Social Action: EcoVillage meeting Sunday

[Sarah Klepner]

From Steve Welzer (steve...@msn.com):

Our first three meetings were held on Saturdays, but some who would like to attend work or have obligations every Saturday. So this month we'll meet on a Sunday instead. 

We'll begin with a pot-luck luncheon at Noon. Please bring a dish to share. Agenda items for the meeting proper (1:00 to 3:00) will include: 
. material for our web site 
. land purchase possibilities 
. leads on relationships with professionals 
. the May 9 carpool-caravan trip to visit the Ecovillage at Ithaca 
. plans for a possible fundraiser folk concert in June! 

Meeting is at 147 Bingham Ave, Rumson, NJ  07760.

Thanks much to Diane Burke for offering to host. 

Notes from last month:

Sixteen attended our February Meetup. We discussed a web presence for the project and started to talk about a proposed carpool-caravan trip to visit the Ecovillage at Ithaca on May 9. Some people volunteered to contact professionals (developers, architects) to sound them out about what kinds of requirements they might have re: coming on board to advance our project.

 Raising seed money for the project will be an important topic of discussion going forward. We'll be hoping to solicit small and large one-time contributions, monthly sustaining contributions, and volunteer efforts to raise funds in a variety of ways (including, possibly, grant writing and crowdsourcing). Typically a cohousing project offers memberships at different levels . . . where each level has differing privileges and perks in regard to decisionmaking, house-location preference, and remuneration after all units are sold. For the immediate future, if we could get five households to contribute $1,000 each, ten to contribute $500 each, and twenty to contribute $100 each, we'd have a fund of $12,000 to work with. That would be a good start. The payment of the contributions could be spread out over time.

 To think about how the money should best be spent brings up the issue of coordination of the project. Considering the tasks that will need to be done, we anticipate tapping into the energy of dozens, perhaps hundreds of people. Our mailing list includes over 400 people! . . . almost all of whom have conveyed their support for the idea of finally seeing an ecovillage built in New Jersey (as a model for moving our society onto an eco-communitarian pathway). We hope hundreds will be spreading the word, distributing flyers, sharing our social media posts, talking to their family, friends, clubs and congregations, hosting local meetings, raising money, etc.

 But the responsibility for organizing the Meetups, sending out communiques, and making the highest-level decisions will necessarily fall to a core group of those who indicate the most commitment. During the time when the project revolved around the Mount Eden property, the executive committee had been Delane Lipka (owner of the land), Steve Welzer, and some others associated with the Mount Eden Retreat Center. Since Delane passed away last year much has changed and we need to re-address our structure, roles, and commitments. Toward that end we'll develop a survey to enable people to express their level of interest, their possible contributions, and the skills they can offer.

 In the meantime we encourage you to consider becoming an Ecovillage New Jersey activist! Let us know if you're ready to make a monetary and/or energy commitment. We can send you flyers and a list of others in your area who have expressed interest. Especially let us know if you'd like to be considered for inclusion in the core group. Either respond to this email or give us your feedback at the next Meetup, which will be held in Rumson on March 15:
 
http://www.meetup.com/EcoVillage-New-Jersey-Meetup/ 

 

https://www.facebook.com/EcovillageNewJersey