Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Central Coast resources and organizations

Updated: 10:53 AM PDT May 3, 2022

For the month of May, KSBW 8 is highlighting the struggles teenagers deal with when it comes to their mental health and the communities organizations lending a helping hand. Below is a list of resources for people, or their families, struggling with mental health on the Central Coast. Monterey County24/7 Behavioral Health Crisis Team: 888-258-6029 Mobile Response Team Children and Youth 21 and under: 831-687-4379Suicide Prevention Hotline: 877-663-5433Crisis Text support 24/7: Text HOME to 741-741National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1 (800) 779-SAFE (7233)Local Domestic Violence Crisis Line (bilingual) 831-372-6300The Trevor Project Lifeline - Help for LGBTQ+ youth 24/7: (866) 488-7386 or Text START to 678-678Veterans Crisis Line: (800) 273-8255 (TALK), press 1 for VeteransBoys Town National Hotline: (800) 448-3000 or Text VOICE to 20121Monterey County Rape Crisis: (24/7) Call 831-424-4357 or 375-4357Santa Cruz CountyMobile Emergency Response Team for Youth (MERTY): South County residents 21 and younger with mental health needs can call a hotline and county-employed bilingual licensed clinicians and a family support partner will respond in a van. The team also provides services outside schools, after-school programs and faith-based organizations. Call 1-800-952-2335.A helpline at 831-427-8020 provides referrals, guidelines for calling 911 and a clearinghouse for other mental health services in Santa Cruz County. The Spanish language helpline is 831-205-7074.Mental health services and urgent care are available 24 hours by calling 831-454-4170 or 800-952-2335.Mental Health Client Action Network (MHCAN): Peer support workers are trained in Intentional Peer Support, an evidence-based method of communication that maximizes self-agency for people with serious diagnoses like schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, PTSD, anxiety disorder & others. Call the peer line at 831-469-0479 or visit 1051 Cayuga St, Santa Cruz. San Benito CountySan Benito County Behavioral Health Department San Benito County Behavioral Health provides specialty mental health services, including substance abuse for residents of San Benito County. Also, serves Medi-Cal recipients.Family Service Agency of the Central Coast Serving the Tri-County, Family Service Agency of the Central Coast provides the resources, support, and counseling services essential to healthy families and communities.National Crisis Text Line: 741741Emmaus House/San Benito County Domestic Violence Shelter for Women and Children * 24 Hour Hotline: 1-877-778-7978

For the month of May, KSBW 8 is highlighting the struggles teenagers deal with when it comes to their mental health and the communities organizations lending a helping hand.

Below is a list of resources for people, or their families, struggling with mental health on the Central Coast.

Link:

Central Coast mental health resources and organizations - KSBW Monterey

The internet has become an integral source of LGBTQ+ education for young individuals as well as a vital gateway to connection between people needing these communities in the first place. But online abuse is rising, especially amid the wave of legislation to limit classroom instruction of LGBTQ+ issues. Prominently, and historically, the bigoted slurs thrown at queer people and their allies accuse them of being paedophiles who are perpetuating their homosexual agenda by grooming children.

Such a clearly unsubstantiated, homophobic and transphobic statement has yet to dissipate, actually growing in use just this yeara terrifying and worrying emblem of an increasingly dangerous society for LGBTQ+ people everywhere. The term groomer is now the latest anti-queer slur being used among the right-wing crowd but what exactly is grooming, and how are culture wars snowballing within LGBTQ+ communities?

What is a groomer?

The term grooming, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children defines, is when someone builds a relationship, trust, and emotional connection with a child or young person so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them. Though it typically, and correctly, has been used to describe how sex offenders initiate contact with their victims, it has since become a weaponised buzzword used to target trans kids.

The violent verbal onslaught attacking queer youth was in part ignited by the Dont Say Gay bill, whereby teachers have since been forbidden to give sexual orientation and gender identity lessons to children under the age of nine in Florida. The legislation received immense national (and international) backlash from critics who argued that it undoubtedly contributes to the marginalisation of LGBTQ+ people in the state.

Since then, the culture war has only amplified, with continuing efforts from the right to spark stereotyped and baseless claims that LGBTQ+ people are sympathetic with, or even endorsing, child predators. Though such accusations are hardly new in the US, its getting much, much worse.

According to NBC News, data from the social media platform Reddit that was analysed by an assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University in New York, Jeremy Blackburn (who studies extremism), showed that there has been a 100 per cent increase since the beginning of 2022 in the discussion of grooming. Blackburn told the publication that the majority of subreddits that are adopting the rhetoric have a pretty long history of content moderation concerns and are definitely not what I would consider LGBTQ friendly. While it is not exactly surprising to me that this rhetoric has been adopted, I am somewhat surprised the rhetoric was so quickly adopted.

The groomer rhetoric is causing real harm among LGBTQ+ youth, becoming increasingly difficult for teens to avoid. Though there are arguments to be had about the positive functions of the internet for the queer community to utilise: to learn, connect and socialiseit is most definitely a double-edged sword.

A 2021 survey which gathered data from LGBTQ+ youth, conducted by The Trevor Project, revealed that 42 per cent of respondents had been bullied electronically, both online and even via text message. That being said, 62 per cent also reported having access to online spaces helped the affirmation of their sexual orientations and gender identities or expressions.

How is groomer being used nowadays?

