Home Run Events

Small Town Urban Ag Reason #5: Food Deserts

2009-12-03T10:19:00.007-05:00

Author's Note: Home Run Innovations, Inc. plans to start an urban agriculture center modeled after Growing Power farm in Milwaukee. But the center will be launched in rural Delta County, Michigan. Is this folly? Does a small community really have the same "food desert" issues that Will Allen found in Milwaukee when he purchased that first 2-acre farm that now feeds 10,000 residents? Depending upon one's personal circumstances, the answer is "yes" - and perhaps critically so.

How far can a person possibly need to travel to get food in a small Upper Peninsula town? Small towns are...well, small. Right? You don't have to navigate eight lanes of traffic on a major interstate to get to the grocery store when you live in a small town. A long work commute is any drive longer than eight minutes. My brother-in-law, the California English professor, refers to his old Upper Peninsula home town as "Chickenpoop." So really, what's this concept of "food deserts" got to do with us?

The Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group has been studying food deserts across the United States. They define a food desert as "large and isolated geographic areas where mainstream grocery stores are absent or distant."

Delta County has a population density of 32 persons per square mile. Escanaba, the county seat, has a whopping 12,297 current residents. Within the city limits of Escanaba it's often possible to walk for an hour along the shoreline of Lake Michigan or near fields on the west side of town without coming closer than a half mile to another human - hardly what most would call "urban." However, the U.S. Census Bureau defines an urban area as: "Core census block groups or blocks that have a population density of at least 1,000 people per square mile (386 per square kilometer) and surrounding census blocks that have an overall density of at least 500 people per square mile (193 per square kilometer)." At an average density of 965 persons per square mile, Escanaba sits on the fence between urban and rural. Every other Delta County city, township or crossroads falls unequivocally into the rural category.

The housing boom went bust before ever finding its way to Delta County. Old farm fields lay idle outside the city limits, having escaped conversion to suburban sprawl. Idle is the operative word, though. Few of these fields are still farmed, and the ones that are grow crops more for deer than for humans. There are exceptions. We have two successful potato farms, u-pick strawberry and pumpkin farms and one very small-volume consumer supported agriculture farm. The local farmers markets struggle and some vendors buy produce from Wisconsin farms a few hours away, causing arguments among them about what defines "local." As in every other community across the United States, local agriculture has faded out in favor of industrialized agriculture. We import almost all of the food we consume from very great distances.

Once our food has traveled great distances to land in our grocery stores, does that mean we're all home free and well fed? Not necessarily.

If you study a Google map of Delta County, and Escanaba in particular, you will find that no residence within city limits is much farther than 2 miles from a grocery store, and most places are closer than that to the nearest restaurant. A full mid-day meal is served for free Monday through Saturday in Escanaba soup kitchens - and these meals are far better balanced than the average school hot lunch. At least three area agencies or churches operate food pantries and will supply a 40 pound box of food, plus meat at least once per month to any family or individual requesting one. Hunger does occur sometimes. But for the most part, any resident of Delta County who requests food assistance will have his request granted. On the surface, calories would appear to be affordable and accessible despite lower than average household and per capita incomes.

Yet referring again to those Google maps, you can identify a trailer park on the west side of the airport. Lot rents and mortgages are relatively inexpensive in this portion of the city. However, to live there requires automobile transportation. The neighborhood is at least 2 miles from virtually all shopping, including grocery stores, with the exception of one convenience/gas station. A bicycle with large saddle baskets and a cooler strapped to the back fender might suffice in fair weather for a healthy individual, but winters in Escanaba can be harsh and at times brutally cold. It often takes a few days before city crews plow bike paths after a snowfall, and weeks before the city will issue a citation to a resident for not shoveling her sidewalk. Like many, if not most cities in the United States, Escanaba and all other communities in Delta County have evolved around the automobile, with bi-pedal transportation a vague after-thought. (Note: the one major exception is that Escanaba has been progressive by providing ADA accessibility to all sidewalks in the city.) The shopping logistics from this west side neighborhood are typical. For the vast majority of Delta County residents, food shopping without an automobile requires a half day time commitment and really strong arms and legs. If you don't live in the city limits of Escanaba and Gladstone, the two largest towns, it is practically impossible to obtain any food without automobile transportation, and virtually impossible during winter months. If you doubt me, try carrying a full grocery bag down a sidewalk (if you can find a sidewalk) in Delta County during the month of February - while the north wind is blowing.

