Rebecca Liskin, Shira & Yoav Potash, Tamar & Yossi Fendel, and Yari Mander.

See the original post:

Jewish Intentional Communities Initiative - Hazon

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Tracey Horan had never been behind the walls of a convent before she moved to El Paso, Texas, after college to teach middle-school math.

She was surprised to learn that the religious sisters watched TV, told jokes and even drank beer on occasion. But they also were deeply spiritual and committed to social justice issues. Horan, who was on a journey of self-discovery and discernment, wondered if she was being called to the religious life.

The Indianapolis native and Roncalli High School grad lived with the Sisters of Charity for two years, growing not only in her faith but in her awareness of systemic poverty, discrimination and economic oppression - issues the sisters confronted in their work and discussed at the dinner table every evening.

Today, the 29-year-old one-time cheerleader-turned-teacher-turned-community activist is a second-year mission novice with the Sisters of Providence, founded by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin in 1840. She will take her first vows this year - vows of poverty, chastity and obedience - on her way to becoming a full member of the religious order based at St.-Mary-of-the-Woods.

Aging religious

Women like Horan, now known as Sister Tracey, are a rarity these days. New recruits in the ranks of nuns and sisters in the United States have plummeted for decades, though recent years have shown a slight trend upward.

According to National Religious Vocation Conference data, more than 90 percent of the nations 58,000 nuns and sisters are 60 and older. The median age of the 300 sisters in the Sisters of Providence is 75, Sister Tracey said, adding, I bring down our average, Im proud to say.

She senses a resurgence in interest in religious life, pointing to her own class of sisters as proof.

We have eight women in formation, which is exciting. A lot of communities arent getting any new people.

I think people are looking for something, a sense of intentional community, said the young sister, who looks like most everyone else at a local coffee shop on a Monday morning, dressed in slacks, a T-shirt and sandals in the summer heat. It takes a lot to be focused on this kind of mission, so it is important to be with other people who can strengthen you.

Its hard for her to describe why she feels this is the life for her. It just fits. I equate it to falling in love. I feel like I can be my fullest self in this life.

Her parents, longtime members of St. Jude Catholic Church on the south side, were pleased but skeptical when she announced her plans to join the religious life.

She had enjoyed an active social life in high school and college, all while holding true to her Catholic faith. Joe and Eileen Horan thought their daughter would follow a more traditional path. But she had long felt there was something more she was called to do.

My parents didnt believe me at first; they thought it was a phase. Over time, they started to see I was the happiest Id ever been.

Community activist

Her mission as a Catholic and a Sister of Providence is advocating for the dignity and well-being of all people, paying special attention to the poor and disenfranchised. Its fitting then that her faith journey and ministry search brought her back to Indianapolis last summer when she joined the Indianapolis Congregation Action Network (IndyCAN) and the Justice for Immigrants Campaign of the Archdiocese as a bilingual community organizer.

Its the perfect intersection of faith and civic engagement, she said. She mobilizes support for causes critical to Catholic social teachings. And her status as a sister brings a moral presence to bear, whether its in meetings with city officials on mass transit or in organizing a public rally to force action on what she and IndyCAN call the unlawful detention of immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Indianapolis.

She calls it sending a moral message. And she has no problem calling out policies she considers illegal and immoral.

But when religious leaders and others have the opportunity to meet with policy makers and put a human face on a policy outcome, the conversation shifts, she said.

Me being a sister and being part of IndyCAN and working on this in a really clear and public way, I think gives people hope. It really is an extension of the church.

Her co-workers say shes the perfect messenger.

She is so spiritually in tune, such a divine being, said Nicole Barnes, IndyCAN operations manager. Her sisterhood is integrated into who she is its not something she does - its her way of being. It just oozes out of her, and shes this tiny thing, but shes feisty and serious about justice for people.

Sister Tracey lives with four other Sisters of Providence in the Nora neighborhood. Each has her own work to do in the community, but they carve out time to pray together regularly, and they take turns cooking.

To relax, the young sister watches Parks and Recreation and Call of the Midwife. Shes also an enthusiastic runner and hiker. She keeps up with old friends on Facebook but isnt able to spend much time with them. Ive really changed a lot since those days.

At 84, Sister Marilyn Herber is the senior member of the household, and she says Sister Tracey gives her hope.

Shes just a great example to me, said Sister Marilyn, who entered religious life in 1952. The young people who come today are so filled with life and goodness and a desire to make change in this world. They get it.

Kind but stubborn

If its possible to be an idealist and a realist, that would describe Sister Tracey.

The Rev. Chris Wadelton, pastor at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church on the east side, saw both sides at a February rally organized by the young sister and IndyCAN that drew 2,000 people. The City of Inclusion rally was held in response to policies by the Trump administration that some think unfairly target immigrants, Muslims and refugees.

He marvels that she is able to balance her religious training with a job that demands long hours. She brings a renewed focus to faith-based social justice. To see a young, dynamic person, talented in so many ways, choose religious life, thats inspiring.

Juan Perez-Corona, 45, has seen Sister Tracey in action, working to help people with immigration issues, housing, medical care and employment. Hes been so impressed with her commitment that he now volunteers alongside her.

We are so blessed to have her, the father of three said. It doesnt matter color, race, religion, she just wants to help people.

Perez-Corona, who has been in the country since 1988, now has legal status here, but hes never forgotten the fear he felt 10 years ago when he said he was pulled over by a police officer in Indianapolis for no reason and asked to produce residency papers. He spent nine days in jail, but it took years to resolve his case with IndyCANs help.

Going where others wont

Sister Tracey said examples like that inspire her to do the hard work that others, even many within the church, are reluctant to embrace.

This is the heart of our mission, she said. When our sisters first came here, they were really pioneers, and thats still kind of our role. (Sisters) often choose to be in places where other people tend not to be. But if were not willing to get out in the trenches, what are we doing?

Its also challenging, she said, because it forces us to ask questions that are uncomfortable.

Take immigration, for example. Were dealing with this narrative that says all immigrants are criminals and that the only people being deported are criminals, which we know isnt true, she said. She has worked with IndyCan to develop a hotline for immigrants and others to call if they feel threatened by authorities.

She wasnt always so welcoming to undocumented immigrants, she said, recalling a high school discussion more than 10 years ago about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico.

I was one of those who said, Theyre criminals; its pretty clear, theyre breaking the law. But I had no idea.

A teacher assigned her to research the other side of the argument. I was so ticked off, but it was really smart of her. I had to see - why are people crossing, what are their stories, whats behind this?

So she allows some grace for those who are not yet willing to fight what she believes is a moral imperative.

I have to remember my own transformation, and Ive come a really long way as far as understanding and getting a broader picture of peoples experiences and perspectives. If its possible for me, being as stubborn as I am, its possible for anyone.

Sister Traceys work in the community was just recognized by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who held their Spring General Assembly in Indianapolis. In a reception June 14, she received the 2017 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, for her work to reduce poverty and racial inequality.

In prepared remarks, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, formerly archbishop of Indianapolis, described Sister Tracey as a dynamic young woman promoting the common good among immigrants and brothers and sisters living in poverty.

While the day-to-day slow work of God is not always glamorous, her ministry lends hope, said Shoshanna Spector, executive director of IndyCAN.

Society yearns for courageous, prophetic leaders who are prepared to inspire, speak out and support the most marginalized. Sister Tracey is this person.

___

Source: The Indianapolis Star, http://indy.st/2sKSVKC

___

Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com

Continued here:

Young nun fights for justice for immigrants and the poor ... - Washington Times

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. The Lighthouse Christian Academy promises to provide an exemplary education, a caring atmosphere and service to God, but says in its admissions brochure that it reserves the right to deny admission to LGBT students because the Bible deems their lifestyle sinful.

As the Trump administration seeks to expand school choice nationwide, the academy was thrust into the national spotlight last month as part of a heated debate over whether schools that receive money from taxpayer-funded vouchers can discriminate against certain groups of students, such as LGBT children or students with disabilities.

Lighthouse officials say theyve never turned anyone away based on sexual orientation. But at a congressional hearing, Senate Democrats cited it as an example of a school that discriminates against LGBT students. A Lighthouse brochure says the Bible does not allow homosexual, bisexual or any form of sexual immorality and if a students home life violates biblical rules, the school can deny them admission or expel them.

Story continues below video

Pressed on the issue, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, an ardent supporter of school choice, told the Senate committee that discrimination is wrong, but that it was up to Congress and the courts, not her department, to intervene.

Founded in the early 1990s by a tight-knit group of families who wanted an affordable Christian education for their children, the academy is now an academically successful K-12 school serving 300 children in the Bloomington area. About half receive vouchers to help pay an annual tuition that ranges from $4,500 to $6,000 depending on a students grade.

This year, Lighthouse received over $665,000 in state funds to enroll 152 students.

DeVos and the Trump administration are strong proponents of giving states a greater role in education. Earlier this year, the administration rescinded former President Barack Obamas guidance that instructed to schools to let students use school restrooms in accordance with the gender they identify with, not their sex at birth. The move sparked criticism from the civil rights community.

The administration is looking at taxpayer-funded vouchers as a way to expand school choice nationwide, but it has not yet come out with a specific plan on how to do it.

Indiana is one of 30 states that use public money for school choice programs, including vouchers, educational savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships. The District of Columbia has the countrys only federally funded voucher program. All told, some 450,000 students participate nationally.

In a study last year, Indiana University professor Suzanne Eckes found that none of the states with voucher programs prohibits discrimination against LGBT students.

Lighthouse defends its right to educate children according to its values, saying that Christians are state taxpayers, too, and should be allowed to fund institutions of their choice with their money.

Parents are free to choose which school best comports with their religious convictions, Brian Bailey, an attorney who is serving as the schools spokesman, said in a statement. For a real choice and thus real liberty to exist, the government may not impose its own orthodoxy and homogenize all schools to conform to politically correct attitudes and ideologies.

Former Lighthouse student Mary Wegener, 24, says some of her classmates at the school were gay and received love and care. Bailey confirmed that the school did admit some students who were tempted by same-sex intimacy, saying we teach our students to flee these sins.

Wegener sees both sides of the story, but says a religious school cannot function contrary to its core beliefs.

If they (Lighthouse) are going to be a Christian school, they cant conform to everything else, because then that would be a private school that knocked out the Christian name.

Carissa Dollar, 46, of Indianapolis, who has a transgender daughter, is unconvinced.

I have a problem with public funds going to a private institution who then make decisions that would be discriminatory to any group, Dollar said. Its wrong if an LGBT student, or even if someone in their family identifies on the LGBT spectrum, could be denied admission to the school.

Dick Komer, senior attorney with Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, said that federal law has protections against discrimination on the basis of race, national identity, sex and religion, but they do not extend to LGBT individuals.

If the people who are grilling DeVos believe that sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity, then they should propose amendments to the statues that they have written and given her to enforce, Komer said. The Congress is supposed to write the law, the agency is supposed to administer what Congress has given them. And Congress hasnt given it to them.

Eckes, the Indiana University professor, said states must create protections to ensure that any benefit they create is available to all. She said that decades ago some private schools used their own interpretation of the Bible to exclude African-American students and federal protections were necessary to stop those practices.

If you accept public money in the form of a voucher then you shouldnt be able to discriminate whether its based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability or sexual orientation, Eckes said. If you agree to take that public money, then there are certain rules that you need to follow.