Conservatives online have run with the term to malign the LGBTQ+ community as much as possible as highlighted by 17-year-old Will Larkins who told NBC News that he receives the comment OK, groomer on a daily basis. The sentence is a play on the phrase OK, boomer which gained popularity on TikTok in late 2020 to disparage middle-aged people. Larkins stated, Thats the number one thing I get, I could post about anything and theyd be like OK, groomer.

Other LGBTQ+ teens went on to explain to the US publication that groomer isnt the only word that they have been targeted with14-year-old M, a nonbinary eighth-grader who uses the pronouns they and them, revealed they suffer unprovoked and random homophobic attacks constantly. Maybe I just said a single word and theyll go Shut up, gay slur.

The rhetoric of LGBTQ+ grooming has long existed among fringe conspiracy theorists and extremists, but its quickly becoming a mainstream (read, right-wing) twisted response that is based on decades of moral panic equating homosexuality to paedophilia. Conservatives are even using the term to mean left-wing indoctrination in general, suggesting that educating children on certain political issues, like the struggle for gay and trans equality, is just as dangerous as grooming in the old senselike a paedophile would to its victims. Unbelievable.

As Vox reported, Thats not to say that organized child abuse and systems of trafficking dont exist, but trying to make a causative link between liberalism and paedophilia requires intentional reality distortion by the lawmakers and media voices making these claims. Continuing that grooming accusations arent concerned with making sense; theyre about stirring up fear, anger, and hysteriawhich is why they sound exactly like the kinds of fringe conspiracy theories that have been around for centuries. The new paedophile conspiracy rhetoric is essentially the same as all the old paedophile conspiracy rhetoric, but with an added layer of wrongness.

While it is impossibly easy for us in our safe, progressive echo chambers to believe that those of our gen Z age group are like-minded, it is, sadly, not the reality. On one side of the culture war, you have the OK, boomer groupcritical gen Zers aiming to challenge the ancient dinosaurs in our institutions, championing the downfall of capitalism and advocating for equality for all. On the other hand, you have the same youthful humour, only this time its baked in all the -isms you can possibly think ofthe OK, groomer group. Yet another epithet of the fringe, incel-like communities setting up more roadblocks on the road to progression.

How the term groomer got weaponised by the anti-LGBTQ community

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How the term 'groomer' got weaponised by the anti-LGBTQ community - Screen Shot

Newest Project to Cover 3,173-acres in Caldwell County

DALLAS, April 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RREAF Communities, a division of RREAF Holdings focused on acquiring, developing, and delivering highly-amenitized, large-scale master-planned communities, today announced the closing on a 3,173-acre mixed-use development between Austin and San Antonio in Caldwell County.

"RREAF Communities' master plan proposes a wide variety of land uses," said Kip Sowden, Chairman and CEO of RREAF Holdings. "Our current plans build on the exciting economic momentum in Texas. We have seen tremendous interest in commercial opportunities, and this property is ideally situated to become a commercial and industrial hub."

The community is anticipated to include thousands of residential homes, abundant retail, restaurants, hotels, offices, healthcare, and light industrial sites, as well as future school sites. The property is located at the intersection of State Highways 130 and 80, a 30-minute commute to Austin and 40-minute commute to San Antonio. Its location offers convenient access to two major Texas markets.

"Being within a reasonable commute to the exploding job markets of Austin and San Antonio, as well as the vibrant cities of San Marcos and Lockhart, puts us in perfect position to deliver much needed inventory to a market area that is significantly constrained on future housing," said Shannon Livingston, President of RREAF Communities. "Without new communities like this in the pipeline, area residents will continue to struggle to find and afford a place to live."

By providing single family lots along with build-to-rent, townhomes, and multifamily properties, RREAF Communities plans to meet the needs of a growing population of people coming to this area for decades to come. The development will offer a surplus of amenities including hiking and biking trails, outdoor event pavilions, athletic fields, and fitness centers for a live, work and play environment. This will be one of the most thoughtful and intentional communities in Central Texas.

For more information, please visit: http://www.rreaf.com.

About RREAF CommunitiesRREAF Communities, a division of RREAF Holdings, was established in 2020 to focus on acquiring and developing highly-amenitized, large-scale master-planned communities located in the path of growth within rapidly expanding markets. Its veteran team of real estate professionals seeks projects that offer substantial opportunity to deliver a variety of uses including residential, commercial, retail and mixed-use. RREAF Communities is currently developing projects in the Texas Triangle, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Houston and San Antonio with over 6,500 acres in these high growth markets. Learn more at http://www.RREAF.com.

About RREAF HoldingsRREAF Holdings LLC ("RREAF") is a privately held, vertically integrated commercial real estate company based inDallas, Texas with roots that go back 35 years in the industry. RREAF focuses its portfolio of commercial real estate projects and development under five main divisions catering primarily to middle America with its programmatic value-add multifamily acquisitions, opportunistic hospitality and resort acquisitions, core ground-up development, large and highly amenitized master planned developments and its ground-up extended stay hospitality development division.