Once upon a time there were little neighborhood markets, bakeries and dairies all over the county. But they have long since been driven out of business by large volume stores. Even if someone wanted to re-open one of these old markets to fill a specialized niche, they would now face zoning and regulation obstacles prohibiting their operation. Now when the weather looks like this, you'd better have a friend or relative with an automobile to get you to the grocery store or be prepared to spend a portion of your food budget on cab fare or bus transportation, costing anywhere from $4 to $18 per round trip.

Mainstream grocery stores are not particularly accessible to most residents in Delta County and in many towns they are completely absent. Therefore many, if not most neighborhoods qualify as food deserts.

How does the food landscape look in your small town?

Next up: Small Town Urban Ag Reason #4: Health and Nutrition

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Urban Ag for the Small Neighborhood

2009-12-01T10:49:00.007-05:00

The past few days I've worked on a series of posts regarding the top five or so reasons to incorporate urban agriculture within a small community, particularly our Upper Peninsula communities. Through my research I've discovered there are folks in Canada who already really "get it" that planning for local food self-sufficiency touches all aspects of community development and hints at many, many more local jobs.

If you doubt the need for local agriculture and need to be convinced, read A Good Food Manifesto by Will Allen.

For an excellent article on how and why communities can and should plan to create food hubs or precincts, read Beyond Urban Agriculture and Farmland Preservation by Janine de la Salle and Mark Holland.

Read, enjoy and check back for the top five reasons we should plan now for local food self-sufficiency in our own small towns.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Will the L3C Rescue Small Town America?

2009-10-22T09:32:00.006-04:00

I'm excited about the new Michigan L3C (Low-Profit Limited Liability Company) legal structure and it's vast possibilities for community development.

The L3C is now legal in all 50 states as a result of legislation signed into law in Vermont on April 2008, Michigan on January 2009 and the Crow Indian Nation on January 2009. Created by Robert Lang, CEO of the Mary Elizabeth & Gordon B. Mannweiler Foundation, the L3C removes the barriers to Program Related Investments (PRI) that have faced private foundations, greatly increases the total funds in the charitable pool and creates a way to induce investors wary of the stock market to invest in the future of their own communities.

Almost everything you would wish to know about the L3C structure and its possibilities can be found at the Americans for Community Development website. Check it out.

Is this the bridge between private and public that will repair crumbling physical, social and economic resources? If so, how will we take advantage of this opportunity in our small community?

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Peace in an Interconnected World

2009-09-14T16:15:00.017-04:00

The following was first posted at Ashoka.org in answer to the question: What does peace building look like in an interconnected world?

As a very active four-year member of the Delta County Coalition Against Homelessness and a former workforce development professional, I observe many agencies doing wonderful, well-intentioned work - yet still largely in isolation of one-another. This isolation leads to unneccessary duplication of effort and greatly limits effectiveness and innovation.

Systems theory, along with embracing the principles of the learning organization are essential to fundamental change in our present economic and environmental circumstances. For example, what sense does it make for social service agencies to demand of their clients that they attain financial self-sufficiency when the agencies themselves are operating with almost complete dependency under the trickling faucet of government funding and relentless annual giving campaigns? I have met many social service clients in our community who are every bit as qualified or capable of performing the same duties as the agency staff person who is reviewing and approving their benefits request. What has happened to the real "social work", real compassion, real caring or real involvement? Looking down upon the system as it now operates, as an eagle would view a rats maze from the sky, reveals huge flaws and dangerous extremes that have resulted from our excessive worship of market efficiencies at the expense of community.

What if non-profits and NGOs took on more and more of the role of system change - such as the relocalization of our economies? It is still cost-prohibitive for private enterprise to raise organic produce in Upper Midwest climates. Will Allen of Growing Power is moving toward economic viability in this area but is not there yet. What if instead more local agriculture was initiated by organizations like The Salvation Army - or area churches and schools? Through possible foundation grants, couldn't a local agricultural system be launched, developed and used as a teaching model or learning cooperative for local entrepreneurs? Couldn't the same local agricultural system not only supply our soup kitchens and school cafeterias? How about providing part-time employment that puts better food in the cupboards of social service clients and extra cash in their pockets through sales to farmer's markets or cooperative distribution networks?

