Community Voices, Pt. 2 – I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

     Once you have a chance to read a few definitions of permaculture and share examples of permaculture gardens and designs, its easy to think that permaculture is all about caring for the natural world, when in fact, Earth Care is just one of three ethical pillars of permaculture.  In addition to Earth Care, permaculture balances people care and fair share as the three ethics to root every project and every decision.  It’s in caring for the people that permaculture now becomes more than just a practice of conservation, recycling, and growing food, but it becomes a practices of building relationships, connections, choosing collaboration over competition.  
     David Holmgren, one of the founders of the permaculture movement, states, “People Care begins with ourselves and expands to include our families, neighbors and wider communities. The challenge is to grow through self-reliance and personal responsibility. Self-reliance becomes more feasible when we focus on non-material well-being, taking care of ourselves and others without producing or consuming unnecessary material resources.  By accepting personal responsibility for our situation as far as possible, rather than blaming others, we empower ourselves. If we can recognize that a greater wisdom lies within a group of people, we can work with others to bring about the best outcomes for all involved.”
     Root to Rise is very excited to have the opportunity to practice People Care by building relationships with organization, businesses and communities and choosing to focus on projects that not only restore and regenerate our natural ecosystems but also restore and regenerate our connection to each other.  At the launch event at Rek-lis’ Brewing Company on May 25th, we asked, What organizations do you feel Root to Rise could collaborate with in order to improve community involvement and revitalization?  The participants responded with the following:

• Chambers of commerce
• High schools – encourage kids to do something or participate for senior project
• All town selectmen groups
• Boys and Girls Club Garden
• North Country Council most definitely
• WREN – get some permaculture ideas and practices into the organization
• Center for Whole Communities
• All Schools, and not just one community day but programs and gardens
• TCCAP – or other organizations where people are having difficulty supporting themselves/being healthy
• Arts organizations (Colonial theater, Catamount)
• Tyler Blain House Homeless Shelter
• Community Compost Collection – collect compost from houses, restaurants, schools, businesses and make compost to fertilize community and school gardens
• OAKS – I believe programs such as OAKS and the Summit space.  Not only sooths emotions but our sense of smell is so powerful that growing plants, vegetables and flowers could bring forth a memory from the past into the present.  This benefits OAKS program but also raise’s awareness
• I’m having a hard time answering this due to the fact that I live below the Notch.  All I can think of is the healing community
• Hempcrete companies for eco-buildings
• Local nurseries for edible landscapes
• The outing club for group projects
• Local yoga companies for wellness workshops
• The Grindstone Café for local group meetings
• K-8, high schools, and colleges for workshops and group projects
• Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust
• Schools
• Hospital
• AHEAD
• NH Forests
• Burch House
• Colonial Theater
• Build a Better Bethlehem
• Growing without Garbage
• Bethlehem Elementary School
• Meadowbrook Farms
• Bethlehem and Lafayette Elementary School
• Copper Cannon Camp
• Summer Rec Program (Bethlehem, Lafayette)

     One of my favorite tasks is to reach out to potential partners, grab a cup of coffee or a beer and share ideas, collaborate on projects, and begin to weave the web of our community together.  This week I had the great pleasure to meet with Chris Wilkins, Director of Littleton Parks and Recreation, and Sara Shovlin, Director of the Boys and Girls Club of the North Country.  Chris shared, “There are so many ways we can tie our community together with our natural resources using these concepts.  One of the ideas that I enjoyed the most was a play area for kids.  By creating a play-scape where children can learn about their environment as well as having a great time playing, they will hopefully feel more connected to their community and help us take care of it in the future.”  When I asked Sara if she could share a few words about what our organization and this collaboration could mean to the region, she said, “Stacey and her team have struck gold with their permaculture initiative in the North Country. I can’t think of a better way to engage local community members, while also serving and giving back to an area in need. Introducing sustainable and purposeful horticulture has the ability to not only improve quality of life in our community, but it also has the potential to change one’s future, as they learn how to cultivate seeds, make better food choices, and even foster vocational skills used in the distribution of goods. Thank you, Root to Rise, for growing in our community!”
     Root to Rise is considering a Pay-It-Forward model for permaculture projects where organizations like the Littleton Recreation Department and the Boys and Girls Club can work together, with Root to Rise, to design and install aspects of the projects underway this summer and in return, their projects will be the next projects we engage in this fall and spring.  By being part of someone else’s project, you are essentially practicing the People Care ethic, giving before receiving, building relationships and collaborating on projects instead of competing for resources.  We are all in this together and Root to Rise is excited to offer a platform for building connections and friendships.  Our first design workshop is at Rek-lis’ Brewing Company July 5th – 12th.  Message me if you are interested in participating: [email protected].