Category Archives: Intentional Communities

By Chad FreyNewton Kansan@ChadFrey

HESSTON It has been nearly a year since tragedy struck at Excel Industries. Nearly a full year since an angry man went home, got a gun and started shooting at random cars in Newton before entering Excel and killing three people. He was shot and killed by police in one of the deadliest days in Harvey County history.

It is a day few will ever forget, even if they want to. It is a day, according to Brad Burkholder, that the community is still trying to recover from.

For the past year, people are dealing with it in different ways and are in different stages, Burkholder said. ... We are impacted in different ways, and we all recover at different speeds as well.

Burkholder is pastor of Hesston Mennonite Brethren church of Hesston and a member of the Hesston Ministerial Alliance. He and the alliance are organizing a night to remember that fateful day. The ceremony, called A Community Remembers: 'The Light Shines in the Darkness will begin at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 at Hesston High School.

The ministerial alliance purposely avoided the actual date of the shootings Feb. 25.

We decided not to do the day of, or the Sunday after. We thought it was important to gather before the actual anniversary, Burkholder said.

The Ministerial Alliance, Excel Industries and the Hesston Community Foundation teamed up to create the observance.

The observance is coming as the result of community requests people asking all three organizations when something would be done.

We got to the later part of (2016) and we knew we did not want Feb 25 to pass without something intentional, said Susan Lamb with the community foundation.

The service will include remembering the dead from that day Renee Benjamin, 30; Joshua Higbee, 31; Brian Sadowsky, 44, and Cedric Ford, 38. Also remembered will be those injured during the events.

There will also be a moment of hope offered.

We will have a commissioning. We want to remind people that as they go out in their communities that week we have an opportunity to meet people where they are at, Burkholder said. We need to acknowledge that there is pain and hurt. We all carry with us our past experiences. We know that not everyone who comes will have the same belief system spiritually, but we need each other.

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'A community remembers' coming to Hesston - News - Butler County ... - Butler County Times Gazette

The Sheldon Theatre was named the 2016 Arts & Entertainment, Lodging, Recreation & Tourism Business of the Year by Red Wing Area Chamber of Commerce members at the Jan. 30 annual meeting and awards banquet.

Sheldon Theatre Executive Director Bonnie Schock said the business award was extra-meaningful for a nonprofit arts organization.

"If you look purely at the economic impact that arts organizations have in their communities, it's extraordinary," Schock said. "It's really nice to have the business community recognize that the role that we play here is one that is fostering the broader success of Red Wing."

Schock, along with the Sheldon's administrative team of Jennifer Staley, Natalie Olson and Russell Johnson, spoke to their efforts of being more present in the community.

"On all fronts, with marketing, education, outreach and programming, we've really tried to be present and establish a lot of different entry points for people," Schock said.

The Sheldon's timeline is dotted with different phases; the original theater, a movie house, the fabled roof explosion and, much to the community's delight, a major renovation back to an intricate jewel box theater.

Greg Nixon and Helene Olson-Reed, veterans of the Sheldon stage and supporters of the arts community, both began their relationships with the Sheldon in the 1970s.

"The support from people at the theater working behind the scenes, and the support from the entire community attending shows and events, is something a community of this size should be incredibly proud of," Nixon said. "The theater itself is a community within the community."

Olson-Reed has attended weddings, funerals, and just about anything in between at the theater, she said.

"The Sheldon has been at the center of our community. I see it as the center of our community," Olson-Reed said. "It is truly iconic."

Lacy Schumann, a newer face in the Red Wing community and part of the staff at the Red Wing Arts Association, said her young family has fully embraced the Sheldon and its variety of performances. Schumann moved to the area in 2016.

"It's poking at people's curiosity," Schumann said of the Sheldon's programming. "The shows are appealing to so many people, it feels almost impossible to resist it."

Schumann said within her family's first few months in Red Wing, her 5-year-old son has already taken to the Sheldon stage.

"The accessibility of the things like the children's theater program is incredible," she said. "My son would have never gotten that anywhere else. It is not overpriced, and they are subjects that he can grasp and open his little mind to new things."

Nixon applauded the Sheldon's recent programming and outreach efforts.

"They are reaching the whole spectrum of the community," he said.

Olson-Reed admitted on her own accord that she could carry on about the Sheldon much longer than one would like to entertain.

"This is great community for arts, it's our identity. The Sheldon is the icing on top," she said.

Schumann's fresh observations of the historic theater are perhaps the most poignant.

"Attending and being part of community experiences at the Sheldon showed me what this community is capable of of being welcoming and open," Schumann said.

The Sheldon team members said they are honored with the recognition and the positive feedback on new programming approaches.

"This was very intentional programming for different tastes and aesthetics. Not every show will be for everyone, but there will be a show that everyone will enjoy," Schock said. "It is a purposeful approach to have something that everyone can relate to."

Visit http://www.sheldontheatre.org for event listings and more information on the season's upcoming performances.

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Take a bow, Sheldon Theatre - Republican Eagle

By Chad FreyNewton Kansan@ChadFrey

HESSTON It has been nearly a year since tragedy struck at Excel Industries. Nearly a full year since an angry man went home, got a gun and started shooting at random cars in Newton before entering Excel and killing three people. He was shot and killed by police in one of the deadliest days in Harvey County history.

It is a day few will ever forget, even if they want to. It is a day, according to Brad Burkholder, that the community is still trying to recover from.

For the past year, people are dealing with it in different ways and are in different stages, Burkholder said. ... We are impacted in different ways, and we all recover at different speeds as well.

Burkholder is pastor of Hesston Mennonite Brethren church of Hesston and a member of the Hesston Ministerial Alliance. He and the alliance are organizing a night to remember that fateful day. The ceremony, called A Community Remembers: 'The Light Shines in the Darkness will begin at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 at Hesston High School.

The ministerial alliance purposely avoided the actual date of the shootings Feb. 25.

We decided not to do the day of, or the Sunday after. We thought it was important to gather before the actual anniversary, Burkholder said.

The Ministerial Alliance, Excel Industries and the Hesston Community Foundation teamed up to create the observance.