Same goes for energy efficient housing. Since the ROI of building with energy efficient systems and products is still too far out on the horizon for the comfort of most private investors, especially in cold-climates, why can't we introduce these technologies through emergency shelter and transitional housing?

The main reason that these ideas are not already in widespread application is because everyone, including non-profits are so deeply entrenched in the system as it has evolved over the past two hundred years or more. Try doing anything innovative and "twenty-first century" through a traditional non-profit in your community. What you find are large boards of directors or deeply vertical administrative heirarchies that have long since fallen into the habit of micro-management. In the age where Twitter and SMS can facilitate a global movement in hours, far too many non-profit, social and civic organizations meet once per month at best and require even some of the most mundane decisions to be approved by a board. Few boards know how to maintain their proper function as setters and keepers of the vision. What you also find in trying to be innovative with social change are state and federal government distribution channels so full of entrenched special interests that innovators and change agents are even excluded by the language of a government request for proposal.

Lean non-profits that have taken a systems and learning organization approach from the very beginning of their inception and incorporation have the potential to be the true tipping point that puts our planet back on track toward peace and interconnectedness. Ignoring the systems approach can only lead to inevitable failure. Peace does not happen in a world where we hide within the walls of our McMansions - never getting to know our neighbors.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

From Railroads to Parks

2009-08-25T13:06:00.010-04:00

Here's a wonderful re-use of an old railroad corridor. This photo was taken by a photographer named David Bakerfaia.

Can you imagine how this idea could eventually play into the redevelopment of Escanaba's North Shore? Think of all the railroad tracks that run next to Little Bay de Noc and up the mouth of the Escanaba River. How about abandoned tracks near the fair grounds? Perhaps a small pedestrian park in the midst of franchise row on Lincoln Road near K-Mart?

The possibilities are unlimited.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Truly Local TV

2009-07-25T15:02:00.018-04:00

Entrepreneurs Seek to Fill Small Town News Gap

by Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

(The following article was first posted in the Brag Basket at SmallBizSurvival.com.)

In an age where multi-billion dollar conglomerates like Clear Channel have drained almost all local interest content from our media in favor of nationally syndicated programming, a new joint venture between UP Town Productions and Nyman Signs of Escanaba, Michigan (pop. 13,000) is something worth bragging about.

It’s called DeltaCountyTV.com “a television-style website with local programming designed to draw people into (our) area and allow opportunities for growth and prosperity within the community.”

I learned about this effort yesterday through an e-mail from our DDA Director. By then a five-day veteran of the Twitterverse, I went nuts over the possibilities. (Thank you Becky McCray and Small Biz friends.) Within an hour of receiving the email, I cornered UP Town Productions owner, Tom Daley, in front of his studio.

For about a half hour, Tom spoke with me about the motivation and vision behind DeltaCountyTV.com. I heard wonderful ideas about producing a Saturday Night Live- style program to be acted out by the high school drama club and directed by veterans of our local performing arts center. (Yes, we have both a fabulous local performing arts and a fine arts center!) Tom shared his marketing philosophy of providing a supplement, rather than a replacement to the ad campaigns our local businesses are currently running. This fall, we will be able to look forward to viewing live high school football on the site on any night that we are unable to attend in person. And that's just the beginning.

The website is still under development – and they are currently raising ad dollars to buy a $14,000 piece of equipment that will allow live streaming of content with the same kind of quality as Fox News. I will certainly be following their progress and employing their capabilities in order to get our new non-profit efforts announced to the world. I’ll offer an update on the site's progress in about six months. Better yet, you can monitor their progress as well. Bookmark their site and check out Delta County through this new medium.

Like the majority of residents here, Tom really loves the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and particularly our county of Delta. Also like so many others who live here, he has been offered employment in other parts of the country, but has chosen to remain for happiness and love of community. That’s their loss, and our gain – totally.