RREAF employs over 375 people, mostly across the Sun Belt region, handling a wide range of commercial real estate investment matters, including in-house underwriting, due diligence, capital markets, acquisition, asset management, property management, construction management, project development, accounting and legal support. RREAF, along with its debt and equity partners, has built a diversified portfolio in its core competencies in excess of$3.5 billionin assets, across 14 states,under management.Winner of the 2021 Multifamily Operator of the Year Award and selected as anOptigo 2022 Select Sponsor, RREAF values the impact that it has on local communities.RREAF's mission is to enhance the lives of its investors, partners, residents and guests by providing outstanding service, excellence and expertise with integrity, vision, values and purpose. For more information, please visitRREAF.com.

SOURCE RREAF Communities

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RREAF Communities Announces Master Planned Community Between Austin and San Antonio - PR Newswire

In partnership with Golf Canada, RBC Community Junior Golf will support the implementationof theFirst Tee Canadaand Youth on Courseprogramsat municipal or publicly accessible golf courses, with the goal to engage 15 facilities in 2022.The courses were selected based on accessibility to local public transit as well as proximity to community centres, with an intentional focus on regional and diverse representation.

By 2023, RBC Community Junior Golf is expected to engagemore than 10,000 young people by deliveringfreeFirst Teeprogramming, which teaches life lessons through the game of golf,as well as $5Youth on Coursegreen fees to select Canadian courses across the country.

RBC Community Junior Golf Locations:

"As a long-standing supporter of golf and an advocate for youth, RBC is proud to bring RBC Community Junior Golf to life," said Shannon Cole, Vice-President, Brand Marketing, RBC. "We believe that sport has the power to build character, teach valuable life lessons, and provide opportunities for young people to grow, and we are excited to work with Golf Canada to provide First Tee and Youth on Course programming across the country."

Canadian youth ages five to 18 years can benefit from programming at one of the participating golf courses. RBC Community Junior Golf participating facilities will work with community centres or schools in their local area to register youth participants. For more details, visit the RBC Community Junior Golf website: https://www.golfcanada.ca/rbcjrgolf.

Golf Canada is grateful to have a like-minded partner in RBC with a shared intentional focus to increase access to junior golf, especially for youth from backgrounds that historically have been underserved.

"The enthusiasm from RBC to advance the sport and provide funding to introduce the game to a diverse range of young golfers at municipal and especially publicly accessible facilities has been extraordinary," said Kevin Blue, Chief Sport Officer, Golf Canada. "RBC Community Junior Golf will accelerate the delivery of First Tee programming across the country and with RBC's support, golf will be a vehicle to foster life skills and positively impact Canadian youth from all backgrounds."

PGA TOUR professional golfer and Team RBC ambassador Harold Varner III serves as an advisor for RBC Community Junior Golf and helped launch the initiative at Humber Valley Golf Course in Toronto a participating location last September. He was joined by youth from the Rexdale Boys and Girls Club, where he offered advice and guidance for reaching one's potential both on and off the course. Learn more about the launch event and Harold's and RBC's vision at RBC Stories.

"RBC Community Junior Golf will give many kids who don't currently have access, the opportunity to play golf and experience all of the benefits associated with the game," said Harold Varner III, Team RBC ambassador. "I've always been passionate about introducing young people to golf, and I'm excited to champion this initiative that will provide youth across Canada with an equal opportunity to play the sport I love."

One of the important ways RBC brings its Purpose of helping clients thrive and communities prosper to life is by empowering young people. RBC Future Launch is the bank's $500 million commitment to help Canadian youth prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, including $50 million in focused funding to create meaningful and transformative pathways to prosperity for 25,000 BIPOC youth by 2025. In addition, through the RBC Heritage and RBC Canadian Open tournaments, RBC has helped raise over $35 million in support of local charities in Canada and the United States.

About RBC

Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 88,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com.

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact.

About Golf Canada

Golf Canada is the National Sports Federation and governing body for golf in Canada, representing nearly 270,000 golfers and 1,400 member clubs across the country. A proud member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, Golf Canada's vision is to be a world leader in golf and achieving the mission to increase Canadian participation and excellence. For more information about what Golf Canada is doing to support golf in your community, visit http://www.golfcanada.ca.

SOURCE RBC

For further information: Brianne Sommerville, RBC, [emailprotected], 437-228-5396; Dan Pino, Golf Canada, [emailprotected], 416-434-5525

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RBC Community Junior Golf partners with publicly accessible golf courses to build greater diversity and inclusivity in the sport - Canada NewsWire

MARSHFIELD, WI (OnFocus) Marshfield area businesses were seen wearing the color purple on Friday in support of Justice for Lily Day and the Chippewa Falls community.

Chippewa Falls School District initiated the trend, posting on social media earlier this week: In support of Lily and her family, we invite students, staff, and our entire community to wear purple on Friday, April 29th.

Ten year-old Lily Peters was reported missing by her father on Sunday and her body was found on Monday morning after an extensive search.

The juvenile suspect arrested Tuesday was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault with a child under age 13 resulting in great bodily harm, and is being held on a $1 million bail.

Situations like this make us think about our own circumstances, our own children and our own communities. This could happen anywhere. We want to show our support for those who are impacted by this tragedy so they know that we are thinking about and praying for them during this difficult time, said David Murphy, President at MMCCU in Marshfield.

Along with MMCCU, staff at Weilers Convenience Stores and Marshfield Insurance were among the businesses also sporting purple.

Many of us are parents, tragedies like this make us reflect on our own communities and families, said Nick Arnoldy, President & CEO at Marshfield Insurance. We want to show support and awareness to further discussions so that situations like this become even more unlikely.

We welcome your stories! Contact us at [emailprotected]!