Lindsey Burke, director of education policy studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, disagrees.

Racism was based on identity and skin color and had no reasonable basis, Burke said. This is about whether a student, a family is going to live out their communal beliefs of the school that they have chosen to attend. These are intentional communities that are built upon a moral code that they have decided on.

(STORY CAN END HERE)

Lily Eskelsen Garca, president of the National Education Association, the countrys largest teachers union, said the Trump administrations attempt to fund private schools takes away money from public schools, where discrimination is not allowed.

Every child, every blessed child has the legal, civil and the human right to attend their public school, but no one can say that about a private school, Eskelsen Garcia said. Why would you get public dollars to a school that discriminates against students?

More:

Indiana Christian school at center of LGBT voucher debate ... - goskagit.com

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Sections

Traditional Medicinals Nioma Sadler helps women lift up their communities

Women in Business Awards: Katie Evans La Tortilla Factory

Women in Business Awards: Cheriene Griffith, CHEVOO Inc.

Critics: RateBeer a sellout?

Dried winegrapes catch on as a snack

SMART awards $36M Larkspur-extension deal

CYNTHIA SWEENEY

NORTH BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL | June 23, 2017, 6:25PM

06/23/2017

From a young age, Nioma Narissa Sadler knew what she wanted to do with her life. What she didnt know was that her unusual upbringing, and challenging life experiences, would prepare her to do the work she does.

Sadler is the founder of WomenServe, a nonprofit based in Sonoma, that improves the lives of impoverished women and girls throughout the world, and subsequently their communities, by providing basic needs like water and health care.

In Rajasthan, India, women and girls walk up to 10 hours a day carrying water on their heads from a pond back to their communities. WomenServe, in collaboration with Traditional Medicinals, the wellness tea giant with products sold in more than 60,000 stores, has contributed to the construction of six large community ponds and more than 400 taankas (tanks to collect rainwater) providing water to 12,000 people.

With Sadlers guidance, five primary schools in rural India have been built, and female health workers have been trained to provide basic health services there.

WomenServe is about telling women and girls stories to create change and awareness, to draw in more interest and bring change towards equality, she said.

In addition to founding WomenServe, Sadler is the Goodwill Ambassador for Traditional Medicinals and is co-founder of the Traditional Medicinals Foundation. As ambassador, she travels the world working directly with farmers and producers to improve the quality of the herbs used in the companys tea. All three organizations work together in improving the communities that grow them.

The company works on the quality piece and the foundation works on the social piece, Sadler said. It is very unusual and is connected to the social business piece which is a big part of what TM is leading in which is to show the world how you can use capitalism to do good if youre intentional about it.

Sadler was born in Michigan, but grew up traveling the country. Her father was a college professor and a psychologist, however, My parents were gypsies. We spent a lot of time in California, Oregon, and Colorado. Theyre very esoteric people, studying the Earth as a living being. They were also isolationists. They didnt like to have the impact of outer world, TV, artificial things affect their children, she said. They wanted their children to just be affected by nature mostly.

As a result, Sadler was life-schooled. Every time the family drove by a school, her heart ached with longing for a traditional education.

I just remember driving by and feeling how much I wanted to be in that school. I had a deep longing for knowledge and learning as much as I could, she said.

Libraries were her saving grace. She checked out as many books at one time as she could, and read her brother and sisters books as well. Her obsession grew around stories and biographies of women and girls, and the common issues they face, like inequality, abuse, and not being allowed to receive an education.

One in particular was the biography of Meena Keshwar Kamal, a feminist crusader in Afghanistan, who was assassinated in 1987, and subsequently became a martyr.

I was very fascinated with her mission, and how, when she got murdered, her mission grew as all these other women and girls took it on, she said.

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Sadler did finally go, for a while, to community college. At age 19, however, she became pregnant by an abusive partner. She dropped out of school and worked as a single mom raising her son for six years.

I loved it (college), it was great. I got almost a 4.0, she said. But my life led me away from that to being a mom.

During that time, Sadlers attention was drawn to the Bosnian genocide. From 1992-1995, Bosnian Serb forces killed more than 8,000 Muslims and Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in an ethnic cleansing campaign.

I became more aware of the rape of women during war, that whole thing hit me, because my partner was abusive to me, she said. There are things that happen in your life that create the passion that you want to do and for me there were several.

Sadler was also influenced by her mother, who grew up a traditional Arabic Muslim.

Traditional Arabic women are just supposed to cook and clean. Her brothers got everything and she got nothing. So there are things Ive seen that have drawn me to this work with women and girls, including my personal story of not having a formal education. So, Ive been planning to do this work for a long time, Sadler said.

The tide changed when she met her husband, Drake Sadler, co-founder of Traditional Medicinals.

We have the same kind of passion and commitment, she said.

The two partnered in the formation of the TM Foundation, providing a blend of head, heart and soul, and now seven years later we are co-managing various parts and reporting responsibilities, Drake Sadler said.

Sadler began traveling with her husband to meet with TMs source communities, and her influence on the way the company interacts with them has been profound.

Traditionally, men from the company talk through a male translator while women are serving and not part of the conversation, even though they do the vast majority80 percent of all herb farming and collection is done by rural, poor women who are very dependent on the income they receive.

Next time, I said, Im absolutely not going without a female translator. I said Drake, you go hang out with the men, talk about tractors and weather patterns, Im going to hang out with the women and find out whats hard on these communities, what are they suffering, she said. You need to involve women in the process, valuing their importance.

By working with women and girls, not just men, Sadler gets a better understanding of issues that plague those communities.

All the girls I work with in Rajasthan are just like me. All the older women, like my age are illiterate and never went to school, she said. Just making women feel important is the first step most people would not take, breaking down that barrier.

Nioma has been focused on removing barriers to womens empowerment for the past couple of decades, in Sonoma County and around the world, her husband said.

She has studied and surrounded herself with (mostly) women who share her interests and have a combination of academic and global field experience working on womens issues. She brings this intention and her passion to her various roles at Traditional Medicinals, the Foundation and WomenServe, he said.

Sadler said she has learned to develop trust and build relationships.

Its not just here were going to give you this. We have to hear them. Hear their voices, their stories, and understand how we can actually work together in a collaborative way, because its not about charity. Its a long-term relationship. This is the foundation of the company, Sadler said.

Sadler is learning the different landscapes that are out there, she said, and learning from the process, which is what shes done her whole life without a formal educational background.

She also taught herself to paint, something she has been doing since a child.

I am a self taught artist. As you know my favorite subject to study is women and girls and issues they face in the world and Im equally obsessed with painting and drawing women and girls issues. I paint in an energetic vibrant way that expresses emotions and feelings using watercolor and acrylics mostly, she said.

Despite her accomplishments and fortitude in helping others, Sadlers biggest challenge for herself is self esteem for not having an education.

She recently received an award in Rajasthan and someone asked her what degrees she had.

I said I have life degrees but not any kind of educational degrees. Ive had to work hard on my self esteem because I was feeling less than. That and freeing my voice to speak on behalf of the company.

Cynthia Sweeney covers health care, hospitality, residential real estate, education, employment and business insurance. Reach her at Cynthia.Sweeney@busjrnl.com or call 707-521-4259.

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Link:

Sonoma's WomenServe helps women, helping their communities - North Bay Business Journal

I admit it's foreign but I don't know any other intentional community that's crowdfunding to expand.

This is the relatively famous Twin Oaks Community, core of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities. They are 90+ adults on 350+ acreas in central Virginia, founded 1967. The reason they're asking is that they've just invested considerably to expand their main business and they're a little strung out financially; on the other hand the parcel they want has just been clearcut for the second time in 20 years, is on the market and adjoins them; they don't want some developer putting up condos on it and they can use it.

See

https://generosity.com/community-fundraising/let-s-help-twin-oaks-grow

and

http://www.twinoaks.org

Disclosure: a friend of 45 years standing lives there. I visited in 1972.

Those interested in low-investment sustainable technology for for the future might check out the newsletter archive at the website of a related small community:

Welcome

The Federation:

http://www.thefec.org

Know any rich socialists?

Go here to read the rest:

Virginia income-sharing intentional community solicits funds to buy more land - rabble.ca

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. The Lighthouse Christian Academy promises to provide an exemplary education, a caring atmosphere and service to God but not for everyone. The school says in its admissions brochure that it reserves the right to deny admission to LGBT students because their lifestyle is prohibited by the Bible.

As the Trump administration seeks to expand school choice nationwide, the academy was thrust into the national spotlight last month as part of a heated debate about whether schools that receive money from taxpayer-funded vouchers can discriminate against certain groups of students, such as LGBT children or students with disabilities.

Lighthouse officials say they've never turned anyone away based on sexual orientation. But at a congressional hearing, Senate Democrats cited it as an example of a school that discriminates against LGBT students. A Lighthouse brochure says the Bible does not allow homosexual, bisexual or "any form of sexual immorality" and if a student's "home life" violates biblical rules, the school can deny them admission or expel them.

Pressed on the issue, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, an ardent supporter of school choice, told the Senate committee that discrimination is wrong, but that it was up to Congress and the courts, not her department, to intervene.

Founded in the early 1990s by a tight-knit group of families who wanted an affordable Christian education for their children, the academy now is an academically successful K-12 school serving 300 children in the Bloomington area. About half receive vouchers to help pay an annual tuition that ranges from $4,500 to $6,000 depending on a student's grade.

This year, Lighthouse received more than $665,000 in state funds to enroll 152 students.

DeVos and the Trump administration are strong proponents of giving states a greater role in education. Earlier this year, the administration rescinded former President Barack Obama's guidance that instructed schools to let students use school restrooms in accordance with the gender they identify with, not their sex at birth. The move sparked criticism from the civil rights community.

The administration is looking at taxpayer-funded vouchers as a way to expand school choice nationwide, but it has not yet come out with a specific plan on how to do it.

Indiana is one of 30 states that use public money for school choice programs, including vouchers, educational savings accounts and tax-credit scholarships. The District of Columbia has the country's only federally funded voucher program. All told, about 450,000 students participate nationally.

In a study last year, Indiana University professor Suzanne Eckes found that none of the states with voucher programs prohibits discrimination against LGBT students.

Lighthouse defends its right to educate children according to its values, saying Christians are state taxpayers, too, and should be allowed to fund institutions of their choice with their money.

"Parents are free to choose which school best comports with their religious convictions," Brian Bailey, an attorney who is serving as the school's spokesman, said in a statement. "For a real choice and thus real liberty to exist, the government may not impose its own orthodoxy and homogenize all schools to conform to politically correct attitudes and ideologies."

Former Lighthouse student Mary Wegener, 24, says some of her classmates at the school were gay and received love and care. Bailey confirmed that the school did admit some students who were "tempted by same-sex intimacy," saying "we teach our students to flee these sins."

Wegener sees both sides of the story, but says a religious school cannot function contrary to its core beliefs.

"If they (Lighthouse) are going to be a Christian school, they can't conform to everything else, because then that would be a private school that knocked out the Christian name."

Carissa Dollar, 46, of Indianapolis, who has a transgender daughter, is unconvinced.

"I have a problem with public funds going to a private institution who then make decisions that would be discriminatory to any group," Dollar said. "It's wrong if an LGBT student, or even if someone in their family identifies on the LGBT spectrum, could be denied admission to the school."