The observance is coming as the result of community requests people asking all three organizations when something would be done.

We got to the later part of (2016) and we knew we did not want Feb 25 to pass without something intentional, said Susan Lamb with the community foundation.

The service will include remembering the dead from that day Renee Benjamin, 30; Joshua Higbee, 31; Brian Sadowsky, 44, and Cedric Ford, 38. Also remembered will be those injured during the events.

There will also be a moment of hope offered.

We will have a commissioning. We want to remind people that as they go out in their communities that week we have an opportunity to meet people where they are at, Burkholder said. We need to acknowledge that there is pain and hurt. We all carry with us our past experiences. We know that not everyone who comes will have the same belief system spiritually, but we need each other.

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'A community remembers' coming to Hesston - Leavenworth Times

Politicians from the local and state level are partnering in a new way to find out what issues are most important to Pittsburghs black residents and how to address them.

The Pittsburgh Black Elected Officials Coalition, which includes Allegheny County Councilman DeWitt Walton, Pittsburgh City Councilmembers Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess and state representatives Jake Wheatley and Ed Gainey, just completed its first project.

The group released its Peace and Justice Initiative report last Thursday, which outlines six key areas of concern within the citys African American community, including public safety, housing, family, business and education.

Walton said the issues are interwoven.

How can we better collaborate and coordinate better opportunities from community based and workforce opportunities? Walton said. And as a result, increase the per capita wage income of individuals, and as a result, youll increase home ownership. And a third result, youll increase public safety.

Waltonis one of five black elected officials who represent Pittsburgh at the city, county and state levels. The current terms of three of those five -- Wheatley, Gainey and Lavelle -- will expire in the next two years.

Wheatley, who represents the 19th district, which is majority black, said the group had a clear catalyst.

I think we started to see the explosion of young black men and women being killed by police officers, Wheatley said. And when we started to question, why is that happening? Its not just the criminal justice system, its a culture of neglect that weve allowed to continue. We have to address it in a holistic approach. We have to attack all of these areas, and figure out how we can fundamentally transform how we see view and transform these vulnerable communities.

Wheatley said this is the first time the five men have really worked together. In the past, there had been some tension and political rivalry. But he said to make an impact, you need to have functional relations at every level of government.

I understand the importance of having someone whos a friend or at least a confidant at the city level, he said. Because what we do at the state level impacts the city and what theyre doing at the city level helps inform what I need to do at the state level.

Lavelle agreed.

Currently in the Hill District, were dealing with new housing developments, but many of the dollars have come from the federal government and we also received state grants, he said. And that only happens when you have a close relationship with those representing you on those levels, that understand the vision and your goals.

Since there are so few black elected officials in the area, Wheatley said he feels a particularly heavy weight on his shoulders to serve his constituents.

Leadership has no colors, no gender, no income, he said. But there is a different pressure being in Pittsburgh, being an African American, and being in one of these elected offices, because all around you, you see men and women and children who look like you and are dependent on you to be their eyes and ears and voice. You see them suffering on most of the social and economic indicators. You see them suffering the worst.

From institutional racism to implicit bias,Lavellesaid the members of this coalition intimately understand the challenges facing the black community.

We know it. Weve lived it. Weve experienced it, he said. Even as policy makers, weve experienced it when weve tried to bring issues to the table that affect communities of color but dont necessarily have the ear of all our white colleagues to understand why this is so critical. I think the difference now is when we collectively stand up and being able to have a unified voice, I think will really be able to move the needle in a way that we havent in the past.

Wheatley said moving that needle will require bringing a lot of other people on board with their vision a significant task for he andGainey.

For example, me and Ed are two in a body that has 253 members, he said. So how do you build other members along to what were trying to accomplish to make the transformations on a state level?

Lavellesaid on their own, the five coalition members wont be able to make a tremendous difference on the realities of whats impacting people. He said support needs to come from the top down, but also from the bottom up within his own district.

Its an interesting conversation when I have residents Downtown complaining about broken sidewalks or needing street repair, Lavelle said. Ill often say to them, I understand the need for this, but if you help me increase the economic situation for those who are your neighbors in the Hill District, thatll grow the tax base, bring in additional revenues, to do some of these other things being done.

The coalition held community meetings across the city last year to ask residents what they want changed.Members agreed they each need to be more intentional about who theyre engaging across the community, with special emphasis on those most affectedby social and economic inequities.

The nonprofit Homewood Childrens Village gathered additional data and formed the report. It contained no specific policy recommendations, but members said plans in the pipeline could include legislation; approval from city, county and state leaders; and corporate sponsorship.

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Coalition Calls Itself The 'Eyes, Ears & Voice' Of Pittsburgh's Black Community - 90.5 WESA

In 1993, Fr. Sean McGraw, C.S.C. and Fr. Tim Scully, C.S.C. received $5,000 from the President of the University to found the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) with the goal of preserving and spreading access to quality Catholic education throughout the country.

The core mission of the program is to provide a ray of hope through educational excellence to underserved children, Scully said in an interview.

Scully, who now serves as chair of the ACE Advisory Board, said the program initially began by training 40 recent college graduates nearly all from Notre Dame in education and sending them to teach in Catholic schools across the country, typically in low-income communities, as ACE Teaching Fellows.

Since its inception, the highly-selective ACE Teaching Fellows program now receives over 400 applications a year and selects approximately 90 graduates roughly half of which graduated from Notre Dame to participate in the program.

We live in intentional communities of four to seven people, Scully said. Were in 35 cities across the United States. These teaching fellows go out into their communities and teach in underserved Catholic schools for a period of two years, and they return to campus during the summers to receive a masters degree and accreditation and licensing as a teacher. I would describe it as an awesome leadership experience where youre giving your heart and soul away to needy kids.

There are roughly 180 ACE Teaching Fellows currently operating in schools around the country.

We started this effort in a sense because it was so difficult for some under-resourced dioceses and schools to find great teaching talent, and so were looking for very talented people not necessarily the highest GPAs and the highest GREs but were really looking for people who, in addition to native talent, just kind of bring a passion and a zeal for our mission, Scully said.