Continued here:

Local Businesses Wear Purple in Support of "Justice for Lily" Day - OnFocus

update: 4/29/2022 7:38 am pst

Lily Peters died of strangulation and blunt force trauma, an autopsy has revealed.

Prosecutors claim the 10-year-old was also sexually assaulted by the 14-year-old suspect before she died.

On Wednesday the teen, identified only by the initials "C.P-B.", was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13, resulting in great bodily harm.

Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell said the boy admitted to police he had punched the victim in the stomach, knocking her to the ground, "essentially strangled her, hit her with a stick, before strangling her to the point of death, before he then sexually assaulted her," ABC7 reported.

Newell said the teen also admitted "his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go" after they went to the wooded area where her body would eventually be found.

Arguing for bail, the accused's defense attorney insisted the boy did not pose a flight risk.

"He cannot drive. He is not in a position to raise much money, frankly, at all on his own. He resides with his mother. He is a lifetime resident of Chippewa County," lawyer Karl Schmidt said, per the broadcaster.

The judge set $1 million cash bond. The teen is due in court via video link on May 5.

It has not yet been determined if the teen will be tried as an adult; In Wisconsin, first-degree intentional homicide cases go to adult court by default, but it may not necessarily stay there due to the age of the suspect.

original story: 4/27/2022 8:07 am pst

A juvenile has been arrested in connection to the death of a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl and police say the suspect was not a stranger.

Lily Peters disappeared from Chippewa Falls on Sunday night; her father raised the alarm around 9 PM after she failed to return from a visit to her aunt's house, just blocks away.

Officers and Sheriff's deputies began combing the area, using search dogs and drones; 12 hours later, her body was discovered near a walking trail. Her bicycle was discovered nearby.

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On Tuesday, Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm announced they had a suspect in custody a juvenile.

"The suspect was not a stranger," the Chief told a press conference. "The suspect was known to the victim."

"We do not believe there is any danger to the community."

"While nothing will bring Lily Peters back or change what happened, we are very grateful to be able to deliver this news for the family and for the community," the Chief added. "Driving through town and through our communities, we can see the purple ribbons and honestly, I expect nothing less from the Chippewa Falls community."

He said a tremendous amount of work had gone into the investigation at the federal, state, country and local level, and law enforcement had been working 24/7 on the case; he thanked the public for over 200 tips they received, which were "critical" to solving the case.

New Jersey Man Gets 375 Years For Killing Woman and Two Children Over Facebook Post View Story

He did not reveal the exact age of the suspect, nor how they knew the victim, but did refer to the suspect as "he".

The cause of death also remains unknown.

Neighbor Jeremy Machnik, whose children often played with Lily, told KSTP he frequently saw the child riding through the area on her bike.

"I grew up here all my life, never heard of anything like this," he said. "It's a scary situation when you know we're just inside the house and it's Sunday afternoon, we're cleaning and making dinner and that's going on a block away from our house and it's scary."

Florida Toddler Who Went Missing From Backyard Found 24 Hours Later in Septic Tank View Story

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Lily Peters Was Strangled, Bludgeoned And Raped By 14-Year-Old Boy: Prosecutor - TooFab

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are perfectly positioned to become leaders in the burgeoning field of public interest technology.

Dr. Chad Womack, senior director of the National STEM Programs and Initiatives at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).Thats according to experts who gathered Tuesday night at #BlackTechPolicyWeek, hosted by #BlackTechFutures Research Institute, in partnership with Diverse.

#BlackTechFutures, from its home base at HBCU Stillman College, connects local, Black leaders with their nearest HBCU, and shares the data and policy know-how to build an equitable technological future. Currently, #BlackTechFutures is working with four cities in the U.S.: Birmingham, AL; Houston, TX; Nashville and Memphis, TN.

Public interest technology puts people at the center of technology. For #BlackTechFutures, partnering with HBCUs is intentional. HBCUs' unique mission, to uplift Black individuals and their communities, gives them a leg up on understanding how to put people first. Using public interest technology, experts said, can be a way for HBCUs to reclaim their narrative and promote Black excellence.

I do fundamentally believe that HBCUs are the institutions and space in which our students and faculty can merge the tech with the core mission of our schools, by definition connected to community and in the public interest, Dr. Chad Womack, senior director of the National STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Programs and Initiatives at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), told the moderator, Dr. Jamal Watson.

Dr. Brittany Mosby, director of HBCU Success, the first state-organized group focused on the success of public and private HBCUs in Tennessee.The mission statement underneath HBCUs [is] to transform the world through the African American experience. Our schools are sacred in that they represent who we are as a people, as a folk, said Womack. As we engage the world, we need to make sure were allowing our young people to gain the skills that are important. At the same time, we have a lot to bring to the worlds in terms of a humanistic understanding of what this world is all about.

Isaac McCoy, dean of Stillmans School of Business, said that it was an easy decision to bring #BlackTechFutures to the college because of the leadership of Stillman President Dr. Cynthia Warrick.

One of the first things I remember [Warrick] saying, Stillman in the community, and the community in Stillman. How do we include them into research, design, advocacy, growth? asked McCoy. Public interest technology looks at public good, that fits what Warrick said about being in the community. We understand tech is the common denominator of what we do.