Dick Komer, senior attorney with Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm, said that federal law has protections against discrimination on the basis of race, national identity, sex and religion, but they do not extend to LGBT individuals.

"If the people who are grilling DeVos believe that sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity, then they should propose amendments to the statues that they have written and given her to enforce," Komer said. "The Congress is supposed to write the law; the agency is supposed to administer what Congress has given them. And Congress hasn't given it to them."

Eckes, the Indiana University professor, said states must create protections to ensure that any benefit they create is available to all. She said that decades ago, some private schools used their own interpretation of the Bible to exclude African-American students and federal protections were necessary to stop those practices.

"If you accept public money in the form of a voucher then you shouldn't be able to discriminate whether it's based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability or sexual orientation," Eckes said. "If you agree to take that public money, then there are certain rules that you need to follow."

Lindsey Burke, director of education policy studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, disagrees.

"Racism was based on identity and skin color and had no reasonable basis," Burke said. "This is about whether a student, a family is going to live out their communal beliefs of the school that they have chosen to attend. These are intentional communities that are built upon a moral code that they have decided on."

Lily Eskelsen Garca, president of the National Education Association, the country's largest teachers' union, said the Trump administration's attempt to fund private schools takes away money from public schools, where discrimination is not allowed.

"Every child, every blessed child has the legal, civil and the human right to attend their public school, but no one can say that about a private school," Eskelsen Garcia said. "Why would you get public dollars to a school that discriminates against students?"

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Indiana Christian school at center of LGBT voucher debate - Kankakee Daily Journal

Portraits of GRRRLS is a short performance piece created by participants of the program, GRRRLS with HEART. During GRRRLS with HEART we work in Vienna, VA for two weeks. The first five to six days are spent creating: choreographing dances, writing autobiographical pieces, writing a song and other theatrical pieces, and doing some visual artwork. The second week we spend piecing everything together into an autobiographical theater piece rooted in personal storytelling. All participants are teenage girls from around the world, ages 12 18.

Where did the idea come from and why is it important?

Jenna & Brooke: Our producer, Rhonda Eldridge, has a passion for giving young girls the tools to live and lead their best and most powerful lives, and she has decided to bring that passion to life. The mission of GRRRLs with HEART is to empower teenage girls in an intentional community by allowing them to creatively find their authentic voice and strengthen communication skills through an interdisciplinary collaborative arts program culminating in a self-expression based performance of original work. Our hope is that grrrls will go on to impact the world around them using art and creative self expression, strong communication skills from NVC, self-affirmation, and the ability to approach all communities with mindfulness and our core HEART values: harmony, ease, authenticity, respect, and trust.

How does the show become a show? What is the rehearsal process like?

Jenna & Brooke: There are so many pieces that will make this happen! First, we spend time creating. Using prompt-based exercises and explorations, we spend a week with the girls moving, writing, singing, etc. exploring who they are as strong, empowered women. This, combined with visits from guest instructors and guest artists, influences how we piece together the show. When it comes time to create Portraits of GRRRLS, we as a team will choose what pieces will be put into the show. Each piece created individually and collectively will be thrown together to make a creative stew, each ingredient different and unique but it makes something great in the end!

What is the rehearsal process like? We have no idea! Since there is no content created yet, theres no telling what the process of putting together the show will be like. The only things we know for certain are that all content will be created by the girls, and that Portraits of GRRRLS will be a performance based in personal storytelling and female empowerment.

What is it about this project that appeals to you/what attracted you to the project?

Jenna: As a teenage girl I went through many difficult moments in life where I could have just given up. Luckily, I was given a safe environment to share my heartache and joys through journaling. Ever since I have used writing as a tool to help me cope, sort things out, look toward the future. Being invited to help create GRRRLs with HEART and ensure other teenage girls would have a place similar to what I had at their age was an opportunity I could not turn down. I learned and continue to learn so much about myself and my life through journaling, and I am so excited to see these girls shine through the art form that speaks to them.

Brooke: Growing up, I was always the weird, random, curious girl who couldnt sit still. Ideas and questions were constantly swimming around in my brain and younger me did not know what to do with so much creative energy. I became lost in my head and it became harder and harder to be present in my daily life. Performing arts saved me, creating an outlet for all of that energy and curiosity. When I heard about GRRRLS with HEART, it was everything I wish I had growing up. The opportunity to provide a safe space where girls can tell their stories and create a greater sense of self is invaluable, and I cannot wait to create with this years group of GRRRLS!

What exactly do you do? What are you individual responsibilities?

Jenna: Since I connect most with the writing aspect of the program, I work to produce prompts and exercises specifically for writing. During the program I will be a facilitator providing guidance to the creative process during our first week together, and during the second week I will be a director of the show helping piece together the content the girls create. I also hope to be an example to girls who do not connect much with the movement or visual aspects of our program to exemplify that as long as they are willing to try they will have fun with the process.

Brooke: Having an extensive background and affinity for dance movement and theater, Im working to create prompts and explorations that use our bodies to tell stories and access parts of ourselves that havent been explored much before. During the program I will be facilitating portions of the creative process during the first week. The second week I will be serving as a director, staging and putting together Portraits of GRRRLS with Jenna. My goal is to share more art forms with these girls and give them permission to express themselves fully in a physical manner as an opportunity to grow and gain confidence.

How does GRRRLs with HEARTs production of Portraits of GRRRLs speak generationally to older and younger people?

Jenna: I feel that Portrait of GRRRLs will make audience members of all ages excited about the future. Older members will be able to look at these young women with adoration and hope for the future of women in which outspoken and authentic women will be the norm. Younger members will be able to see these young women as an example of confidence and empowerment and be excited that someday they could be like the teenage girls they see on the stage. Each member will resonate with different stories and pieces based on life experience, but I believe each person will leave the theatre feeling hopeful about the future and with a new lens to dream through.

Brooke: Ideally, Portraits of GRRRLS will open minds to the potential of a younger generation. These young women are the next movers and shakers of our society, and hopefully our audience sees the tools that will carry us through and keep society moving forward. Empowered women are becoming our societal norm more and more, and Portraits of GRRRLS highlights that. Women with powerful, constructive, open voices will change the world, and I hope audience sees that through these girls and their stories. People will hopefully leave optimistic and open, ready to share just a little more of their world with the important people around them.

Tickets for Portraits of GRRRLs

Jenna Stottsis so excited to be diving into this new endeavour that is GRRRLs with HEART. She currently lives in Nashville and attends college there as a business major with a focus in nonprofit management; her ultimate goal with this degree is to create or work with nonprofits focused on youth programming. She has four years of previous leadership experience with a writing and performance program based in Nashville. Jenna is a firm believer in the importance of girls voices and is grateful she is able to help girls find the power in their stories.

Brooke Viegut is thrilled to be joining GRRRLS with HEART this summer. She is a St. Louis-based director, choreographer, teaching artist, and dramaturg. With a passion for new plays, music, and musical theater, her work has been seen in venues across St. Louis, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Pittsburgh areas. Favorite recent credits includeIpseity(director/deviser),Grease(director/choreographer),To Kill a Mockingbird (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, assistant director/dramaturg), andShrek:The Musical(Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, assistant director). Brooke is also the founder and current Artistic Director of the Envisage Play Festival, a festival of new plays at Webster University in St. Louis, MO. She is passionate about new work and allowing young people and developing artists to find their voice in a safe, supportive, creative environment.

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Portraits of GRRRLS. A Fringe Peek - DC Theatre Scene

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By Joshua Gill

A Christian school defended its religious admissions policies after Democrats labeled it as a school that discriminates against LGBT students during Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos congressionalhearing.

The Lighthouse Christian Academy of Bloomington, Ind. has been the center of the debate about school choice ever since Senate Democrats claimed that the school discriminated against LGBT students, according to anAP report. Democrats used the school as an example in their argumentsagainst DeVosover whether or not religious schools like Lighthouse should receive money from government vouchers if they are perceived to have discriminatory policies.

Lighthousesadmissions brochurelists several lifestyle behaviors they say are prohibited according to the Bible. The school reserves the right to deny admission to any student whose home life includes, among other things:

Lighthouse claims that they have never denied admission to a student based on sexual orientation, although they stand by their right to operate according to their policies.

Thirty states, including Indiana, use some form of tax funds for school choice programs. None of those states that use vouchers prohibit admissions policies that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a study by Suzanne Eckes, a professor at Indiana University.

Legal and policy experts across the country defended Lighthouses right to operate according to its stated religious beliefs, including the schools attorney and spokesman Brian Bailey.

Parents are free to choose which school best comports with their religious convictions, Bailey said. For a real choice and thus real liberty to exist, the government may not impose its own orthodoxy and homogenize all schools to conform to politically correct attitudes and ideologies.

Eckes argued that schools that receive vouchers should not be allowed to have admissions policies like those of Lighthouse and cited the federal protections afforded to racial minorities, whileLily Eskelsen Garca, president of the National Education Association, said that private schools should not receive government funds at all on the basis that private schools can choose to deny admission to students.

Lindsey Burke, director of theHeritage Foundations education policy studies, said that Lighthouses policies have no parallel to racial discrimination.

Racism was based on identity and skin color and had no reasonable basis, Burke said. This is about whether a student, a family is going to live out their communal beliefs of the school that they have chosen to attend. These are intentional communities that are built upon a moral code that they have decided on.

As for the lefts claim that private schools are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation,Dick Komer, senior attorney with Institute for Justice, said that simply isnt the case.

If the people who are grilling DeVos believe that sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity, then they should propose amendments to the statues that they have written and given her to enforce, Komer said. The Congress is supposed to write the law, the agency is supposed to administer what Congress has given them. And Congress hasnt given it to them.

betsy devosChristian schoolDemocratsLGBTLighthouse Christian AcademyNational Education Association

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Left Cries Foul Over Christian School's Right To Vouchers - The Libertarian Republic

Breaking bread on Shabbat after returning to Boston.

YESUD HAMAALA, Israel For thousands of years, Jews have searched for a way back to this sacred land. And for an even longer time, theyve also been encouraged to marry other members of the so-called tribe.

But outside of Israel, especially in the United States, Jews have become increasingly likely to partner with someone of a different faith, prompting decades of hand-wringing and guilt trips. Avi Rubel, the cofounder and co-CEO of Honeymoon Israel, sees it another way.

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Its not a minus one, its a plus one, he tells 21 young Boston couples awaiting sunset in the countrys lush northern mountains. Minutes later, a buoyant party kicks off in a nearby tent, replete with grilled lamb and live music.

Drinks were raised, chairs were lifted. It was like a wedding reception, although most of us on this trip were already married. That was the point.

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The Globe's top picks for what to see and do each weekend, in Boston and beyond.

Many Americans are familiar with Birthright Israel, a free educational trip to the country available to young adults with Jewish heritage.

The idea is to foster Jewish identity and a connection with Israel at an impressionable age with the unstated but welcome outcome for young Jews to meet one another and build families together. (This has been called bsheret, a Yiddish word describing a match that was meant to be.)

But an increasing number of US Jews are marrying someone of another religion. According to the 2015 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study, a decennial survey of the regions Jews, 47 percent of married couples are interfaith. That share is even higher nationwide.