He said the program has expanded considerably since its founding, now managing several independent schools, as well as other programs.

Since we didnt have a department of education we had no ability to impart proper professional training to those folks, he said. At the outset we outsourced our educational training to our partner institution on the WestCoast, the University of Portland. They provided the masters degree for the first four years of our program.

ACE now runs 15 Notre Dame ACE Academies, fully staffed and funded by the Alliance.

[Since then] weve built the Institute for Educational Initiatives, which houses the masters degrees and the faculty, and so weve really built a pretty significant human capacity here at Notre Dame to provide professional training, today not just for teachers but for principals and for English language learners and for students who have special needs, Scully said. Its become a very large effort. Today were the largest provider of resources and talent to Catholic schools across the country. Were in one in every four Catholic schools in the U.S., mostly low-income schools and under-resourced schools.

Scully said that, under the leadership of the ACE staff, once-struggling schools are able to quickly recover.

For example, St. John the Evangelist [an elementary school in Tuscon, Arizona], which we took over 6 years ago, had 130 students and was about to close, serving hispanic students in the sixth-poorest zip code in the country, he said. Today that school has 450 kids in it. The student achievement scores have gone from the mid-to-low teens to the mid-sixtieth percentile.

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ACE program benefits low-income communities - Observer Online

Gov. Terry Branstad talks with reporters Monday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Des Moines. Behind him is Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend, and Marvin DeJear, director of the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families.(Photo: William Petroski/Des Moines Register)Buy Photo

Underemployment of minority Iowanswill be targeted by a special initiative of the State Workforce Development Board, Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announcedMonday.

The board is establishing a subcommittee with a goal of reducing minority joblessness by at least 5 percent within the next five years, or bringing the minority unemployment rate to a position that matches the state average for unemployment,Branstad said.

Iowa's statewide unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in December. But,according to the latest Census information,African-Americans had an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent, Native Americans had a rate of 11 percent, Asian-Americans had a rate of 5.3 percent (other Pacific Islanders had a rate of 13.6 percent) and Hispanic Americans had a rate of 8.1 percent. The statewide average in the Census data was 3.9 percent.

It is unacceptable that we have such a huge disparity between our average unemployment rate and the rates in our minority communities," Branstad said. "We must be focused in our efforts to address this issue, and the minority outreach subcommittee is the first step."

Marvin DeJear, director of the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families in Des Moines,said minorities are the fastest-growing segment of Iowa's population. He believesthe state can't wait to address the unemployment disparities between minorities and the rest of the state's working population.

"We have to be more intentional about their success," DeJear said.

Four counties have been identified as pilot communities:Polk, Dubuque, Black Hawk and Pottawattamie. These counties were selected based on having high concentrations of minority residents and unemployment rates, state officials said.

Listening tours will be held in the spring, which will provide opportunities for members and leaders of the communities to gather a broad perspective and identify connections and influences within communities, state officials said.A strategic plan will then be developed.The subcommittee will be chaired by State Workforce Board member Andy Roberts, who is business manager for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 33.

The push for the initiative came from former state Rep. Wayne Ford, a Democrat who represented an inner-city legislative district in Des Moines.Branstad and Reynolds announced the plansat anews conference in Des Moines at the Evelyn K. Davis Center, which helps individuals achieve career goals.Thecenter is a partnership between theCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines,United Way of Central IowaandDes Moines Area Community College (DMACC).

Reynolds said the subcommittee's work will be aligned with the goals of the state'sFuture Ready Iowa Alliance, which seeks to have 70 percent of Iowa's workforce obtainingeducation or training beyond high school by the year 2025. She is co-chair of the alliance and said Iowahas a tremendous opportunity to close the skills gap inminority communities, while helping Iowa families find stable, good-paying jobs.

Iowa offers programs that are working," Reynolds said. "We need to do a better job of matching those programs and job opportunities to Iowans who are eligible to take advantage of them."

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Disparities in minority unemployment targeted by Iowa officials - DesMoinesRegister.com

A late-night e-mail from a Denver mosques leaders to a federal homeland security agent about a visitor who appeared to be radicalized was the result ofyears of work to establish trust between law enforcement and Colorados Muslim community.

Now, some worrythe relationship that has been forged through community meetings, worship services and meals could be eroded by President Donald Trumps actions toward Muslim countries and his vows to fight radical Islamic terrorists.

Nadeen Ibrahim, a 22-year-old activist in Denvers Muslim community, said she appreciatesthe intentional, sustained efforts that federal authorities have made to establish the relationship. But she is concerned about the future.

Muslims fearTrumpsnomination of Jeff Sessions, a conservative Alabama senator, to be U.S. attorney general, Ibrahim said.

A recent travel restriction on refugees and others coming to the United States from seven Muslim-majority nations furtherraised their concerns. And reports from Reuters and other news agencies that the U.S. governments Countering Violent Extremism program might be changed so that its sole focus is Islamic extremism has upped the alarm even more, Ibrahim said.

Its going to be a little more challenging now with the rhetoric that Trump has been promoting, Ibrahim said. Theyre specifically setting a target on the Muslim community.

Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer declined to discuss the connection that led mosque leaders to report odd behavior exhibited by Joshua Cummings, the man whois charged with first-degree murder in the Tuesday night shooting death of Scott Von Lanken, an RTD security officer and charismatic Christian preacher. Cummings was an avowed Muslim who expressed radical thoughts during two visits to a Denver mosque and in social media postings.

During a Jan. 11interview with The Denver Posts editorial board, Troyer said he had faith that the partnerships would stay intact no matter who is approvedas U.S. attorney general.

The U.S. attorneys office in Colorado is staffed by career prosecutors, and the person who leads the office is granted prosecutorial discretion in deciding which cases to take to court and how to run the office, Troyer said.

For example, if the White House ordered its U.S. attorneys to prosecute all undocumented immigrants with a focus on deportation, then they would be forced to drop more cases involving drugs, fraud, weapons trafficking and other serious criminal violations, he said.