Stillman recently joined the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN), which supports schools as they explore the new discipline and includes technological strongholds like Stanford and MIT. McCoy said he believes the model established by Stillman, incubating #BlackTechFutures, is easily replicable for other institutions looking for innovative ways to bring research and change to their campus.

Technology as it stands today does not work for everyone, said Afua Bruce, author of The Tech That Comes Next.: How Changemakers, Philanthropists, and Technologists Can Build an Equitable World.

Whether its different tech systems, algorithms that dont recognize dark skins or overlook genders, said Bruce.HBCUs absolutely have a place and can lead in public interest technology, the idea that we can take a lens of equity and justice into the tech worldhow we develop tech, how we design and employ itits an idea HBCUs are very comfortable with, its what theyve historically done.

Dr. Brittany Mosby, director of HBCU Success, the first state-organized group focused on the success of public and private HBCUs in Tennessee, agreed.

Dr. Eric D. Hart, chief programs officer at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.HBCUs are in a prime position where they can truly mold the curriculum to be interdisciplinary in a way that serves their students interests, their tendencies to lean into these human serving fields while integrating what we know to be on the horizon, said Mosby. We need to see more HBCUs in that space, and we need to bring the unique experience of HCBUs, which is to say, we have a wealth of this human experience, human empathy, people who have a desire to change the community. And we just need to equip them with the tech skills.

Dr. Eric D. Hart, chief programs officer at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said that by becoming leaders in public interest technology, HBCUs might be better able to tell their story.

We have to own the narrative, because we know our schools are producing excellency, said Hart. Were excellent at what we do. We have to reclaim the brilliance and excellence of our HBCUs.

Panelists encouraged those in attendance to not wait for students to graduate to get them involved in their field, and to find innovation at the intersection of different disciplines.

At an HBCU, we have so much to teach, so much to give, said Mosby. Were bringing a lot to this movement. We need to take advantage and step into that powerfully, as HBCUs, and as leaders of HCBUs in this public interest technology space.

Liann Herder can be reached at lherder@diverseeducation.com.

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HBCUs and Public Interest Technology - The Perfect Match - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

WAVE Project, Welcoming All Valuing Everyone, is a grassroots nonprofit based in Clinton Township, serving metro Detroit. Im one of the co-founders, alongside my wife, Laura, and our friends, as well as the volunteer executive director. I also work as a middle school teacher.

In 2018, while serving together as part of a multi-site church, we saw so many needs. We felt God calling us out to follow him, and to help where we could. We had conversations around this, and found our hearts were close to the homeless, to those who are often left behind, looked over and passed by.

We began to dream about how we could serve this population. There are nonprofits doing wonderful work, and we didnt want to duplicate services, but to find a way to uniquely impact those experiencing homelessness. As we prayed through it, we began to talk with other groups. We were inspired by a San Francisco-based organization called LavaMae, that initially built out a large municipal bus to bring mobile showers and essential care services to the streets.

For over a year, we held monthly community barbecues, spending time with people in the homeless community. It became evident to us what a supreme barrier transportation is for people in need. Being mobile became a foundational principle for us. Our population often has to decide whether to spend their energy, and maybe only bus fare, in getting a meal, temporary shelter or a public shower. As described to us, hygiene can easily fall down the list. The first person who shared her story with me, said she carried so many other immediate concerns, that she sometimes went weeks or months washing in drinking fountains and public bathrooms.

Testimonies like this encouraged us to develop the shower service program we're operating today. We want to love people, first and foremost, and our goal is to go to the need. As metro Detroiters, it's important to our organization and board, that we seek out opportunities in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County. I'm happy to say that we're in all three every week.

One of our core tenets is to collaborate with others. If people are investing their time and resources to get to the location, we want them to receive support from another nonprofit, whether it be a meal, laundry services, mental health support, substance abuse counseling, etc. We can be there to provide showers, clothes and essentials. Were very intentional to plan these services with our partners along major bus routes.

Consistency is also extremely important. We want the people we're building relationships with to understand we're going to be there for them. So, if at all possible, you can count on WAVE Project being at Teen Wellness Center on the eastside of Detroit every Saturday, rain, shine, challenging circumstances or not. At our locations, we sometimes give 30-40 showers in a few hours , and other times, its just one. We believe in the importance of that one.

Last year, with the help of our supporters, we held 309 events at 11 different sites across Metro Detroit, providing over 1800 showers. We try to have open arms to say, wherever we can, we do. This is a balancing act, as we have no full-time staff. In 2021, we were able to hire two part-time coordinators who run our shower services every Tuesday and Thursday, alongside our part-time Essentials Van coordinator. Saturday, our largest service day, is completely run by volunteers.

When COVID-19 hit, we had to shut down for several months in order to keep our guests and volunteers safe. That broke our hearts, and organizationally it was tough. We were faithful to do what we could, and in those moments, there were opportunities for innovation. We developed a pantry program in Mt. Clemens and in New Baltimore, donated our paper products and cleaning supplies to local shelters and financially supported some of our partners doing frontline work.

We relaunched in August 2020, implementing masks, social distancing, non-contact registration, electrostatic sprayers and timers to allow our shower space to regularly air out. From a volunteer standpoint, my own family included, there was a gap in people feeling safe enough to be on site. It was a big leap of faith to say, Okay, God, we need people who are comfortable or feeling called to do this work. Who will you bring?