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Enter Honeymoon Israel: a heavily subsidized,immersive trip for couples, many of whom are interfaith, with the aim of cultivating intentional and meaningful communities on their own terms.

Youve got 40 people on a bus, and whatever your experiences are, youre having that experience together, said Karyn Cohen Leviton, director of Jewish life and Israel for the One8 Foundation, a Boston-based organization that served as one of HMIs first financial supporters and partners. Its hard to go to a program at night or on the weekends and be in a space where you can have these conversations about what you want out of life.

Eligible couples must be within the first five years of marriage or in a committed relationship. At least one of the partners must be between 25 and 40, have some Jewish heritage, and not been on an organized trip to Israel, such as Birthright.

Its selective: four couples apply for every spot nationwide, and more than 100 couples sought the 40 spots on this years trips from Boston, organizers said. My husband and I filled out an online application and completed an in-person interview, fielding questions about our attitudes toward Judaism, religion, and family life. (Our replies were not well-formed or practiced, and only later did we realize that this probably helped our case.)

We joined Bostons first trip, and HMIs 32nd overall, in March with 20 other couples who live across the Greater Boston area, from the North End and Southie to Newton. Our proximity was intentional: for building community and maintaining friendships, Rubel said, its imperative that couples are geographically close. An upcoming September trip mostly includes participants from north of the city. Applications are open through mid-July for two 2018 trips, departing in January and March.

The tour itself was organized thoughtfully, and with precision. In my dozen or so trips to see family in Israel, Ive never seen this much of the country, or experienced such a wide swath of the culture. On a single day, we awoke in Jerusalem, climbed Masada, King Herods mesa fortress in the desert, bathed in the Dead Sea, and drank local wine while watching the sun set over the Sea of Galilee.

We spent the next few days winding our way through the north, including a tour of the Syrian border, where we were close enough to hear explosions from the civil war. In addition to seeing the countrys best-known landmarks, such as Jerusalems Old City and the Western Wall, there were off-the-path presentations, such as a visit to a Hand in Hand School, which teaches Jewish and Arab students side by side in both Arabic and Hebrew.

We ended our tour in Tel Aviv, staying at a chic beachside hotel that rivaled (OK, exceeded) any of the places where my husband and I stayed on our original honeymoon in Spain.

Organized conversations about faith and Israel were sprinkled throughout the trip, conducted by a rabbi and a staff member for Combined Jewish Philanthropies, HMIs local partner and one of the regions largest nonprofits. There were relaxed Shabbat and Havdalah services to mark the beginning and end of the Sabbath (including a particularly memorable one on the hotel rooftop overlooking the Mediterranean sunset).

In the most religion-forward portion of the trip, Avraham Infeld, a Jewish educator and former international president of Hillel gave a forceful two-part lecture about religious identity that pushed me a cultural Jew beyond my comfort zone. Still, Rubel says, HMIs goal is not to convert couples or convince them to raise Jewish children quite the opposite.

Our trips are really designed to be open-ended-question trips, said Rubel later in an interview. We dont have an agenda around politics or religion or identity beyond that we want to empower the couples who go on our trip to question those things.

HMI does send a Made in Israel onesie to HMI alumni who become new parents.

For all this, we paid $1,800 for two, including flights and most meals, over 10 days. HMI advertises the actual cost of the trip as being about $10,000 per couple.

Much of the trip experience depends on the other couples. It takes a special pair to sign up to travel with 20 other duos in the desert for 10 days. For HMIs part, organizers say they select trip participants to match the local community as much as possible.

On average, Rubel said, about 60 percent of participating couples are interfaith. (Im the product of an interfaith marriage, and my husband, after spending much of his youth in evangelical Christianity, left the church and now considers himself Jew-curious.) Of the other 40 percent, about half of them have a partner who is Jewish by choice and the others are born Jewish, he said.

When we departed Logan International Airport for Tel Aviv, all but two couples were engaged or married.

One proposal came at sunset overlooking the Sea of Galilee. We celebrated, nearly every night, for the rest of the trip.

A few months later, after we had settled into a pattern of Friday evening Shabbat dinners with our new friends, the other couple announced their engagement.

Bsheret, indeed.

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Making friends and maybe major life decisions on Honeymoon Israel - The Boston Globe

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MILWAUKEE -- Dominique Heaggan-Brown, the former Milwaukee police officer who fatally shot Sylville Smith during an August 2016 foot chase, was found not guilty Wednesday, June 21st.Members of Smith's family could be heard crying in the courtroom as the verdict was read. The shooting death sparked days of unrest in Milwaukee.

Judge Jeffrey Conen had instructed the jury of nine women and three men to consider lesser charges in the reckless homicide trial but Heaggan-Brown was cleared of all counts.

Attorneys for Heaggan-Brown said the officer always believed he was justified in using deadly force. The attorney for the Smith family disagrees.

"Obviously, he's very pleased. He believed all along that he was justified in what he did. It wasn't a situation he asked to be put in," Jonathan Smith, Heaggan-Brown's attorney said.

This case marked the first time since the late 70s a Milwaukee police officer was charged with homicide for an on-duty shooting. Additionally, this was the first sequestered jury in more than 20 years.

WATCH: Verdict handed down for Dominique Heaggan-Brown:

WATCH: Prosecutor John Chisholm reacts to not guilty verdict:

WATCH: Attorneys for Dominique Heaggan-Brown react to not guilty verdict:

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn released the below statement after the verdict:

The jurys verdict was based on the objective evidence before it. A year ago I told the public Id seen nothing in the video that was a violation of the law or policy. The jury saw the same evidence and came to the same conclusion.

WATCH: Family of Sylville Smith reacts to not guilty verdict:

WATCH: Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett reacts to not guilty verdict:

WATCH: Milwaukee Police Association President Mike Crivello reacts to not guilty verdict:

The former officer still faces charges in an unrelated sexual assault investigation. He has been fired from the police department.

In the separate case, a man told investigators that Heaggan-Brown sexually assaulted him while off duty two days after the shooting death of Smith.

The alleged sexual assault occurred on the morning of August 15th after a night of heavy drinking at a bar where the two men "sat and watched television as coverage of the Sherman Park protests [over Smith's death] aired," the criminal complaint said.

He has a jury trial set to begin in August in that case.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown, Sylville Smith

Outside court Wednesday, one of Smith's sisters called for peace and his father, Patrick, called the verdict "disrespectful."

"Why are they trained to kill when they supposed to protect and serve us?" Patrick Smith said of police officers. "There is no justice here.I want the community to calm down and come together."

Smith's sister Sherelle had a message for young people: "Don't give them a reason to take your life. Do something different in the community, try as hard as you can to be peaceful."

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said he respected the jury's decision.

"In this set of circumstances, you had a legitimate use of force on the first encounter when the officer reasonably thought he was presented with a threat of death or great bodily harm. A short time later, those facts and those circumstances changed. We pursued it aggressively and we presented a strong case. This is just an issue that this community had to decide. They made that decision," Chisholm said.

The defense argued those facts changed in just 1.69 seconds -- not enough time for the officer to know Smith was no longer a threat.

WATCH: Body camera video from the perspective of Dominique Heaggan-Brown:***WARNING:This video is not appropriate for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.***

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"We're talking about 12 seconds from the time that he left the vehicle through the second shot and there was a lot of decision-making going on, rapidly-evolving events, split-second decision making," Jonathan Smith said.

Chisholm said his decision to charge Heaggan-Brown was in no way political.

"If you don't charge, there are gonna be a large number of people unhappy with that decision. If you do charge, there are gonna be a segment of people unhappy," Chisholm said.

Heaggan-Brown's attorneys said they're mindful of the violent unrest that stemmed from Sylville Smith's death, adding, because of that, the not guilty verdict is nothing to celebrate.

"I think we must be mindful that a young man lost his life and that has impacted the community enormously," Steve Kohn said.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown body camera video

The verdict comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.

Heaggan-Brown was the third US law enforcement officer to be tried for a shooting in the last week. Convictions are rare.

On Friday, June 16th, Minnesota police Officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of one count of second-degree manslaughter and two counts of intentional discharge of a firearm that endangers safety for the fatal shooting of Philando Castile during a traffic stop last year.

In Cincinnati, a jury began deliberations Monday, June 19th in the retrial of former University of Cincinnati police Officer Ray Tensing in the fatal shooting of a motorist during a July 2015 traffic stop.

"The community relies on, depends and respects their law enforcement partners," Chisholm said."At the same time, they understand that this tremendous amount of discretionary power is given to police officers -- the power over life and death in certain circumstances -- and they want that to be accountable. But when they look at it closely they're looking at a circumstance which was fairly unique. You can't compare this to St. Paul. You can't compare it to Ferguson."

Dominique Heaggan-Brown

The prosecutor argued that Heaggan-Brown fatally shot Smith as the suspect attempted to surrender. But the former officer's attorney countered that his client made a split-second decision to protect his life and that of another officer.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown body camera video

Dominique Heaggan-Brown body camera video

The jury began deliberations on Tuesday, less than a year after the shooting in northwest Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood.

Heaggan-Brown, 25, faced 60 years in prison.

Body-camera video from another officer -- played for the jury last week -- showed that Heaggan-Brown shot a second bullet into Smith's chest after the suspect hurled his weapon over a fence and had his hands near his head. Smith was on the ground when he received the fatal shot.

The jury heard closing arguments and deliberated about five hours Tuesday.

Robert Willis

The defense rested Monday after calling its lone witness, Robert Willis, an expert in police use of force.

Willis testified that Heaggan-Brown acted in "accordance with his training.

His testimony centered on the 1.69 seconds separating the two shots. He testified the officer's decision to fire again was made before he even pulled the trigger. The second shot was justified, Willis told the jury, because officers are trained to assume a suspect may have more than one weapon.

Heaggan-Brown experienced the encounter in "real time," not in frame-by-frame motion as it was shown to the jury, Willis said.

"So when we see the trigger being pulled, we have to not consider that the moment of decision," he said. "It's not. We have to go back -- and I can't tell exactly how many frames but we have to go back two-tenths or three-tenths of a second -- we have to go back several frames ... to delve into the decision-making process that goes into firing this shot."

Willis told the jury that Heaggan-Brown justifiably responded to a "deadly threat."

Last week, members of Sylville Smith's family gasped as body camera footage of the August 13th foot chase was played in court.

The reaction to the video, including sobs from Smith's family, caused the judge to clear the courtroom. The defense attorney called for a mistrial, saying the family's response could influence the jury. Conen denied the request.

Officer fired over a different investigation

The shooting sparked days of unrest in the Sherman Park section of Milwaukee, a city long torn by racial tensions.

Prosecutors said his first shot was justified, but not the second.

Heaggan-Brown's former partner, Ndiva Malafa, testified last week they were chasing Smith, 23, because they saw he had a gun.

PHOTO GALLERY

"I saw Mr. Smith exit the vehicle. I observed the firearm and at that point, we made eye contact. At that moment, I believe I started to -- I see him running northeast. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Heaggan-Brown chase him as well," Malafa testified.

Malafa's body camera footage was played several times in court. Malafa also guided the jury through the footage frame by frame, the station reported.

Dominique Heaggan-Brown

The video picks up as Malafa jumps out of this squad car. The shaky footage shows him trailing behind Heaggan-Brown, who is chasing Smith. The suspect ran across a lawn, turned a corner and headed toward a fence but slipped before reaching it.