The serious effort to get to know people in the community started in 2011 under the directionof former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

I was skeptical when this all started, Troyer said. People were going to see this as soft. It was outside our core mission.

But his attitude changed.

Troyer is frequently seen at community meetings and worship services. The Colorado Muslim Society has posted pictures on its Facebook page of Troyer and his senior staff ata December service.

And since Trumps election, Troyers office has doubled efforts to be visible and talk to people who are afraid, including Muslims, Mexican immigrants and the LGBTQ community.

They have held meetings across the state because they have seen fear on the rise. In 2016, the officereceived 50 complaints about hate crimes and civil rights violations compared with 12 in 2015.

And since the election, federal authorities in Denver have conductedthree interventions with people becomingradicalized, Troyer said.

When communities are angry and fearful, they dont engage, Troyer said. Right now especially, the fear and anger is so deep. He hopes listening allows people to breathe and communicate.

The Denver Police Department also has made efforts to reach out to the community. During a Friday meeting of the citys Immigration and Refugee Commission, members specifically praised Commander Paul Pazen for his outreach in northwest Denver.

Jamie Torres, director of the Immigrant and Refugee Commission, said Denver police intend to maintain those relationships no matter what happens on the federal level.

What we said yesterday stands today, and it hasnt been compromised because of these events that are happening, Torres said.

The interaction can be delicate, though. For example, Denver police want to increase patrols around the citys mosques afteran attack Monday on a Canadian mosque. At the same time, police dont want to give the impression that theyre conducting surveillance, Torres said.

The fear of informants, moles and surveillance inside mosques is real, said Qusair Mohamedbhai, a Denver civil rights attorney who serves as general counsel to the oldestmosque in the state. It happened across the country after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he said.

Mohamedbhai said the relationship between federal authorities and Islamic leaders has paid off twice in Denver.

The first time camewhen the Aurora father of two teenage girls of Somali-descent trusted the FBI to intercept his daughters as they traveled to Syria. The girls were brought home and never charged with a crime.

That was a good result, Mohamedbhai said.

The second came in December when mosque leaders sent the e-mail saying a man who had attended an open house and a lunch appeared pretty advanced in his path to radicalization.

Authorities acted on the tip, although they were unable to prevent Cummings alleged fatal attack on a security guard.

But theres a chance that good will could evaporate, especially among Muslims who are not U.S. citizens, Mohamedbhai said. Those who hold green cards, visas or refugee status may be driven underground by Trumps actions.

Its just not good policy, he said. It doesnt work. A lot of good work is going to be lost.

Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations, said reporting shouldgo both ways. He wishes someone would have reported the white man accused of opening fire in a Canadian mosque last week and killing six worshipers.

But he hopes Muslims in American keep doing their part.

We hope that kind of reporting would continue, Hooper said. But it makes it more difficult when youre under siege by the very government you need to report to.

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As Trump's policies stoke fears, Denver's Muslim community worries about eroding trust in law enforcement - The Denver Post

Gab Axler is originally from Chicago. He moved to Beer Sheva 6 years ago to help found a pluralistic intentional community called Beerot. Beerot has40 family members, meets every Shabbat and holiday, and is involved in the local school and other projects. Professionally, Gabe runs a social enterprise called Pnima in the field of educational tourism, connecting groups from Israel and abroad to the work being done by intentional communities across Israel.

Eden Banarie is Moishe Houses Senior Regional Director: West, overseeing the houses in the Northwestern, Southwestern, and Southern regions. Eden is an alumna of Moishe House LA West Hollywood, and a member of the first cohort of the Moishe House Ignite Fellowship. Eden previously worked as the Youth Engagement Coordinator at Jewish World Watch, working with student activists to end genocide and mass atrocities. She received her BA in Business and MBA in Nonprofit Management from American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Eden can often be found attending Jewish community events throughout southern California, searching for the perfect breakfast burrito, or checking out cool new spots in the wonderful city of Los Angeles.

Rabbi Deborah Bravo is the spiritual leader and founder of Makom NY: A New Kind of Jewish Community, seeking to reach the unaffiliated and unengaged Jew in suburban Long Island. Prior to creating Makom NY, Rabbi Bravo served synagogues in Syosset, NY, Edison, NJ, Short Hills, NJ and in Washington DC. Ordained from HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1998, Rabbi Bravo also holds a Master in Education from Xavier University. She is in the current Rabbis Without Borders Cohort, and a member of the Hakhel 2nd Incubator Cohort. She and her husband David now reside in Woodbury, NY with their two children, Samuel, 13, and Sophie, 10.

Cheryl Cookjoined Avodah as the Executive Director at the beginning of 2015 and has over twenty five years of leadership experience as a manager, fundraiser, and program planner in the Jewish community. Shes worked across the innovative sector of the Jewish community at Hazon, Makor, New Israel Fund, JESNA, Hillel, and the 92nd Street Y and is proud to lead Avodahs work shaping Jewish leaders to be social changemakers. Cheryl is passionate about creating a vibrant Jewish community that opens doors, engages people from across all backgrounds and plays a significant role in making the world a more just and caring place for everyone. Aside from her professional work, Cheryl serves on the board of PS/MS 282 PTO. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two sons within an incredible village of family and friends.

Zev Chana is the Adamah Apprentice and Barnyard Manager at Isabella Freedman. Zev is from Albany, NY. Zev arrived as an Adamahnik in the fall of 2014, and fell in love with the work, the community and the seasons at Adamah. Zev loves dirt, the woods, the goats, renewed Jewish ritual and text study, and harvesting their meals.

David Cygielmanis the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Moishe House. He has been a non-profit innovator since high school when he started Feed the Need, a nationally recognized homeless feeding organization. While attending the University of California at Santa Barbara, David served as the Hillel Student President and later the Executive Director of the Forest Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to helping college and high school students develop leadership qualities while following their passions. In 2006, he helped establish Moishe House and became the organizations first CEO. Through his work in the Jewish community, David has garnered many honors including the Avi Chai Fellowship, the JCSA Young Leadership Award, and the Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence. In 2013, David was the recipient of UCSB Hillels inaugural Alumni Achievement Award. David graduated with honors from UCSB with a BA in Business Economics. When hes out of the office, David enjoys playing basketball, spending time with friends, and traveling to destinations with no dress code. David currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Myka and their dog Binx.