Totally cool.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Net-Zero Energy for the Homeless

2009-07-19T16:29:00.016-04:00

Net-Zero Energy Building for the Homeless Introduced at The Salvation Army Home Run

by Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

On May 23, 2009, designers and architects, Ryan Brayak, Kevin Bell and Hannah Jackson introduced conceptual plans for a net-zero energy building in downtown Escanaba that will be used temporarily for emergency and transitional housing of the homeless in Delta County.

The building is part of a three-part plan by Home Run Innovations Inc. to revitalize communities by creating a financially self-sustainable housing program. Part one is to create sustainable income streams to fund homeless services provided by local agencies. Part two is to build an endowment for future needs and eliminate much of the need to fundraise in the future. Part three is to create net-zero energy buildings for use as emergency or transitional housing with each property being sold to private buyers after a period of approximately five years.

Net-zero energy is a building standard reached when a property produces as much energy as it consumes in a given year. To reach this standard, Brayak’s building will incorporate multiple energy efficient technologies such as a geothermal heating system which draws the heat out of the ground to provide radiant or forced air heating for the building. The roof of the building will feature several rows of solar panels to produce electricity and excess electricity will be sold back to the power grid. Brayak has also chosen to use insulated concrete forms (ICF) which provide a high R-value (measure of thermal resistance) and thermal mass. A high R-value greatly reduces the transmission of heat and the thermal mass of concrete stores heat from the building interior, in the wintertime, and moderates the temperature, in the summer time. The use of these two reduces the need for a larger heating and cooling system and thus lessens the demand for resources to heat or cool the building.

Additional features include a greywater system which will reuse water from the laundry, bathing, and dish washing for toilets, greatly lessening the building’s demand for water. The parking lot will be paved with pervious concrete, a porous material that allows storm water to filter naturally on the site instead of being diverted elsewhere and adding to the demand on our storm water sewers.

The resource consumption of this building will be monitored and the results made public. If you would like to follow the progress of this project, please contact us through either of the following sites: www.salvationarmyhomerun.org or ryan@rockelements.com.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

S.H.I.N.E. in Our Community

2009-06-01T06:02:00.006-04:00

Sustainable, Healthy, Inclusive Neighborhood Environments or SHINE - that is the mission acronym for a new non-profit called Home Run Innovations Inc. in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It's a comprehensive plan for community redevelopment from the "homeless on up."

Sustainable - both environmentally and financially sustainable development of social services programs and affordable net-zero energy housing.
Healthy - promoting "off the couch" family-oriented, health and fitness activities that put neighbors (from the young to the old) side-by-side, elbow-to-elbow working together for overall individual and community well-being.
Inclusive - improving community resources for the benefit of all local citizens regardless of economic status, age, gender or religion. Building and developing as much for the benefit of the homeless and the marginalized as for the privileged - with focus on the homeless and less fortunate first.
Neighborhood Environments - transitioning communities toward relocalization of resources such as food and energy production, all the way down to the micro-economy or neighborhood levels where possible.

Home Run Innovations Inc. strives to adapt and implement the world changing models of leaders like Will Allen (Growing Power), Bill McKibben (350.org) and the partnership between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver - all with the goal of creating SHINE in our community.

Read more about SHINE...

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Bike Trails & Economic Recovery

2009-01-22T20:16:00.011-05:00

Connecting Small Communities Through Abandoned Rail Lines

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

Here is an interesting take on how we can turn our country around and get its citizens back on their feet - literally.

Just think of how many rail lines there are throughout Delta County and the Upper Peninsula. How easy would it be to connect Bay College to the rest of Escanaba and even Gladstone through rail lines? Even if those particular lines are still in use, there must still be plenty of abandoned rail corridors leading into and out of our communities.

"The mission of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) is to create a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and connecting corridors to build healthier places for healthier people." Rails to Trails has already created dozens of these trails within 100 miles of Escanaba. Search their website and see for yourself.

You can speak up and ask Congress to reserve some of the proposed $25 billion dollar stimulus plan for "active transportation construction" of running and bike trails. Sign the petition by clicking here or on the Rails to Trails Conservancy logo above.

We know that the Upper Peninsula is God's country. Why not connect God's country with trails that allow us deeper into its beauty and back to health and prosperity?