Smith was armed with a Glock .40-caliber Model 22 semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine containing 23 rounds.

An autopsy showed that Smith had a gunshot wound through his upper right arm and another to his right upper chest.

Sylville Smith

In the body camera audio, which was activated 30 seconds after the shooting, Heaggan-Brown was heard yelling at Smith: "Stop reaching." He moved Smith's hand away from his waist, the criminal complaint said.

Heaggan-Brown had previously said he believed Smith "was reaching for his waist so he discharged his weapon a second time."

In an interview with FOX6, Smith's brother Sedan said: "It's the longest 30 seconds of my life to be able to just watch the video."

CLICK HERE to access thousands of pages worth of documentation related to this case -- released by the Wisconsin Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation after Heaggan-Brown's acquittal. WARNING: Some of this material is graphic, and not appropriate for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Watch: Jurors find Dominique Heaggan-Brown not guilty in shooting death of Sylville Smith - fox6now.com

Watering corn in a tiny fairy-garden. Photo by Christina.

This has been a week of hard play, hard work, fun work, challenging work, and finally some rain (which lessened the workload considerably). Christina, here, bringing news of whats been happening in this corner of NeMo.

In my past life, I often heard people use the expression work hard, play hard. What I imagined when I heard that was someone who worked 50 or 60 hours at a corporate job all week, and then became a weekend warrior, running up mountains or playing hours of tennis with the same amount of intensity that they maintained all week at their jobs. Work was what paid the bills, and play was what you did to have fun and spend some of that money.

Here, of course, as they always are, things are different. We do work hard, and we do play hard, but sometimes the play is more difficult than the work, or the work is more fun, or the work doesnt actually make any money but seems more important than the kind that does.

This has been a week of lots of play and lots of work, all of it exhausting and fulfilling.

One reason theres been an especial amount of play this week is because its been a week of many, many birthdays. I helped celebrate some of those birthdays by participating in the Try Tri-Communities Ultimate Frisbee Tournament. Trish from Sandhill organized four teams to play each other in a two-day tournament, on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. There were cheers, trombones, drums, swims in the pond, and a great deal of running after a plastic disc. It was lots of fun, but also lots of work and sort of wiped me out for a few days.

If I were to calculate how much I make working in the garden or milking the goats, it would probably come out to less than two dollars an hour. Still, I happily worked away at those jobs this weekmoving the goats to a new especially poison ivy-ish pasture and milking a few nights a week. In the garden, I weeded and planted yet another bed, and harvested more greens, radishes, and beets for daily meals. I watered at night, until we got a much needed series of thunderstorms.

Then theres the work that has no monetary value whatsoever, but is also super important here. I am now on three committees here at DR, one of which is the Conflict Resolution Team. In the outside world, conflict is often seen as something to avoid at all costs, or to move through as quickly and painlessly as possible. As with many other things, we do it differently here. In fact, Hassan enjoys calling the Conflict Resolution Team the Conflict Celebration Team.

On Friday afternoon the committee hosted a much-awaited three-hourIm not sure meeting is the right word gathering? process?about the cat restriction part of the Pet Policy. I havent been here for the entire history of this, but I do know that it involves a lot of hurt feelings, and, ultimately, gets to the question of why we are living here. Hassan took willing-if-not-all-eager participants through some connecting and some conflict-full exercises to try to go a little deeper with the issue. It was an exhausting three hours for sure, but it also brought some stuff out into the open, and is the kind of work that needs to get done every so often.

Friday night was time for another birthday celebrationthis one in the form of a dance party in Casa. It was still hot, but the playlist created by Baigz from Sandhill, including two original electronic tunes of his own (with Matt from Red Earth on one of them), kept us moving until the fireflies came out. It was nice to not think about cats or watering the garden or any other kind of work for a little while.

Yet another birthday celebration happened on Saturday afternoon, when Nathan held an appreciation circle for his birthday. What happens at these appreciation circles is that people come together to say what they like or enjoy or are grateful for about each other (not just the birthday person). Its a pretty great way to celebrate a birthday, but it can also be work. When you receive an appreciation, youre supposed to just say thank you. This means no self-deprecating jokes, no deflection to give credit to someone else, which is not always easy but is always wonderful.

Saturday night was time for a play (see what I did there?). It was a big night out for our family as we went with a bunch of other tri-community folks to see Cob, Ewan, and Duncan perform in the Memphis Community Theatres production of Oklahoma! After a long week of hard play and fun work, I was pretty tired, but I really appreciated the work that went into the production, and loved watching the cast give their all.

Then we drove home, watching the distant lightning and fireflies whiz by.

And then I had to get up early to work at this challenging, fulfilling, and unpaid job of writing an update about what happened this week at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Now that its done, I hope you enjoyed it!

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and educational nonprofit outside Rutledge, MO, focused on demonstrating sustainable living possibilities. We offer public tours of the village on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, April-October; the next is this Saturday, June 24th at 1 pm. Reservations not required. Tours are free, though donations to help us continue our educational and outreach efforts are gratefully accepted. For directions, call the office at 660-883-5511 or email us at dancingrabbit@ic.org. To find out more about us, you can also check out our website: http://www.dancingrabbit.org.

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Hard Play and Fun Work - Memphis Democrat

Every kitchen sink will face a window that looks out into the front yard in a new 26-home development in Crozet. Lounging comfortably around the living room of their clubhouse, Emerson Commons residents call this design classic cohousing, because it encourages interaction with neighbors.

Periphery parking lots that allow for a traffic-free and kid-friendly community, all mail addressed to a main clubhouse and weekly potlucks and playgroups are also intentional ways to bring residents together at the development thats scheduled to break ground this summer.

But some community members say outsiders often misinterpret their intended lifestyles.

Its not a commune. Its not something to be afraid of, says Rebecca Gammon as her 2 1/2-year-old son makes his rounds to the adults in the room. Its an alternative way of living, but its not so different from what were used to.

Cohousing has existed in the United States since the 90s and is currently practiced in more than 160 places nationwide, with more than 100 additional communities underway. Residents own private homes but share common facilities, resources and management of their community.

Emerson Commons developer and president of the Cohousing Association of the United States, Peter Lazar calls this project central Virginias first cohousing community, and says 17 of 26 homes are already reserved.

Its not the areas first attempt at cohousing. The Charlottesville Cohousing Association tried to build a similar development in 1997, but abandoned the project in 2002. According to Lazar, a comparable project by Blue Ridge Cohousing (on the same plot of land as Emerson Commons) crashed with the stock market in 2009, though 19 of its 26 homes had presold.

Theres an in-ground heated pool and plans for a community garden, a creekside walking trail and an eco-friendly playground. Residents are currently considering uses for a number of outbuildings, and ideas include a woodshop, gym and music studio. Theyll share equipment, such as lawnmowers, canoes, a grill and all types of things you dont need all the time, says James Gammon.

He mentions the flux of construction in Crozet and soaring home prices, but adds that four units at Emerson Commons have been designated affordable housing. Prices range from about $280,000 to $420,000, with affordable units around $240,000.

Homes in the community located off Three Notchd Road near Starr Hill Brewery range from 1,095-square-foot condo units to detached single-family homes of up to 2,780 square feet.

Residents call its location the best of both worldsbikeable to downtown Crozet, but secluded in a wooded area with a stream that runs through the property. Theyve already picked out a location for a tree house.

Its kind of hard to find today, the small town kind of feel, says Laura Bates, a Washington, D.C., transplant who currently lives in the clubhouse with her husband and kids. It really does blend together the nature and the convenience.

Scott Guggenheimer and his partner, Anna Stockdale, lived in D.C.s Takoma Village cohousing before moving to Emerson Commons. He says the pair value cohousing for more than just shared resources, community meals and lower environmental impact.

We thinkwe hopethat a group of people dedicated to solving problems together and engaging in intentional dialogue are more likely to find creative solutions when things get messy. I think most of us wish the world were more interconnected, and we see this as a good step.

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Trying again: Cohousing ready to break ground - C-VILLE Weekly

Andy Douglas, Writers' Group 1:08 p.m. CT June 20, 2017

Andy Douglas(Photo: Special to the Press-Citizen)

For the second year in a row, I drove up last week to Decorah to take part in the five-day singing/dancing/playing/connecting/heart-opening gathering that is the Village Fire Singing Festival, set in the valleys of the enchanted Driftless area.

Oh, morning, what a joy, walking through you in the sun.

Village Fire offers a dynamic window on Community Sing, a movement that is growing nationwide, renewing oral traditional ways of building connection and nourishing the soul through song. Singing offers so many benefits oxygenating the blood, lifting the spirits, bringing "bonding" hormones to the brain. But Village Fire is about more than just singing. The festival offers a chance to embody a deeper sense of community, something many of us long for.

There was much interest at VF in ways that singing can serve, minister to, facilitate transitionand heal. I gave a talk about the Oakdale Community Choir (which joins people in prison with community volunteers in song in the Iowa City area). And I was delighted to share that space with former Iowa Citian Maggie McKnight who spoke about leading a Threshold Choir in her new home in California. Threshold choirs gather at the bedsides of those who are ill or close to dying to sing songs of comfort and passage.

Love prepare me to be a sanctuary. Open-hearted, tried and true.

Although most of the offerings focused on sharing various types of songs (songs for healing, kids songs, songs for empowerment, gospel songs, songwriting, silly songs), there were also non-singing events. Among the highlights this year: A contra dance with 10-foot tall puppets! A workshop on white privilege utilizing theater exercises. And a powerful workshop on grief led by Laurence Cole. The core idea here was that we all hold grief, not just for the loss of dear ones, but sometimes due to early emotional wounding, and working through that grief can free us up to live more fully. Several people shared their stories. These were then turned into short songs on the spot, which we as a group sang back to the person. Imagine how powerful it was to hear ones story sung back to you by the community.

You gotta put one foot in front of the other and lead with love.

Some of the song circles featured songs with many moving parts harmonies that wove in and out of the melody, different parts layered on top of each other, "zipper" songs that kept going as people called out new lyrics. I was impressed with the leadership ability of many of the song circle facilitators, including many young adults, who held the space for teaching these songs, making sure everyone was on board and able to participate.

Our circle was a diverse group. People from intentional communities, people working in the fields of organizing, health, teaching, and ecology, men, women and gender spectrum folks, babies and elders, people with disabilities, people from various ethnicities. Learning about all their commitments, and raising our voices together, I felt energized, ready to return to my local community and do some work.

Lots of folks from Iowa City were there. They are part of our local Community Sing group. We meet on second and fourth Thursdays, in living rooms or backyards. We come to support each other and to harmonize. If you werent able to attend Village Fire, these local gatherings can give you a taste of what Community Singing is all about. Youre welcome to join your voice with ours. For info about time and place: adinajoylevitt@gmail.com.

Beauty before me, Beauty behind me, beauty above and below and all around.

Writers' Group member Andy Douglas is author of "The Curve of the World: Into the Spiritual Heart of Yoga."

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Raise up your voice and sing with the community - Iowa City Press Citizen

Lighthouse claims that they have never denied admission to a student based on sexual orientation, although they stand by their right to operate according to their policies.

Thirty states, including Indiana, use some form of tax funds for school choice programs. None of those states that use vouchers prohibit admissions policies that discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a study by Suzanne Eckes, a professor at Indiana University.