We also began dreaming of our Essentials Van, something that wasn't even on our radar before COVID-19. It's designed like a large closet with shirts, pants, underwear, socks, hygiene kits, backpacks, blankets, etc. People walk up to the service window, get their essentials, take a shower and go. Another critical part of that program is providing drop-in services. As we're driving around town, we're intentional to keep an eye out at places where we know our friends are, like MacArthur Park in Mt. Clemens, to see if they need anything. Its been really beautiful.

We do send hundreds of items out that window every single day, a good thing. But our organization isn't large enough to take on many used donations because we can't store them, sort them, etc. For those who want to help us provide essential supplies, we're glad to have you do sohere. We're only able to do what we do because of all the unique and awesome ways were supported, and I cant give God enough glory for this.

Throughout COVID-19, weve seen wonderful people whove long been caring for communities close their doors from a lack of funding and volunteers. This is very concerning to me.Yet, I am encouraged that in this tough, gritty, diverse and beautiful place, there are people hitting the streets trying to love and help others. They arent doing it for the money, and if you give them something, its passed on the very next day. We also have good organizations here saying, go do it. We want to help you, let us know what you need. Thats a story that should be told more.

In caring for individuals, it can be a challenge when people want to know your measurable outcomes. Some potential funders have asked, how are you helping people experiencing homelessness no longer be homeless? And in a vacuum, if I were looking to fund a program, thats a very thoughtful way of quantifying it. But, when somebody asks me how we're helping people not be homeless, I say, we're not. That's not why we exist. We exist to love people first.

Todd Gordon is the executive director of WAVE Project, serving homeless communities across metro Detroit.This entry is part of ourNonprofit Journal Project, an initiative inviting nonprofit leaders across Metro Detroit to contribute their thoughts via journal entries on how COVID-19, a heightened awareness of racial injustice and inequality, issues of climate change and more are affecting their work--and how they are responding. This series is made possible with the generous support of our partners, the Michigan Nonprofit Association and Co.act Detroit.

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WAVE Project brings showers and essentials, including love and kindness to metro Detroiters in need - Second Wave Media

For better or worse, geographical boundaries separate local jurisdictions and define parameters within which local governments can operate. The land and its value dictate tax revenueland thats rich in natural resources, or that close to important destinations, demands more value than that which is remote.

Itsa finite resource that must be thoughtfully managed. As localities densify and the world spins further into the digital era, outdated land management strategies are becoming strikingly obvious. Oftentimes, land use plans dont account for the monetary impact certain features will have over the long term, according to the latest paper published in the Rethinking Revenue project, a joint venture of the Government Finance Officers Association and the International City/County Management Association withsupport from the American Planning Association, the National Academy of Public Administration, the National League of Cities, the Government Finance Research Center and The University of Chicagos Harris School of Public Policy.

The project is focused on rethinking the way local governments fund themselves through novel revenue ideas and alternative taxation norms that are more in-line with modern business practices. Previous publications have outlined the problem with current revenue systems and developed a criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of proposed changes.

Historical land use decisions did not provide for sufficient taxable activities to pay the cost of maintaining the infrastructure that was built to serve the development, reads the report, The root of local government revenues, which outlines the importance of land use, and unpacks the relationship between land and revenue. At least in part, this lack of forethought explains why many local governments face difficulties funding infrastructure maintenance and replacement.

As an example, the report describes the expansion of South Bend, Ind.s sewer system. In 1960, the system served a population of 132,000 people, and expanded over the years by adding more lift stations and water mains. Today, however, the population has shrunken to a little over 100,000, and the city is facing a challenge like that faced by many cities across the United Sates: Land use development patterns that are incompatible with long-term financial realities. Sprawling, lower-density development patterns cause infrastructure to grow beyond the citys ability to generate revenue to maintain it.

In this modern era, the onus is on local governments to think beyond the immediate expenditure of a given project, the report argues. They must seek a long-term, dependable solution to their structural revenue and expenditure imbalances, and become more intentional about making financially savvy land use decisions.

A major hurdle local governments face in expanding current land use practices centers around precedence: Is it appropriate for governments to change the way they bring in revenue? Traditionally, public services are perceived by constituents as entirely altruistic and for the broader good. But while this perspective might be accurate in theory, it fails to consider the mechanics of responsible management practices.

Another sticking point, as noted in the paper, is that higher revenues per acre will usually require denser, more intensive development per acre than many communities tend to support. This historical aversion to denser development may lead to objections to local government using its regulatory power to encourage higher revenue per acre.

On its own, the private market might not evolve in a way that supports local government, and constituents dont understand the complexities of municipal managementeven when its in their best interest, or in the best interest of their children.

In many communities, there isnt enough revenue per acre in the community to fund the upkeep of infrastructure that has been built to serve less dense areas, the report says. These areas require more lane miles, linear feet of water pipe, etc., to serve the same number of people. Insufficient revenue per acre means that the maintenance and replacement costs are deferred to future generations. Hence, current consumption is subsidized by future taxpayers.

Density is dictated by zoning, and the researchers argue thatits within local administrators purview to leverage regulatory power in ways that promote a public policy goal of financially sustainable local government. A financially healthy local government a better maintain transit, public safety, and other public services.

To that end, the report outlines concrete steps local governments can take to improve revenue-per-acre: Make financially savvy development the easier choice by changing it so that conventional development patterns arent the default; calculate revenue per acre for all areas to develop a baseline; encourage infill development and build up as opposed to out; require a cost-benefit evaluation for potential new development; understand the fiscal impact of building and zoning regulation, then adjust accordingly; identify areas where cross-subsidization is happening and consider charging for it.

