Green St Coop--New Year, New Start
JoyStick
working with others. Each person undertakes his or her daily tasks
with others. Each person undertakes his or her daily tasks and
receives a share of the common effort. It seems a practical solution
to me. ~Dalai Lama
Hello Green Street Co-Op House Members,
Upon entrance into this Co-Op you agreed to become part of a team.
The Co-Op is now ready for all members to step up and take part in its
success.
I am Joy. I was hired to jump-start the program and put plans into
action. My Deadline for this is February 2nd , so prompt attention in
letting me know where you stand and see yourselves as part the group
would be greatly appreciated. I have and will continue to be making
phone calls to inform, ask questions and get to know all of you.
All Green Street members rent currently includes all utilities, some
of extra expenses for the house, gardens, & poultry, and it is
mandatory that you participate in household, yard, garden, and animal
chores to continue to get a discounted rate. If you choose to opt-out
of participation but would like to continue as a resident of the Co-
Op, you are asked to speak with your manager Babs (801)867-9051 or Mel
(801)577-7340 before January 25th so they can make the necessary rent
adjustments.
In addition, I want to let you all know about our Google groups which
we will be updating. There will also be charts and boards that will be
located in the front rooms of each home that can be used for feedback,
responses and any additional information. Please be looking at these
at least weekly or talk to someone that does.
http://groups.google.com/group/greenstreetcoop
http://groups.google.com/group/saltlakecitygreenstreetgardengang
We have 3 options as to how this community can be run. I (Joy) was
hired to manage and coordinate ideas and gather info, then with all
that I find out—I will implement the plan for the year.
Options are as follows:
1.) Raise current rents so outside help may be hired
to come and take care of the garden, animals, house, etc...
Benefits: no stress, lots of vacation time, reap the
rewards without working
Negative: no learning, no community, higher rent,
paying someone else.
2.)Rotating Sections Monthly (2+ members per
section)
Benefits: lots of learning in many areas, constant change, working
with others, monthly potlucks, team work.
Negatives: no real time for vacation, long term commitment
3.) Rotating Coordinators Quarterly (2+ residents per
quarter)
Benefits: Being in charge, leadership skill development,lots of
learning, meeting new people, ¾ of the year off from
active leadership role.
Negatives: 3 months of intense work, soliciting others
participation.
#1 Is pretty self explanatory and if this fits you, again contact
Babs, Mel, or Joy and lets see what we can work out.
#2 2+ members will be in charge of sections. Reviews from the whole
group at the beginning of each new month. 15 minute presentations and
“what's next” information then rotating to the next section. Sections:
A) green house, bees and mushrooms B) yard maintenance, row garden,
verimpost C) coordinator, hydroponics, grapes, fruit trees D)
chickens, hoop house, wheat grass
#3 2+ current residents will rotate through as quarterly Stewards/
Coordinators of the whole Green Street Co-Op. This ensures that
everyone is trained, participating and that one or two people are
ultimately responsible for all the quarterly checklists/tasks for each
area, even though we all we will all be participating in all areas.
Thanks,
See Below for additional responsibilities of options #2 and
#3
Option #2
Sections:
A) green house, bees, and mushrooms
B) yard and home maintenance, row garden, verimpost
C) coordinator, hydroponics, grapes, fruit trees, kitchen food prep
D) chickens, hoop houses, wheat grass
Please contact Babs, Mel, or Joy with any questions. Additional ideas
welcome and encouraged.
Kick-off Potluck February 2nd.
$20 per person monthly fee for additional household/garden expenses
started.
What would you like to see the houses acquire with fee money? Bring
your ideas to the Potluck.
Monthly Co-Op Potlucks
Planned/Conducted by coordinators
Once a month, debrief and turn over your monthly project/section --
every one gets 15 minutes to present. If no one in your section will
not be able to attend please write something up and give to another
person who will be there.
Each section gets to bring a dish to share with the group
Family & friends are welcome to attend.
Requests and suggestions talked about by people passing “talking
stick” for 1 minute each no interruption. “Talking Stick” will be
explained the first time and anytime there after for new people.
$20 Monthly fee:
For all that is going on we have decided to give everyone the
convenience of taking care of household needs by charging a monthly
fee. $20 extra paid to House managers at the first of the month. This
will go into a Co-Op account where it will be used in many ways.
There are a few necessities-- the rest will consist of participant
requests/ideas, so when handing in money please let us know if there
is anything you would like.
Necessities:
Chicken feed/straw, Gardening seeds/plants, emergency household
repairs.
Other Ideas:
New appliances, toilet paper, laundry detergent, soap, teas, coffee,
dry goods, etc...
Option #3
2+ current residents will rotate through as quarterly Stewards/
Coordinators of each area. This ensures that everyone receives
training and has the opportunity to participate in a variety of
tasks.
The Stewards, however, are ultimately responsible for all the
quarterly checklists/tasks for each area. The first quarters
Stewards will be Babs and Mel. I (Joy) was hired to work with them.
Feel assured that the three of us are committed to working together
and to assisting everyone as we proceed. We will be checking in with
each of you often to make sure things are running well and to
everyone's expectations. Then, the next coordinators will rotate in
quarterly and so forth with previous coordinators assisting with the
transition to make sure everything continues to run smoothly. Please
set up a time to meet with us (house managers) and your partner(s)
when you come into your first couple of days of your rotation as we
kick off this process. Being paired up as 2's or 3's will assure you
will not be alone in your assignments.
Babs, Mel, and Joy will be assisting to update charts for each area
using Excel and will be making them interactive on our Google groups.
Please find copies of files for charts of current monthly household
and/or garden task in a folder on the “desktop” of the Co-Op Computer
or on the Google Group. Also, you will be encouraged to use all
resources when tackling a project. When you do not know what the next
step is, together we will assist you to write it out to be put in a
notebook in the Coop library section so then the next person will know
as well. Also please use Internet, books and people for advice.
Coop Computer, Printing, Fax, Copy, etc Station by the front
door of 848 Green St can be used to print off check lists as needed.
We will be adding current versions to the google group files for each
section.
The Current Headings for the Stewardship Areas are as follows:
1. Household, Yard, Cleanliness, Organization, Maintenance Tasks,
etc.
2. Garden-- including fruit trees, grapes, hydroponics, wheat grass,
verimpost, poultry, mushrooms, etc. Also, all and any new
projects will be your responsibility to make sure they are attended
too.
3. Kitchen and Food Prep--Hummus, yogurt, wheat grass, kombucha,
home cooked meals, sprouting, juicing, homemade bread, Potlucks, etc
All options will of course be set up for success.
In every group different points of view will occur. But I see this as
an advantage. The more the opportunity to gain a greater understanding
of others and to improve ourselves. If we battle against anyone who
thinks differently from us, everything becomes hard. We should not
hold rigidly o our personal views, but enter into a dialogue in an
open- minded way. In this way we will be able to compare viewpoints
and discover new ones. ~Dalai Lama
JAMES TORGERSEN
> Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:08:12 -0800
> Subject: Green St Coop--New Year, New Start
> From: vwjo...@gmail.com
> To: greenst...@googlegroups.com
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