Chelsea Elena is a Teva Educator. During the year, she is an urban farmer and prolific knitter in the great city of Philadelphia. As of now, she isexcited to get back into the forest and make nature her home. She enjoys dystopian fiction, historical fiction and fantasy. Nothing excites her like the idea of a road trip. She recently got a bike for the first time since her childhood and has greatly enjoyed all the padded short options and urban explorations it has opened up for her.

Elizabeth (Liz) Fisheris the Chief Operating Officer at Repair the World, where she is responsible for overseeing all of the organizations development, communications, finance, operations, and human resources. Prior to Repair the World, Liz was Managing Director at NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation, where she led the organization in strategy, operations, and talent management. Liz began her career in grassroots community development in rural Missouri. She moved into working in the Jewish community with roles at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, UJA-Federation of New York, and The Jewish Education Project. Lizs passion is the role of people in organizational life. She loves working with partners, lay leaders, and professional staff. Liz has a Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in St. Louis with a focus in community development and management and is a Schusterman Fellow. She is a fan of Brooklyn (where she lives with her husband and two children), an amateur runner and bread baker, and an avid reader of periodicals.

Avi Garelick is the director of the Ivry Prozdor Hebrew High School at JTS, and the founder of a communal school in Washington Heights. He has been leading davening for his entire adult life, in communities in Berkeley, Chicago, and New York, and is a proud alumnus of the Yeshivat Hadar education fellowship. He is excited to learn more about peoples efforts to establish communal norms for conflict management.

Sarah Garfinkelis a Repair the World NYC Fellow.Sarah worked as a writing tutor at the UC Davis Student Academic Success Center. She graduated from UC Davis with a major in Spanish and minors in Human development, English, and Education. She has worked as a camp counselor in Germany and Hawaii. Her experiences working with second language learners, children with disabilities, and underrepresented and first generation college students have motivated her to serve as a fellow. She also volunteers as a Special Olympics swim coach.

Eliana Roberts Golding is a tenant organizer and community advocate based in Washington DC, where she was an Avodah Corps Member in 2013-2014. She spends her time organizing tenant associations and working to fight gentrification and displacement. She primarily identifies as a community organizer, friend, and relentless justice-seeker with a healthy sense of humor. Eliana lives in a co-op in Northwest DC, where she and her housemates build community around activism, potlucks, goofiness, and dancing. When not fighting the good fight, Eliana can be found singing, doing ceramics, or riding her bike in Rock Creek Park.

James Grant-Rosenhead is a founding member of Kibbutz Mishol, the biggest urban kibbutz in Israel. James was born in Leeds, England, in 1974. He became active as a Jewish Labor Zionist youth leader with Habonim Dror (HDUK) in 1990 after his first visit to Israel. From 1992-3, James spent a year of leadership training on kibbutz in Israel, then returned and directed local branches of the youth movement around London until 1996. He completed his LL.B Hons Law degree in 1996, then served as HDUKs national secretary until 1998. Concerned for the future of the Jewish world and Israel, and inspired by the first urban kibbutzim, James made aliyah to Jerusalem in 1999 with Kvutzat Yovel, the first Anglo olim to build a thriving urban kibbutz. From 1999-2010 James led a worldwide transformation and renewal of Habonim Dror programs, education and ideology from their traditional kibbutz bases to social activist urban kvutzot. The result is a new adult movement of urban cooperative kvutzot including olim from around the world. Since 2010, James joined the leadership of Tikkun, building new native sabra activist kibbutzim in the socio-economic and geographic peripheries, and became a founder of M.A.K.O.M. the National Council of Mission Driven Communities in Israel. James currently lives in NYC whilst serving as the Habonim Dror North America central shaliach, as a mentor for Hazons Hakhel and for Hillels Ezra Fellowship. James is married with three children.

Morriah Kaplan is a member of GariNYC, a two-year-old Jewish intentional community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. She is a program manager at the NYC Department of Small Business Services, where she manages a business education program for women and minority business owners, as well as entrepreneurs in the creative industry. An alumna of Habonim Dror, the progressive Labor Zionist youth movement, she also volunteers as a trainer with the anti-occupation Jewish activist group, IfNotNow. Previously, Morriah graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2014, and completed the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs in 2015. She enjoys spending time with her found family in Crown Heights, and thinking about how to build better communities and social movements.

Rebecca Katz recentlyjoined Repair the World as their new Education and Training Manager.After six years away,Rebecca is excited to be back home in Brooklyn. Prior to Repair,Rebecca spent two years as the Director of Social Justice Initiatives at Texas Hillel in Austin, Texas, engaging UT students in different modes of social justice through a Jewish lens. However, before the heat of Austin, she learned to organize in the bitterly cold city of Chicago. Rebeccalead the Or Tzedekprogramat the Jewish Council in Urban Affairs,teaching Jewish teens to create systemic change in partnership with directly impacted communities.

Aharon Ariel Laviis the founder of Garin Shuva, a mission-driven community bordering Gaza, and co-founder of the Nettiot Network which re-engages baalei teshuva into Israeli society. Additionally he is co-founder of MAKOM (The National Council of Mission-Driven Communities) and is a consultant to Hazons Jewish Intentional Communities Initiative. In 2013-14 Aharon was a Tikvah Fund fellow in New York. He lives with his wife Liat and their four children in Shuva.

William Levin is the founder of ACRe (Alliance Colony Reboot). He was born and raised on the farm in Vineland, NJ, where his family have lived since founding Alliance Colony in 1892. Levin, a.k.a. the Jewish Robot, is the creator of Shabot 6000 and other educational content for Jewish organizations, and was a writer for the 2010 Shalom Sesame series. Known for his edgy and innovative work and his ability to create synergies in the Jewish community, Levin is now returning to his roots by creating ACRe.