Cross-subsidization occurs where the cost to develop in one area is subsidized by revenues generated in another area of the community, the report unpacks. Sometimes cross-subsidization is intentional and acceptable. Other times it is unintentional and unrecognized. In the latter case, it may be savvy to remove the subsidy, especially where the subsidy encourages unsustainable development patterns.

These methods have proven successes. South Bend, for example, tweaked its regulations to encourage density and reuse existing buildings, in-filling unused areas within the sewer system. And Lancaster, Calif., identified low-density development (the city had more infrastructure than its tax base was able to support) and was able to encourage denser development to even the gap over the long-term.

Regardless of policy changes, local governments need to rethink how their approach to land use planning considers the financial impacts of development choices, the report concludes. Land uses underpin a local governments revenue system because the property tax (and sometimes the sales tax) is an important source of local revenue. If the land within a governments boundaries is not productive at generating revenues, then local government will find it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with the costs of providing services and maintaining infrastructure.

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Report: To keep up with infrastructure maintenance costs, local governments need to rethink land use policies - American City & County

You argue in Black Ghost of Empire that the history of emancipation from slavery is not a story of endings, but unendings. What do you mean by that?

We tend to think of the ending of slavery as a once-and-done moment. But in fact there was a long period, spanning around 100 years, during which there were various different moments of emancipation. And when you look closely at all those events, as my book does, you can identify a through line. You see that, rather than the end of slavery disrupting the racial caste system, the ways in which emancipations played out in reality actually conspired to perpetuate it. Emancipation processes provided failed pathways to justice for people who had been enslaved, in a way that was often intentional.

On the podcast | Kris Manjapra reveals how the end of slavery helped perpetuate systems of oppression, rather than disrupt them:

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It may come as a surprise to learn that the very first emancipations were actually in the American North around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and New York. 1780 in Philadelphia was a germination moment in which a particular template for emancipation emerged: the gradual emancipation model. This was a process whereby enslaved adults would continue to live in slavery for the rest of their lives. Children born into slavery could look forward to freedom, but that freedom would only be given after a long period of enslavement potentially 18 to 25 years. That was the basic model for gradual emancipations across the American North.

Fast forward to 1807, when the slave trade but not the practice of slavery itself was abolished in the British empire, and we observe what I call the sea emancipations. British patrollers were capturing slave vessels and taking enslaved people to an emancipation colony located at Freetown, Sierra Leone, a British holding in west Africa. People went from being held in the belly of a slave ship to being brought before a court where they could then be made free through a legal process. But this freedom still required them to serve 14 years in a so-called apprenticeship basically, slavery by another name. These apprenticeship or indentureship systems developed as another way of prolonging the racial caste system even after the official end of slavery as an institution.

African-American sailors during the US Civil War. This conflict witnessed what Kris Manjapra describes as the war emancipation model (Photo by Getty Images)

Then we come to the 1830s. The British empire which, by this time, was identifying itself worldwide as the anti-slavery empire designed a new kind of emancipation. This was the compensated emancipation model, in which slave owners received money as reparation for the loss of their property. A very sophisticated logistical and administrative project was established to compensate more than 44,000 slave owners across the British empire [who received around 20m in total]. That model of financially compensating slave owners became a gold standard internationally, and was replicated in places including France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.

Now we arrive at a canonical moment in US history the Civil War and what I call the war emancipation model. In the other emancipations, governments were playing a very careful game, trying to keep the peace between the proponents of freedom and the proponents of slavery, but in this context it broke down into all-out war. Yet it was not the case that the enslaved won out, because the emancipation laws that emerged during that decade [the 1860s] were still tinged by efforts to reconcile with slave-owning interests. Again, it was slave owners who were compensated, not the enslaved this time through policy decisions, legal mechanisms and the confiscation of the lands that had been given to the newly freed people as a form of early reparations. Government policy emerged as an important domain in which, by design, newly freed people were yet again dispossessed and slave owners were yet again compensated.

Finally, I look at how the British, French and other empires turned their sights on Africa from the 1880s onwards, in whats known as the Scramble for Africa. That collection of imperial projects and wars was again exercised under the banner of emancipation in the name of freeing African people from slavery but I view it instead as the beginning of a truly global war on black lives.

Even as they had different characteristics, these types of emancipation built on each other in interesting ways. They all shared a common thread: that enslaved people never received reparations. Reparations were granted in a variety of ways; they were just paid the wrong way to the slave owners.

What happened in Haiti is really a meditation on how freedom could be secured outside the emancipation process. It helps us understand that liberation from slavery is not the same as emancipation. During the revolutionary period, the Haitian people essentially refused to engage in an emancipation process that had been imposed on them by the French empire. They intended to claim their own freedom.

In response to the Haitian Revolution, the French empire and the international community, including the US, colluded to diplomatically exclude Haiti from the international order. They boycotted the country for many decades; the US didnt officially recognise Haiti until 1862. In the 1820s, the French decided that the only way that they would allow Haiti to enter the international system was if they were able to impose the emancipation that they hadnt had a chance to implement during the revolutionary period.