Legal and policy experts across the country defended Lighthouses right to operate according to its stated religious beliefs, including the schools attorney and spokesman Brian Bailey.

Parents are free to choose which school best comports with their religious convictions, Bailey said. For a real choice and thus real liberty to exist, the government may not impose its own orthodoxy and homogenize all schools to conform to politically correct attitudes and ideologies.

Eckes argued that schools that receive vouchers should not be allowed to have admissions policies like those of Lighthouse and cited the federal protections afforded to racial minorities, whileLily Eskelsen Garca, president of the National Education Association, said that private schools should not receive government funds at all on the basis that private schools can choose to deny admission to students.

Lindsey Burke, director of theHeritage Foundations education policy studies, said that Lighthouses policies have no parallel to racial discrimination.

Racism was based on identity and skin color and had no reasonable basis, Burke said. This is about whether a student, a family is going to live out their communal beliefs of the school that they have chosen to attend. These are intentional communities that are built upon a moral code that they have decided on.

As for the lefts claim that private schools are prohibited from discriminating based on sexual orientation,Dick Komer, senior attorney with Institute for Justice, said that simply isnt the case.

If the people who are grilling DeVos believe that sex includes sexual orientation and gender identity, then they should propose amendments to the statues that they have written and given her to enforce, Komer said. The Congress is supposed to write the law, the agency is supposed to administer what Congress has given them. And Congress hasnt given it to them.

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Left Cries Foul Over Christian School's Right To Vouchers - The Daily Caller

Recently I had a chance to ask some questions to Laney of Lobo Marino to learn a little bit more about what their music is all about. Here's what I found out.

1.LoboMarinoseems like a group that could only exist in a city like Richmond that is so well known for creativity and the arts. How has Richmond helped you grow as a band?

Richmond has been essential for us. First, in the sheer inspiration of being in a place surrounded by artist and activists. Jameson and I met in Richmond working at a Vegetarian Restaurant called Harrison Street Cafe. We both played in different bands, I was in an old time band called "Arise Sweet Donkey" and Jamesonwas in an experimental Hard Core band called "Our Stable Violent Star". After Living together for a year in Richmond we decided to sell our things and spend a year traveling and working on farms in South America. That year turned into multiple years of traveling.... But Richmond, full of friends and forever faithful would always welcome us back on whims. Dozens of members of our Richmond Community took turns hosting us when we would come home for a month or two. Our old job at Harrison Street would even take us back for temp work whenever we were in town.

There is the amazing quality in Richmond... So many people come and go and come back again. You can be gone for a year and when you come back you are welcomed home like you never left. Someone might say "Hey! I haven't see you for a while" and you are like "well yea, I was just traveling cross country for six months" and they just shrug and you pick up right where you left off. Once part of the community, you are always part of the community.

2. I've read that you guys have opened up your home to serve as a meeting space for political action. Could you talk a little bit about what kind of events you guys host and the types of political action are you trying to encourage through your activities?

We run a space called the Earth Folk Collective. It is a 200-Year- old farmhouse that we are restoring on an acre of land in the city. We grow a lot of our own food at the space and offer donation based workshops to the community on topics like composting, seed saving, mushroom cultivation, yoga, poetry, know your rights, collective living, basket weaving, self care.... All kinds of things. The Richmond Herbalism guild uses our space for workshops and trade posts. We have hosted many concerts and and community gatherings as well as art builds for protests.

Because Richmond is the capital of the state of Virginia, we are a hub for protests. In our garage we have a collection of drums that we use for our pop-up drum line which we bring out to actions and protests. Those drums lay beside a giant puppet that is also used for street actions and political parades. We are members of a political puppet troupe called "All the Saints Theater Company. It is inspired by Bread and Puppet up in Vermont. There are so many amazing political organizations holding it down in Richmond these days and collaboration in art and action is a core characteristic of the scene.

Richmond is also the hub of the company Dominion Power who holds the monopoly on Virginia's electrical infrastructure. At the moment we are busy organizing statewide with grassroots groups to stop the massive network of natural Gas Pipelines that Dominion Power is trying to build across our state.

Another issue related to Dominion and the environment is the concern for our water. The James River runs through Richmond. It is the heart of our city and the source of our drinking water. Dominion power has huge power plants on the banks of the James. For years these facilities have been burning coal and currently have hundreds of acres of land which are covered with coal ash ponds, areas where the left over coal fly ash is contained in water. Many of these ponds are unlined and are leaking toxic heavy metals through the water table into our river. The EPA has required that the coal ash be contained in a safer way, but the technology for such a large scale project is not yet fully realized. Last year Dominion was given a permit by the Department of Environmental Quality totoxifythe James river upstream from Richmond. The people of our city freaked out and thousands marched to say that we would not allow this company to destroy theecosystem of our sacred river. During this time our home was used to house art supplies for an awareness action. I remember once our friend from Chesapeake Climate Action Network was painting a banner on our porch and the paint bled through the sheet and we ended up having the Governor's name "McAuliffe" painted on our porch.

3. Your new album is impressive, what's next forLoboMarinoand how do you guys see the project progressing in the coming months and years?

We have always wantedLoboMarinoto be grassroots. As we learn from the earth by growing our own food, we havelearneda new type of patience.LoboMarinois not a flash in the pan pop band. We have been building this project for 7 years touring around the world playingDIYspaces, intentional communities and spiritual communities. Our music is an expression of our life journey and right now it's all about sowing seeds and watching them grow. We didn't feel like we needed a big promotional machine to birth our new album "The Mulberry House"... We look at it as though we have prepared the soil and sowed the seed and now we just have to wait and water every now and then.

We continue to tour nationally and are planning an international tour next year. We are on the road playing music about 6 months out of the year.

This Emerging Artist is based in Austin, check out other talented locals we picked for our Austin Artist of the Month poll below!

This poll will end on July 3, 2017 at 11.59 PM ET

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Lobo Marino talks to The Deli about Richmond, politics, and music - The Deli Magazine National (blog)

Desmond Shannon, a teacher from St. Josephs Universitys first cohort, instructs students. (Photo by Melissa Kelly/St. Josephs University)

Education | Jun. 19, 2017

Students can take the helm in classrooms while earning graduate degrees at some universities.

A teacher-training program run by universities across the country has allowed him to teach while he gets his graduate degree.After he graduated from college, Kevin Gregorio knew he wanted to get his masters degree in education to teach in Catholic schools.

During his two years of graduate education as a teaching fellow at the Alliance for Catholic Education at St. Josephs University, he taught English literature at Mercy Career and Technical High School, a co-ed Catholic vocational high school in Philadelphia.

Education suggests what we want children to become when theyre men and women. Thats crucial to the welfare of society, so I felt like: What better vocation to get involved with than that? he told the Register.

Students dont always walk in really excited about British literature, and at first, thats a daunting challenge; but if you can get them to like it, thats a huge victory.

When students go on break at the end of the school year, teaching fellows return to their universities to take intensive summer coursework for a masters degree in education.

Young men and women like Gregorio are following their call to teach at Catholic schools thanks to innovative, fully funded programs at Catholic universities that give them experience teaching in Catholic schools while earning credits toward a masters during their school breaks. After two years, fellows in these programs finish with amasters degree in education, no graduate-level debt and valuable job experience.

Catholic schools, for their part, get faithful, enthusiastic young teachers to lead their classrooms.

While the students the Register interviewed said the cost of a graduate degree would not have deterred them from pursuing a career in teaching at Catholic schools, the burden debt puts upon newly graduated educators is significant. A 2014 report found the average borrower for an education masters degree owed nearly $51,000 in school loans.

A dozen Catholic universities around the country run their own graduate education programs, generally modeled after the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program pioneered by the University of Notre Dame.

Theo Helm, communications director for Notre Dames Alliance for Catholic Education, told the Register that Holy Cross Fathers Timothy Scullyand Sean McGraw established the program in 1993 to address the need for talented and faith-filled energetic teachers in Catholic schools around the country.

I think, famously, it started with a poster that said, Tired of doing homework? Come out and give some out, said Helm.

Now under the umbrella of the University Consortium of Catholic Education, the programs collectively place around 400 teaching fellows every year in under-resourced Catholic schools.

While each universitys program serves different communities and has a different spirituality Dominican, or Jesuit, or Holy Cross, among others every graduate program commits itself to teacher formation, community living for students and spiritual growth.

Helm added each universitys role is to support these students in their ministry.

Teachers who are out there in the field doing this program are doing it because theyre called to serve. Yes, they earn degrees, and experience, but its fundamentally a service program, Helm said.

Learning Together

Mercy Sister Rosemary Herron, president of Mercy Career and Technical High School, told the Register that her school has had a great partnership over the years with St. Josephs University.

The [teaching fellows] who have come to us are generous, energetic and willing to serve, she said.

Sister Rosemary said ACE teachers are great for the faculty mix.

They leaven their community through providing enthusiasm and joy to their ministry and the occasional technological expertise, while learning from teachers who have been involved in this work for 45 years.

I think we model for the young teachers the generosity that you have to have and the humility in learning new ideas, she said.

Catholic education is not without its challenges, Sister Rosemary explained. For teachers who are not much older than their students, dealing with teenagers poses a challenge.

Also, Catholic school systems in dense urban areas have lost a lot of financial support, as the original populations that founded them moved away.

Public schools, particularly the growth of charter schools, Sister Rosemary added, are another threat to the continued longevity of Catholic schools, because its hard to compare with free.

Even if there is less financial support than there used to be, Catholics schools still play a vitally important role in their neighborhoods. Sister Rosemary told the Register that parents in the neighborhood, many of whom are not Catholic, and who struggle economically, choose to pay to send their children to places like Mercy because they see its loving environment as a better option than public schools.

Students feel safe, cared about and like what theyre learning.

Teachers also become role models and advocates for their students. Its more than a job for our faculty its a ministry, said Sister Rosemary.

Forming New Generations

The graduate fellows enrolled in Catholic teacher-training programs take their vocations seriously.

Marissa Gioffre, who just completed her first year with St. Josephs University ACE at St. Frances Cabrini in West Philadelphia, said her faith has grown in the classroom. One challenge of her first year has been balancing being an educator and a spiritual role model for her students, making sure theyre not only memorizing facts, but also learning how to shape themselves in becoming good citizens and the ways to take their education into their community.

Her own faith has also deepened through the Jesuit spirituality of the program. While a Vincentian spirituality of finding God in the people around her had been an important influence on her earlier life, Gioffre said, Ignatian concepts like cura personalis, or care for the whole person, had helped her to live her faith better and care for her students through her teaching and as their choir director and basketball coach.

Amanda Heath, who graduated from the Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education (PACE) at the University of Portland, told the Register that she pursued teaching because her parents had started a school for children with special needs, and she likewisewanted to provide the best to each child out there as a Catholic teacher. Having graduated in 2015 from PACE, she continues to teach at Immaculate Conception School in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Heath told the Register that havingteaching fellows living together in an intentional community helped develop her vocation as a teacher.In the house she lived in, the teacher-residents spent five nights a week eating in common, fostering community and deepening their faith together.

Its such a wonderful option that gives you teaching experience, that gives you a masters, that gives you a community of other people who are going through the same things you are, she said. As a result, she said, I know Ill always be in Catholic schools.