Malya Levin, wife and partner to William, is a lawyer admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars. Malya is the Staff Attorney at the Weinberg Center for Elder Abuse Prevention at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, the nations first emergency elder abuse shelter. In that capacity, she works to address the legal needs of older adults experiencing acute abuse, and writes and speaks extensively on the legal aspects of elder abuse prevention and intervention. This year, she has been working with William to birth and grow two new family additions, ACRe and one year old Sammy Lulav.

Elan Margulies, Director of Teva at Hazon, aims to inspire joy and reverence for the natural world by introducing students to earth-based Jewish traditions and the wonders right outside their door. He has taught ecology at Eden Village Camp, the Student Conservation Association and the Cornell University Naturalist Outreach Program, led hikes in Israel, volunteered in the Kalahari Desert, worked for the US National Park Service, and directed a Jewish educational farm outside Chicago where he learned that the best way to catch a goat is to run away from it.Before returning to Teva he pursued graduate studies in forest ecology at University of Michigan and The Hebrew University.In his free time, he enjoys finding wild edibles, brewing ginger beer and working with wood and metal.

Mira Menyuk studied at the New England school of Photography in Boston before getting bitten by the farming bug. She was an Urban Adamah fellow in the spring of 2013 before returning to her home state of Maryland to work at the Pearlstone Center, where she is entering her fourth year of involvement. Her work at the Pearlstone center has included full-year farming, volunteer coordination, kitchen work and currently running programs for kids and adults on the farm and in the fields and forest.Her passions include being outdoors in all weather, hiking, singing, andreading.

Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer is part of the rabbinic team atRomemu. Shewas ordained June 2014 by Hebrew College Rabbinical School. She strives to build community through prayerful music, and music through prayerful community.During her rabbinic training she developed family programming for Temple Beth Zion in Brookline, MA, interned for a Masorti community in Tel Aviv, and directed leadership programs for the non-profit organization Encounter, in Jerusalem. Jessica has performed as a vocalist with Hankus Netsky, Frank London, and Yuval Ron, and studied and performed sacred Jewish music with rabbis and paytanim while living in Jerusalem. After graduating from Wellesley College with a degree in MiddleEasternStudies, Jessica pursued graduate theater training in London, and appeared in many film, theater, and television projects in Europe and the United States: most notably, as a principal role in Roman Polanskis The Pianist.

Rabbi Avram Mlotek is a co-founder of Base, a home-based model for Jewish outreach that focuses on hospitality, learning and service.The Forwardrecently listed him as one of Americas Most Inspiring Rabbis and in 2012, he was recognized by TheJewish Weekas one of the leading innovators in Jewish life today as part of their 36 Under 36 Section. Mlotek served as a rabbi in training at The Carlebach Shul, The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, The Educational Alliance and Hunter College Hillel. Hiswritings have appeared inThe Forward,Tablet, Haaretz,The Jerusalem Post,The Jewish Week, andThe Huffington Post. A native Yiddish speaker, Avram is the grandson of noted Yiddish song collectorsand Holocaust refugees. He is married to Yael Kornfeld and proud Tati to Revaya and Hillel Yosl.

Craig Oshkello, MLA, founding member and current resident of Living Tree Alliance has spent nearly two decades advocating alternative models of land ownership as a means for revitalizing our shared connections to the living landscape. Craig has presented at the JICC each of the past three years and joined first Hakhel trip to Israel in the spring of 2015. He lived with his family in a farm centered community for 13 years before moving to the house he is building at LTA this fall.

Sasha Raskin-Yin has been the New York Program Director at Avodah since 2015. She supports the development of Jewish leaders through Avodahs combination of Jewish and social justice learning, communal living, and direct service work at anti-poverty non-profits. Helping young people connect their Judaism to social justice work has long been Sashas dream, which she arrived at by way of organizing, community-building, and study. She has organized with Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and for LGBTQ causes, worked in college access at Goddard Riverside Community Center, and studied white Jewish immigration, assimilation, and settler colonialism in the US at the New School for Social Research. Sashas self-care practices include walking around NYC, drinking tea, and defending the often-maligned regions of New Jersey and Queens.

Kate Re, Associate Director of Teva, works with the team as they bring transformative Jewish nature experiences to early childhood through adult participants. She holds a BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and has a professional background in Jewish environmental teaching and management. She is a passionate advocate for all things natural, sustainable, and community oriented.

Nigel Savage, originally from Manchester, England, founded Hazon in 2000, with a Cross-USA Jewish Environmental Bike Ride. Since then, Hazon has grown the range and impact of its work in each successive year; today it has more than 60 staff, based in New York City, at Hazons Isabella Freedman campus, and in other locations across the country. Hazon plays a unique role in renewing American Jewish life and creating a healthier and more sustainable world for all.

Hazon is one of a tiny handful of groups to have been in the Slingshot 50 every year since inception, and in 2008, Hazon was recognized by the Sierra Club as one of 50 leading faith-based environmental organizations.

Nigel has spoken, taught, or written for a wide and significant range of audiences. (A selection of his essays are at hazon.org/nigel). He has twice been named a member of the Forward 50, the annual list of the 50 most influential Jewish people in the United States, and is a recipient of the Bernard Reisman Award. He has given Commencement speeches at Wagner (NYU, in 2011) and at Hornstein (Brandeis, in 2014). In 2015 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Before founding Hazon, Nigel was a professional fund manager in London, where he worked for NM Rothschild and was co-head of UK Equities at Govett. He has an MA in History from Georgetown, and has learned at Pardes, Yakar, and the Hebrew University. He was a founder of Limmud NY, and serves on the board of Romemu.

Nigel executive produced the British independent movies Solitaire For 2 and Stiff Upper Lips and had an acclaimed cameo appearance in the cult Anglo-Jewish comic movie, Leon The Pig Farmer. He is believed to be the first English Jew to have cycled across South Dakota on a recumbent bike.

Shamu Fenyvesi Sadeh is the co-founder and director of Adamah. He teaches Judaism and ecology, turns the compost piles, maintains the orchards, and supervises and mentors staff and Adamah Fellows. His wife Jaimie and kids Yonah, Ibby and Lev keep the bees, help harvest and pickle, and DJ staff dance parties.