This retroactive emancipation was imposed some 20 years after the fact, onto a people who already were free. It basically inflicted on Haiti a legal system and a debt system that sought to reassert the racial caste order, the crux of which was that Haiti had to pay the French empire a large sum of money. In some ways this was just like manumission, the long-standing system by which a slave could pay their owner a sum of money in order to redeem their freedom. The Haitian state suffered under that debt burden for the better part of a century and a half; you could argue that this retroactive emancipation was the origin of third-world debt. It was rooted in the logic that emancipation was intended to perpetuate, not disrupt, systems of oppression.

I think its a bit of both. It was never a consideration of the decision makers to bring the black people directly affected to the decision-making table. That allowed for oversights and callousness. In order for there to be legal remedies for harm and restorative justice, you have to listen to the victims.

I do think there was also an element of design at work, but I dont think it was ultimately about malevolence. Rather, it was about something much more mundane economic interests. There were obviously many who were going to lose out financially from the freeing of African people. Banking interests, political interests and industrial interests had all benefitted from extracting free labour from black people. So it makes sense that those groups would do everything they possibly could to find a way around abolition and to maintain their interests.

Whats interesting to me is that, despite this very troubling history of what emancipations really meant, black communities have always celebrated and commemorated them. Juneteenth [19 June, commemorating the emancipation of African-Americans] has become a national American holiday. And across many black nations that suffered under British rule, 1 August is still celebrated as Emancipation Day.

Whats important here, though, is what different communities bring to the meaning of the word emancipation. Rather than being celebrated in black communities as the end of something, emancipation is actually being commemorated to mark a renewed dedication to the ongoing struggle. Thats a very different way of thinking about our past than simply moving on from it which is always a temptation, especially for histories that haunt us. But we cant wish away these ghosts. We have to invite them in and figure out what they are asking from us for the future.

Yes and Ill give you an example. Back in 2018, I was rummaging around in archives, as historians do, and I noticed a line in a British Treasury report from 2015, saying the Slave Compensation Act Loan had finally been paid off. That caught my attention, because I could not imagine how a loan taken out in 1835 could have only just been paid off in 2015. Yet for 180 years, British taxpayers had been financing a loan that the British government took out to pay off slave owners across the British empire. This story is a good example of the way that decisions made almost 200 years ago still have implications in terms of policy, law and taxation its a legacy that affects us to this day.

And intergenerationally, black communities have had to pay for the consequences of the designs implemented during emancipation processes. If we look at Britain and the US today, we see that black communities still suffer from overexposure to the criminal legal system, and instability around access to education, food, financing, land and political representation. The question then naturally arises: how do we explain that? As a historian, I know that the answer is in the legacies of the past. Its not only slavery to blame; the failed process through which slavery ended also perpetuated these forms of social injustice.

In Jamaica, for example, when slavery officially ended with emancipation in 1838, enslaved people walked into a new legal category of freedom but they were still barred from political representation, and had no voice in Jamaicas assembly. This was the case across all of the British colonies. Furthermore, just as slavery was ending, the British state was investing heavily in the vast expansion of the prison-industrial complex across its plantation colonies, essentially turning slave colonies into prison colonies. Newly freed people were criminalised, with no access to the vote or equitable political representation. If they wanted land they had to squat on the land of the former slave owners because there was no reparations process to redistribute the land to them. The legacy of all of this can still be felt today.

The problems that still bedevil us emerged in part because the harm done through slavery was never redressed. Instead it was carried forward over time, encoded in the criminal legal system and a variety of other dimensions of government policy.

The call for reparations is nothing new. By the end of the 18th century, black people were already organising to argue for reparations; that struggle was in some ways an impetus for writing this book. People say: Shouldnt we move on, rather than crying over spilt milk? But if we recognise that this is a source of on-going woe for our societies, then we can see that its a question not about the past but about our present and future.

History teaches us that paying reparations is feasible, because it has been done before theyve just been paid the wrong way round. The real question is what form reparations should take. One aspect of this is financial compensation the law says that if there is harm, there must be recompense and the discussion around proper compensation to black communities today is one that should continue.

But its not only about financial payouts. One mere transactional writing of a cheque, for example, is not going to be sufficient. Dont forget that reparations were made to slave owners not only in monetary terms but also in legal codes and policy decisions that benefitted them. Two hundred years have passed since the first emancipation began, and we are still paying the social cost for bad decisions made back then. We are now at a point where we can choose, by making good decisions around food, housing, education, legal representation, political representation and financing, to break the cycle and do things that are going to help generations 200 years from now.

There are two other related questions that I think are absolutely essential to ask. What does a proper apology look like? And how do we retell our histories together? The history of abolition and emancipation has been told as a triumphant story of white male abolitionists. But I think theres another way of telling the story that looks not just to heroes whom we must certainly respect but also at the perspective of black communities. That leads us to discussions about the things that went wrong that still need to be fixed today. And I think that gives us the path to transform the reparations debate as it currently exists.

Kris Manjapra is professor of history at Tufts University, Massachusetts. His books include Black Ghost of Empire: The Long Death of Slavery and the Failure of Emancipation (Penguin, 2022), Colonialism in Global Perspective (Cambridge, 2020) and Age of Entanglement: German and Indian Intellectuals across Empire (Harvard, 2014)

This interview was first published in the May 2022 issue of BBC History Magazine

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Kris Manjapra On The Troubled Legacy Of Emancipation - BBC History Magazine