Nicholas Wolfram Smith writes from Rochester, New York.

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Skip the Debt, Get a Master's, and Start Teaching in Catholic Schools - National Catholic Register

Sister Tracey Horan, the winner of the 2017 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award for her work to reduce poverty and racial inequity, talks transformation and relationships she has learned from. Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar

Sister Tracey Horan listens to speakers at City Market, during a vigil and march from the City Market to Christ Cathedral on Monument Circle, calling on city and county law enforcement to stop supporting unlawful detentions of undocumented immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thursday, June 15, 2017.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)Buy Photo

Tracey Horan had never been behind the walls of a convent before she moved to El Paso, Texas, after college to teach middle-school math.

She was surprised to learn that the religious sisters watched TV, told jokes and evendrank beer on occasion. But they also were deeply spiritual and committed to social justice issues. Horan, who was on ajourney of self-discovery and discernment, wondered if she was being called to the religious life.

The Indianapolis native and Roncalli High School grad lived with the Sisters of Charity for two years, growing not only in her faith but in her awareness of systemic poverty, discrimination and economic oppression issues the sistersconfronted in their work and discussed at the dinner table every evening.

Today, the29-year-old one-time cheerleader-turned-teacher-turned-community activist is a second-year mission novice with the Sisters of Providence, founded by Saint Mother Theodore Guerinin 1840. She will take her firstvows this year vows of poverty, chastity and obedience on her way to becoming a full member of the religious order based at St.-Mary-of-the-Woods.

More from Maureen Gilmer

How do you live when you know you are dying?

Against all odds, they graduated. Now, look what their community is doing for them

Women likeHoran, now known as Sister Tracey, area rarity these days. New recruits in the ranks of nuns and sistersin the United States haveplummetedfor decades, though recent years have shown a slight trend upward. (What's the difference between a nun and a sister? Nuns typically live a life of contemplative prayer in a monastery, while sisters are rooted in community ministry.)

According to National Religious Vocation Conference data, more than 90 percent of the nation's 58,000 nuns and sisters are 60 and older.The median age of the 300 sisters in the Sisters of Providenceis 75, Sister Tracey said, adding,"I bring down our average, I'm proud to say."

She senses a resurgence in interest in religious life, pointingto her own "class" of sisters as proof.

Sister Tracey Horan prays at Christ Cathedral, during a vigil and march to call on city and county law enforcement to stop supporting unlawful detentions of undocumented immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.(Photo: Kelly Wilkinson/IndyStar)

"Wehave eightwomen in formation, which is exciting.Alot of communities aren't getting any new people."

"Ithink people are looking for something, asense of intentional community," said the young sister, who looks like most everyone else at a local coffee shop on a Monday morning, dressed in slacks, a T-shirt and sandals in the summer heat."It takes a lot to be focused on this kind ofmission, so it is important to be with other people who can strengthen you."

It's hard for her to describe why she feels this is the life for her. "It just fits. I equateit to falling in love. Ifeel like Ican be my fullest self in this life."

Her parents, longtime members of St. Jude Catholic Church on the south side,were pleased but skeptical whenshe announced her plans to join the religious life.

She had enjoyed an active social life in high schooland college, all while holding true to her Catholic faith. Joe and Eileen Horan thought their daughterwould follow a more traditional path. But she had long felt there was something more she was called to do.

"My parents didn't believe me at first;they thought it was a phase. Over time, they started to see I was the happiest I'd ever been."

Her mission as a Catholic and a Sister of Providenceis advocating for the dignity andwell-being of all people, paying special attention to the poor and disenfranchised. It's fitting then that her faith journey and ministry search brought her back to Indianapolis last summer when she joined the Indianapolis Congregation Action Network (IndyCAN)and theJustice for Immigrants Campaign of the Archdiocese as a bilingual community organizer.

It's the perfect intersection of faith and civic engagement, she said. She mobilizes support for causes critical to Catholic social teachings. And her status as a sister brings a moral presence to bear, whether it's in meetings with city officials on mass transit or in organizing a public rally toforce action on what she and IndyCAN call the unlawful detentionof immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Indianapolis.

She calls it "sending a moral message."And she has no problem calling out policies she considers illegal and immoral.

But when religious leaders and others have the opportunity to meet with policy makers and put a human face on a policy outcome,the conversation shifts, she said.

"Me being a sister and being part of IndyCAN and working on this in a really clear and public way, I think gives people hope. It really is an extension of the church."

Her co-workers say she's the perfect messenger.

"She is so spiritually in tune, such a divine being," said Nicole Barnes, IndyCAN operations manager. "Her sisterhood is integrated into who she is ...it's not something she does it's her way of being. It just oozes out of her, and she's this tiny thing, but she's feisty and serious about justice for people."

Sister Tracey lives with four other Sisters of Providence in the Nora neighborhood. Each has her own work to do in the community, but they carve out time to pray together regularly, and they take turns cooking.

To relax, the young sister watches "Parks and Recreation" and "Call of the Midwife." She's also an enthusiastic runner and hiker. She keeps up with old friends on Facebook but isn't able to spend much time with them. "I've really changed a lot since those days."

At 84, Sister Marilyn Herber is the senior member of the household, and shesays Sister Tracey gives her hope.

"She's just a great example to me," said Sister Marilyn,who entered religious life in 1952."The young people who come today are so filled with life and goodness and a desire to make change in this world. They get it."

If it's possible to be an idealist and a realist, that would describe Sister Tracey.

The Rev. Chris Wadelton, pastor at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church on the east side, saw both sides at a February rally organized by the young sister and IndyCAN that drew 2,000 people. The City of Inclusion rally was held in response to policies by the Trump administration that some think unfairly targetimmigrants, Muslims and refugees.

He marvels that she is able to balance her religious training with a job that demands long hours. "She brings a renewed focus to faith-based social justice. To see a young, dynamic person, talented in so many ways, choose religious life, that's inspiring."

Juan Perez-Corona, 45, has seen Sister Tracey in action, working to help people with immigration issues, housing, medical care and employment. He's been so impressed with her commitment that he now volunteers alongside her.

"We are so blessed to have her," the father of three said. "It doesn't matter color, race, religion, she just wants to help people."

Perez-Corona, who has been in the country since 1988, now has legal status here, but he's never forgotten the fear he felt 10 years ago when he said he was pulled over by a police officer in Indianapolis for no reason and asked to produce residency papers. He spent nine days in jail, but it took years to resolve his case with IndyCAN's help.

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Sister Tracey said examples like that inspire her to do the hard work that others, even many within the church, are reluctant to embrace.

"This is the heart of our mission," she said. "When our sisters first came here, they were really pioneers, and that's still kind of our role. (Sisters) often choose to be in places where other people tend not to be. But if we're not willing to get out in the trenches, what are we doing?"

It's also challenging, she said, because "it forces us to ask questions that are uncomfortable."

Take immigration, for example. "Were dealing with this narrative that says all immigrants are criminals and that the only people being deported are criminals, which we know isnt true," she said. She has worked with IndyCan to develop a hotline for immigrants and others to call if they feel threatened by authorities.

She wasn't always so welcoming to undocumented immigrants, she said, recalling a high school discussion more than 10 years ago about building a wallbetween the U.S. and Mexico.

"I was one of those who said, "They're criminals; it's pretty clear, they're breaking the law.' But I had no idea."

A teacher assigned her to research the other side of the argument. "I was so ticked off, but it was really smart of her. I had to see why are people crossing, what are their stories, what's behind this?"

Soshe allows some grace for those who are not yet willing to fight what she believes is a moral imperative.

"I have to remember my own transformation, and I've come a really long way as far as understanding and getting a broader picture of people's experiences and perspectives. If it's possible for me, being as stubborn as I am, it's possible for anyone."

Sister Tracey's work in the community was just recognizedby the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who held their Spring General Assembly in Indianapolis. In a reception Wednesday, she received the 2017 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, for her work to reduce poverty and racial inequality.

In prepared remarks, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, formerly archbishop of Indianapolis, described Sister Tracey as a "dynamic young womanpromoting the common good among immigrants and brothers and sisters living in poverty."

While the day-to-day "slow work of God" is not always glamorous, her ministry lends hope, said Shoshanna Spector, executive director of IndyCAN.

"Society yearns for courageous, prophetic leaders who are prepared to inspire, speak out and support the most marginalized. Sister Tracey is this person."

Call IndyStar reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her onFacebook,TwitterandInstagram.

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Young nun fights for justice for immigrants and the poor in Indy - Indianapolis Star

On June 10, The Capital Pride Alliance hosted its annual pride parade in Washington, D.C., but, for some in the LGBTQ community, the parade is a far cry from the origins its meant to be celebrating.

Annual pride parades were born out of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, when the police raided the gay club Stonewall Inn and patrons refused to leave. Marches and protests began across the country, commemorating the riots and demanding equal rights and protection under the law.

But many feel Capital Pride Alliance is ignoring its roots. Those frustrated with the annual parade found different ways to commemorate the event. Meet No Justice No Pride, Queer and Trans Night of Healing, and The Equality March.

PROTESTORS: Down down with deportation, up up with liberation!

EMMELIA TALARICO: Theres not a lot of celebrating going on these days. Theres not a lot of things to celebrate about, our rights are being stripped away from us, like as a trans woman, I never really had rights.

DAVID BRUINOOGE: As a cis gay white male of privilege, I feel a lot of people in that same category maybe thought the fight for gay rights and LGBTQ rights was over after gay marriage. And it couldnt be farther from the truth.

LOURDES ASHLEY HUNTER: Pride has never appealed to me, it was never a place for me; as a trans person, as a disabled person, as a black person. It didnt celebrate images that reflected what I look like.

TALARICO: Were building all of the art here. We have some banners, some signage.

DREW AMBROGI: No Justice No Prides belief is that the backbone of the LGBT community is marginalized LGBT folks, is trans women of color. For too long the movement, the LGBT movement has kind of this trickle down approach to rights that once the most wealthy LGBT folks get equality, then theyll help the rest of us. And they got their gay marriage rights and they kind of said all along, once we get gay marriage well fight for everyone. And its been a couple years now, we dont really see that happening and so were going to demand that it happens.

PROTESTORS: We are unstoppable! Another world is possible!

TALARICO: We have three different blockades. Well be doing a hard lockdown, and a hard lockdown is where you and other people who youre taking action with physically lock down using equipment. Theyll be using chains as well as using lockboxes.

PROTESTORS: Its our history, dont deny it! Stonewall was a trans riot!

TALARICO: People are frustrated.

PROTESTORS: Hey hey, ho ho, these racist cops have got to go!

TALARICO: Us going after capital pride is us going after institutional power in this city and trying to transfer that, from those who have always had it, to those that actually need it.

AMBROGI: It really is catching on and resonating with I think what we see is a longstanding resentment of these organizations that put on these festivals with the primary goal of bringing in corporate money, selling things to the LGBT community. In this political climate we really feel like we can actually make our voices heard and get folks fired up about demanding something thats better.

PROTESTORS: Capital Pride is a sham!

SHAREESE CARMELLA MONE: Im a trans woman of color first. Im a trans woman first. I am human, first.

HUNTER: The queer and trans night of healing came together after a response from the community to have a space where folks could remember that pride was born out of resistance.