Janna Siller leads the Adamah crew in growing organic vegetables for CSA distribution, value-added production, Isabella Freedman food service, and donations, while maintaining the fields as resonant learning space for fellows and visitors. She teaches classes on practical farming and gardening skills as well as classes that explore the big picture systems, policies and issues that shape what we eat and how it is grown. Janna lives in Falls Village with her family- Arthur, Tzuf, and the cats.

Roger Studley is founder of Urban Moshav, a nonprofit development partner for Jewish cohousing, and convener of the Berkeley Moshav effort to create Jewish cohousing in Berkeley, CA. He and these projects were selected for the inaugural cohort of the Hahkel incubator of Jewish Intentional communities, on whose steering committee he now serves. He has been an organizer of previous JIC Conferences as well as multiple independent minyanim (including San Franciscos pluralist Mission Minyan) and co-chaired a Hazon Food Conference. Roger is married to Rabbi Chai Levy of Congregation Kol Shofar and looks forward to moving into Berkeley Moshav with his family in the next few years.

Yasaf Warshai was born in Ann Arbor Michigan, and started attending Habonim Dror Camp Tavor in 2002. It was there that he fell in love with the idea of Jewish Intentional Community over the next fifteen summers of being a counselor, camper, and director. Yasaf graduated from Michigan State University in 2016 with a degree in Arts & Humanities and Religious Studies. Now as the Mazkir Klali (National Director) of Habonim Dror North America, he works in the central office in Brooklyn to bring those same values of Jewish Intentionality and Social Justice to the next generation of Jewish leaders.

Michal Wetzler is from Kibbutz Kfar hachoresh in Israel. In the IDF she was a combat engineer instructor. She has a B.ed in informal education, majoring in the history and nature of Israel. She owns a small tour guide business and has vast experience leading a wide range of groups, indoor and outdoor. She also ran a community forest project in her Kibbutz back home, to connect between the members of the community, and between the community to the forest and nature around.Now she is a Shlicha (emissary of the Jewish agency) in Pearlstone center.In her spare time she loves to hike, travel, dance and scuba-dive.

Casey Baruch Yurow currently serves as Program Director at the Pearlstone Center in Reisterstown, MD. Casey has held leadership roles in the field of Jewish outdoor, food, and environmental education for over ten years with the Teva Learning Center, Urban Adamah, Wilderness Torah, and Eden Village Camp. Casey believes deeply in the power of nature connection and hands-on learning to revitalize healthy human culture and community. He earned a B.Sc in Environmental Science from the University of Maryland and spent two years studying in yeshiva in Israel. When not at work, Casey can be found building mandolins, hiking, gardening, cooking, and inviting friends over for spirited, song-filled Shabbat meals. Casey lives with his wife Rivka outside of Baltimore and he looks forward to co-creating a new Moshav on the Pearlstone Center campus, speedily in our days.

Kesher (Rayenbo) Zabell- Spears is an alum of Moishe House Cleveland, cos* first experience of intentional community living, which gave Kesher the desire to delve deeper into sharing day-to-day life with like-minded individuals. Since living in MHCle, Rayenbo has been living in ICs, including seven communities of the Federation of Egalitarian Communities (FEC). Kesher has worked extensively with the FEC and through this work with the FEC as the Rainbow Intern, co excitedly participated in 2014s JICC. Co is a frequent MH retreat participant and a consistent Moishe House Without Walls host. As a currently wandering communard, Rayenbo sees this conference as an opportunity to network and discover potentially future homes.*Co: Gender neutral pronoun. Co/co/cos. derived from words such as: community member, communard, co-creator, comrade and communitarian.

Please check back for this growing list of educators and session leaders.

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Jewish Intentional Communities Conference - Hazon

Cohousing[1] is an intentional community of private homes clustered around shared space. Each attached or single family home has traditional amenities, including a private kitchen. Shared spaces typically feature a common house, which may include a large kitchen and dining area, laundry, and recreational spaces. Shared outdoor space may include parking, walkways, open space, and gardens. Neighbors also share resources like tools and lawnmowers.

Households have independent incomes and private lives, but neighbors collaboratively plan and manage community activities and shared spaces. The legal structure is typically an HOA, Condo Association, or Housing Cooperative. Community activities feature regularly-scheduled shared meals, meetings, and workdays. Neighbors gather for parties, games, movies, or other events. Cohousing makes it easy to form clubs, organize child and elder care, and carpool.

Cohousing facilitates interaction among neighbors for social and practical benefits, economic and environmental benefits.[2][3]

Neighbors commit to being part of a community for everyones mutual benefit. Cohousing cultivates a culture of sharing and caring. Design features and neighborhood size (typically 20-40 homes) promote frequent interaction and close relationships.

Cohousing neighborhoods are designed for privacy as well as community. Residents balance privacy and community by choosing their own level of engagement.

Decision making is participatory and often based on consensus. Self-management empowers residents, builds community, and saves money.

Cohousing communities support residents in actualizing shared values. Cohousing communities typically adopt green approaches to living.

The modern theory of cohousing originated in Denmark in the 1960s among groups of families who were dissatisfied with existing housing and communities that they felt did not meet their needs. Bodil Graae wrote a newspaper article titled "Children Should Have One Hundred Parents,"[4] spurring a group of 50 families to organize around a community project in 1967. This group developed the cohousing project Sttedammen, which is the oldest known modern cohousing community in the world. Another key organizer was Jan Gudmand Hyer who drew inspiration from his architectural studies at Harvard and interaction with experimental U.S. communities of the era. He published the article "The Missing Link between Utopia and the Dated Single Family House" [5] in 1968, converging a second group.

The Danish term bofllesskab (living community) was introduced to North America as cohousing by two American architects, Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett, who visited several cohousing communities and wrote a book about it.[2] The book resonated with some existing and forming communities, such as Sharingwood in Washington state and N Street in California, who embraced the cohousing concept as a crystallization of what they were already about. Though most cohousing groups seek to develop multi-generational communities, some focus on creating senior communities. Charles Durrett later wrote a handbook on creating senior cohousing.[3] The first community in the United States to be designed, constructed and occupied specifically for cohousing is Muir Commons in Davis, California.[6][7]Architects, Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durrett were responsible for the programming and the design of the site plan, common house and private houses.