HUNTER: They wasnt marching because bitch, they couldnt wear what they wanted to wear. They was tired of getting beat up!

HUNTER: Its an opportunity for us to honor our ancestors, and honor those who have given their lives so that we can be here today. Its a fun event, its not just some white gay skinny cis heteronormative recreation of debauchery and mayhem. I mean you can have some of that too, but lets not forget that trans women of color have lost their lives, have fought in the streets, have fought the police with their heels, with bricks, with bottles so that we can march today, so lets just not forget that.

EQUALITY MARCH: Love, not hate, makes America great!

BRUINOOGE: I didnt want to celebrate this year with sponsorship. You know, banners everywhere. It didnt feel right to me at this time of year.

EQUALITY MARCH: No Justice, No peace!

BRUINOOGE: I felt it was necessary for our community to march. This is the most diverse national co-chairs of any march on Washington from the LGBT community. And that was intentional. We wanted those voices in leadership positions.

EQUALITY MARCH: Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like.

BRUINOOGE: With the political landscape that we live in right now and the issues that need to be addressed within our community, it felt like it needed to be stripped-down, bare-bones, grassroots, harking back to the original Pride.

SARA RAMIREZ: As we march today, I want to take a moment to remember the transgender, bisexual, gay, lesbian, and queer lives that cannot be with us here today.

BRUINOOGE: There are issues that affect our trans community, racial injustice, immigration injustice, these are all issues that affect our community. And they dont get highlighted.

DR IMANI WOODY: We are not invisible! We are not invisible!

BRUINOOGE: Hopefully, on Sunday, we inspire people to go home and use this mass mobilization and educate them to take action themselves in their own local communities.

TALARICO: I truly believe that pride should be a protest. Even to this day, theres a lot to protest in our community. Even if Obama was still in power, there would still be a lot to protest in our community.

BRUINOOGE: This is a way to activate us, to mobilize us, personally, for me, to participate in democracy and help these issues get out.

HUNTER: Pride is not supposed to be a celebration, its supposed to be a remembrance of the things that we have overcome and the fight that we still have for all of us to live unapologetically in our truths.

AMBROGI: If we really wanted to talk about what it means to support LGBTQ people, that would mean starting with the folks whose needs are the greatest. It would mean really supporting the folks who need support, not just doing the easy thing so that you can be celebrated as an ally.

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Resistance and Pride in 2017: How activists are commemorating Pride month - ThinkProgress

KEARNEY When Marta Moorman was growing up in a small town in Oklahoma, her parents refused to allow TV in the house. So when the community started a summer recreation program that included archery, badminton, swimming, childrens theater and more, she became hooked on recreation as a way of life.

My community and my family forced us to find other things to do, so we tried everything. If its fun you stick with it, she said.

Moorman has stuck with it. Shes now a professor of recreation at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. She teaches others to develop sports, fitness, wellness and community recreation activities for individuals and groups.

For her teaching and leadership, CHI Health Good Samaritan will present Moorman the Healthy Community Award in the area of Recreation. Nominated by Kearney Park and Recreation, she is recognized for showing outstanding leadership in organized sports for youths or adults.

Recreational activities are her life, including games, music, sports, cooking, exercise and reading.

Recreation isnt just about the body; its about the whole person. Its a lot about being social. We need to be around others. Recreation is so valuable because you are not just sitting in a room with somebody. Youre playing with them. Youre seeing how their mind works, and you see that their skills may be way better than yours. You think, This is somebody I really need get to know, she said.

Since joining the UNK faculty 21 years ago, Moorman has seen changes in recreation and how U.S. families and communities play.

Historically, the focus of community recreation was on team sports, but we have seen an increase in the number of individual activities and commercial providers. Recreation has become more intentional: were doing it for a reason, she said.

People are conscious about being active and staying healthy, she said. Outdoor and adventure activities have shown dramatic increases in the past few years. Kearney has the new water trail in the canal and Turkey Creek. UNK has a new rock climbing wall. These types of activities are very popular.

Over the years she also seen more variety in activities offered here, and how Kearney comes together to solve problems. Twenty years ago, the hike-bike trail to Cottonmill Park was a single dirt track. Now its part of a hike-bike trail network that stretches from Cottonmill Park to The Archway and ending at Fort Kearney State Historical Park, she noted.

Parks have evolved and added more options for organized sports. New, too, are activities like Community Olympics and Senior Games, adventure races and trail walks.

Kearney is good at deciding what they want and going for it. When the community decided that we needed more ball fields, we figured out a way to make it work. When Kearney decides what it wants, we make it happen. Were progressive in that way. I like that a lot.

Involving her UNK students in planning and organizing events is just as important as being involved herself, she said.

She was part of the Patriot Park Development Committee. She also sat on the Park and Recreation Advisory Board and the Rowe Sanctuary Committee, and is a member of the Nebraska and National Recreation and Park Associations.

In serving, she has aimed to elevate the importance of recreation as a community and individual need.

Recreation people always have to justify what they do. Its easy to justify health and exercise, but people look at recreation as oh, thats just for fun. But if its not fun, people wont participate. Activities that are fun and social are very important both for individuals and the community, she said.

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UNK professor's dedication to recreation earns her Healthy Community Award - Kearney Hub

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- For years, a graveled lot directly north of Kenton Park in North Portlands Kenton neighborhood, sat vacant. But on June 5, a work crew arrived on North Argyle Street to begin transforming the empty site, roughly an acre in size, into Kenton Womens Village, a temporary intentional community the likes of which the city has never seen.

A half-dozen neighborhood residents spread across an adjacent southern slope. Some tore out invasive blackberries and other weeds; others used picks and shovels to clear way for a staircase that would connect the lot to Argyle Street.

Related: How the Kenton Women's Village's roots came from a protest in Southeast Portland's Lents neighborhood

Three small bulldozers zipped around the site, delivering piles of dirt and gravel and leveling the packed ground.

Standing in the middle of the lot,MargiDechenne, program manager of the housing transitions program of Catholic Charities of Oregon, watched a truck hauling two small shipping containers pull into the lot. Oh good, she said, the restrooms are here.

Debbie Haskett, a 55-year old-woman who has been homeless for eight years, walked to the far end of the lot where 14 sleeping pods, super-tiny homes approximately 96 square feet each, stood in an oblong semi-circle.

Haskett, one of 14 homeless women chosen to occupy the structures, was deciding where to live. She chose a pod at the far end of the semi-circle that was painted black and turquoise. Turquoise is my birthstone, she said.

She rubbed her hands together at the thought of a home, however small, that she could claim as her own. Im so excited, she said.

Portland has been a leader in the homeless village movement since a group of homeless agitators wrested control of a vacant city-owned property near the Portland International Airport in 2000, cobbled together a cluster of shacks on it, established a system of self-government, and named it Dignity Village.

Dignity Village had antecedents in Seattle and Los Angeles, which it outlived, establishing itself as what appears to be the longest continuously sited community of its kind in the country.

Although the model didnt immediately proliferate in Portland, it persisted. A second group of homeless individuals pitched tents on a prominent Old Town/Chinatown corner in 2011; that settlement, Right 2 Dream Too, recently moved to a parking lot near the Moda Center. A third group launched Hazelnut Grove, to much controversy, in late 2015 in North Portlands Overlook neighborhood.

But Kenton Womens Village, which opened to residents on June 10, is different from these predecessors.

Its physically different. Tucked on expendable lots out of public view, Portlands other villages evolved from tent encampments and share an improvised, homemade look. Kenton Womens Village sits on prime real estate in an established residential community, a tidy collection of clean-lined, sturdy tiny homes designed by 14 different local architecture firms, shepherded by Portland State Universitys Center for Public Interest Design.

Its socially different. Portlands other villages are resolutely self-governed communities; residents make up their own rules and hold one another accountable to them. Residents of Kenton Womens Village will do the same, but within limits that dont apply at other villages. The village is operated by Catholic Charities, which has a contract with Multnomah County to do so. Each resident had to pass a criminal background check, will have an assigned case worker through Catholic Charities, and will agree, as a condition of her residency, to actively work toward moving back into permanent housing. There will be 24-hour security and a full-time, professional village manager.

And its politically different. Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too and Hazelnut Grove were founded as acts of civil disobedience. Groups of homeless individuals built settlements on public properties, without permission, in protest of city laws prohibiting public camping. But its creators conceived Kenton Womens Village as a publicly backed, community-supported venture. It is sited on land loaned by the city, funded with city and county dollars, approved by a vote of the Kenton neighborhood association, and designed and built with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Not coincidentally, Kenton Womens Village is designed to be temporary. Organizers promise to remove the settlement within a year. The sleeping pods will be hauled to another site, if an appropriate one can be found. Catholic Charities aims to help at least seven of the 14 residents find permanent homes, but its possible some will be referred to shelters at the end of the year.

Thats a risk the residents, who would otherwise spend the coming year sleeping in shelters, alleys or in the woods, appear more than happy to take.

Catholic Charities case manager Bernadette Stetz contacted the women to let them know theyd been accepted. Their reactions were crying, screaming, like I feel like I won the lottery, Stetz recalled on June 9, her voice quavering.

Whether one classifies Kenton Womens Village as a mainstreamed homeless village or as a radically reoriented homeless shelter, organizers consider it a model strategy for addressing the citys out-of-control homelessness crisis one that could be replicated in other neighborhoods.

The driving force of the project is the Village Coalition, whose members include residents of Dignity Village, Right 2 Dream Too and Hazelnut Grove. They say villages offer something shelters dont: a secure, reliable place to sleep and store belongings. More than that, villages give residents a sense of self-determination, common purpose and belonging, keys to healing and self-transformation that even transitional and permanent housing options cant often match. Those benefits, coupled with villages relatively low cost of construction and operation, make villages a better public investment than shelters, advocates say if they can be structured, as Kenton Womens Village has been, in a way that appeals to neighbors.

That hopeful idea has attracted a small army of supporters, while eliciting skepticism on various sides.

At one extreme are Portland residents who say that homeless villages, government-backed or not, are public nuisances: unlawful, unsafe, unhygienic and apt to attract criminal behavior that burdens surrounding neighborhoods.

At another extreme are some longtime homeless activists who see the transitional-housing model being attempted at Kenton Womens Village as a watered-down version of first-generation homeless villages: politically palatable but, without homeless residents truly in charge, unlikely to sustain momentum.

In between are policymakers who see villages as a helpful but incomplete model for addressing homelessness, better than some alternatives but not proven effective at moving chronically homeless people 46 percent of whom experience severe mental illness and/or substance abuse disorders, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness into permanent affordable housing or true self-sufficiency.

But regardless of whether they can cure mental illness, make neighborhoods safer or advance the movement for homeless empowerment, many are betting that enclaves modeled after Kenton Womens Village could be a scalable answer to an undeniable and pressing conundrum: With permanent affordable housing in short supply, and mental health and addiction treatment services limited, chronically homeless people must live, sleep and move their lives forward somewhere.

Mayor Wheeler discusses Kenton home pod

This story is part of Giving Ground, an investigative series exploring the rise of the homeless village movement. It is produced by the Open: Housing Journalism Collaborative, a joint project of Open: Housing, Pamplin Media Group and KGW. Look for other stories in this and related series at OpenHousing.net.

Published June 12, 2017

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The path from Dignity Village to the new Kenton Women's Village ... - kgw.com