There are precedents for cohousing in the 1920s in New York with the cooperative apartment housing with shared facilities and good social interaction. The Siheyuan, or quadrangle design of housing in China has a shared courtyard and is thus similar in some respects to cohousing.

Cohousing communities are part of the new cooperative economy in the United States and are predicted to expand rapidly in the next few decades as individuals and families seek to live more sustainably, and in community with neighbors. Since the first cohousing community was completed in the U.S. Muir Commons in Davis, California, now celebrating 25 years more than 160 communities have been established in 25 states plus the District of Columbia, with more than 125 in process. For a listing of cohousing communities visit http://www.cohousing.org/directory. Most cohousing communities are intergenerational with both children and elders; in recent years, senior cohousing focused on older adult needs have grown. These communities come in a variety, but are often environment friendly and socially sustainable.

Hundreds of cohousing communities exist in Denmark and other countries in northern Europe. In Canada, there are 11 completed communities, and approximately 19 in the forming or development phase (see [1]). There are more than 300 cohousing communities in the Netherlands (73 mixed-generation and 231 senior cohousing), with about 60 others in planning or construction phases. [8] There are also communities in Australia (see Cohousing Australia), the United Kingdom (see UK Cohousing Network http://www.cohousing.org.uk for information, Threshold Centre Cohousing Community http://www.thresholdcentre.org.uk/ offers training), and other parts of the world.

Cohousing started to develop in the UK at the end of the 1990s. The movement has gradually built up momentum and there are now 14 purpose built cohousing communities. A further 40+ cohousing groups are developing projects and new groups are forming all the time. Cohousing communities in the UK range from around 8 households to around 30 households. Most communities are mixed communities with single people, couples and families but some are only for people over 50 and one is only for women over 50 years. The communities themselves range from new developments built to modern eco standards to conversions of everything from farms to Jacobean mansions to former hospital buildings and are in urban, rural and semi- rural locations.

Because each cohousing community is planned in its context, a key feature of this model is its flexibility to the needs and values of its residents and the characteristics of the site. Cohousing can be urban, suburban or rural. The physical form is typically compact but varies from low-rise apartments to townhouses to clustered detached houses. They tend to keep cars to the periphery which promotes walking through the community and interacting with neighbors as well as increasing safety for children at play within the community. Shared green space is another characteristic, whether for gardening, play, or places to gather. When more land is available than is needed for the physical structures, the structures are usually clustered closely together, leaving as much of the land as possible "open" for shared use. This aspect of cohousing directly addresses the growing problem of suburban sprawl.

In addition to "from-scratch" new-built communities (including those physically retrofitting/re-using existing structures), there are also "retrofit" (aka "organic") communities in which neighbors create "intentional neighborhoods" by buying adjacent properties and removing fences. Often, they create common amenities such as Common Houses after the fact, while living there. N Street Cohousing in Davis, CA, is the canonical example of this type; it came together before the term Cohousing was popularized here.

Cohousing differs from some types of intentional communities in that the residents do not have a shared economy or a common set of beliefs or religion, but instead invest in creating a socially rich and interconnected community. A non-hierarchical structure employing a consensus decision-making model is common in managing cohousing. Individuals do take on leadership roles, such as being responsible for coordinating a garden or facilitating a meeting.

Cohousing communities in the U.S. currently rely on one of two existing legal forms of real estate ownership: individually titled houses with common areas owned by a homeowner association(condominium)s or a housing cooperative. Condo ownership is most common because it fits financial institutions' and cities' models for multi-unit owner-occupied housing development. U.S. banks lend more readily on single-family homes and condominiums than housing cooperatives. Charles Durrett points out that rental cohousing is a very likely future model, as it has already is being practiced in Europe.

Cohousing differs from standard condominium development and master-planned subdivisions because the development is designed by, or with considerable input from, its future residents. The design process invariably emphasizes consciously fostering social relationships among its residents. Common facilities are based on the actual needs of the residents, rather than on what a developer thinks will help sell units. Turnover in cohousing developments is typically very low, and there is usually a waiting list for units to become available.

In Europe the term "joint building ventures" has been coined to define the form of ownership and housing characterized as cohousing. According to the European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN): "Joint building ventures are a legal federation of persons willing to build who want to create owner-occupied housing and to participate actively in planning and building."[9]

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Cohousing - Wikipedia

Intentional Communities/Co-housing

Some people consider an intentional/co-housing neighborhood a return to the best of small-town America.

Futurists suggest that intentional communities and co-housing options are a response to the 21st century's social, economic, and environmental challenges.

We say it's an ideal balance of privacy and community a safe, sustainable, and rewarding way to live! Imagine a neighborhood where...

We value acceptance, inclusion, and self-determination. We believe everyone deserves to be a life-long contributing member of a diverse community, and to have the opportunity to develop life-long, meaningful relationships. We know that all members of our community have something to learn from one another, and that everyone should have "a voice at the table". We enjoy life sharing!

Our community is developing into an old-fashioned neighborhood, created with strong values, and a little ingenuity. It brings together the value of private homes with the benefits of safety, community support, and more sustainable living. This means:

Co-housing first emerged in Denmark more than thirty years ago, and the first co-housing in the United States was completed in 1991. In 2010, there were over 100 well-established co-housing neighborhoods in the United States, and approximately 100 more in development. Most of these are neighborhoods with a specific intention, and most are intergenerational.

The Brooklyn Street Neighborhood Alliance is unique in that it combines the vision and mission of a cohousing community and also welcomes and supports diversity, including people with special needs and their families and friends. It is also unusual in that it is a retrofit of an old and established neighborhood, rather than a new development - and it is reflective of our commitment to the revitalization of North Adams. We want to be part of a thriving, sustainable community we know it can happen, one neighborhood at a time!

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Brooklyn Street | Neighborhood Alliance