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Most "Liveable" City on Earth

2009-01-18T20:34:00.012-05:00

Powerful Lessons for Community Development from Another Continent

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

Hailed by master planners around the globe, Curitiba, Brazil is considered by most to be the most liveable city in the world.

What I find most fascinating about Curitiba is a particular decision made by its three term former mayor and lead architect and champion of the city's famously successful master plan, Jaime Lerner. In an essay from the book "The Impossible Will Take a Little While,"Bill McKibben tells the story of how Lerner took millions of dollars which were supposed to be used to encase waterways in concrete to control flooding - and instead used the money to buy up lots and lots of land to build immense green parkways along the rivers and streams. Now when the rain comes and the rivers swell, the worst thing that happens is that a few of the bike/pedestrian paths get squishy. This and other wonderful tales of Lerner and Curitiba can also be found in this excerpt of the same essay, published at CommonDreams.org. edited by Paul Rogat Loeb.

The concrete vs. open waterways is my favorite part of the Curitiba story because we here in Delta County live on a delta. We've built our homes on sand deposited over tens of thousands of years and in the most recent 150 years, we have encased, diverted and buried the streams and creeks that used to flow freely from their origins to Little Bay de Noc. What if we could open some of them up again and build inter-connected parkways that meander through the city?

If you read the rest of the McKibben essay, you will see that this one seemingly radical act created a better quality of life for all citizens and increased property values in all of the neighborhoods that follow the parkways. You will also learn how Curitiba has a wonderful model for housing the poor and the homeless and a model transportation system.

There is much to borrow from Curitiba to improve Delta County. I think that it would make a very appropriate discussion topic at the up coming North Shore Planning process meetings.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Net-Zero Energy and Homeless Shelters

2009-01-12T11:05:00.014-05:00

Building Net-Zero Energy Structures for the Homeless Could be Most Powerful Step to Community Revitalization

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

What has net-zero energy construction got to do with homeless shelters?

First of all, Escanaba and most of the other towns in Delta County are officially (by government funding standards) considered to be impoverished - a status that qualifies us for Brownfield Redevelopment and other "blighted" community re-development incentives.

Secondly, if cold-climate, net-zero energy construction can be accomplished here, with our gray winter skies, it can be done almost anywhere else in the world. The US Department of Energy Zero Energy Buildings Database lists only 7 (yes, that's only SEVEN) net-zero energy buildings with only 3 of them located in cold-climates. SUCCESSFUL NET ZERO ENERGY BUILDING CONSTRUCTION OR REHABILITATION WOULD BRING DELTA COUNTY TO THE ATTENTION OF THE ENTIRE WORLD.

Thirdly, the Michigan State Housing Development Authority will grant up to $25,000 funding per unit for construction or rehabilitation projects that provide low-income housing for at least 5 years.

Please look at the picture of the 100-year-old net-zero energy New Jersey farmhouse above. Does it not remind you of many, many houses in the older parts of Escanaba?

What if a small local non-profit could get manufacturers and distributors of energy-saving materials and technology to donate supplies and advertising/PR dollars to rehab a duplex or triplex within walking distance of Ludington Park that would be used for transitional housing for our homeless?

Better yet, what if the same property was sold at market value to a private buyer at the end of the mandatory 5-year MSHDA lease period? What if the capital gains from the sale were rolled back into another similar rehab project in a different neighborhood, also to be used for transitional housing needs over another 5-year time period - again and again?

Picture that same farmhouse, with ZERO ENERGY BILLS located in a neighborhood between Matt Sviland's Ludington Lofts project on 17th Street and Ludington Park to the east. Would any of you consider retiring to a duplex like that, not only living with zero energy bills, but also with the option to supplement your retirement with rental income? What about the desirability of living in a traditional neighborhood within easy walking distance of the lake, the public library, the Bonifas Arts Center and the Hereford and Hops? Could such a property be an alternative to someone who might typically be attracted to places like Eugene, OR, if not for the higher costs of living there?

Recycling dispersed, older neighborhood properties this way would create desirable residences out of eyesores, reduce the initial zero-energy construction cost barriers to entry for private individuals, and (because of the 5-year turnaround) prevent any one neighborhood from acquiring the reputation of a low rent district so common when large shelters are erected.

I sincerely need the opinions of former residents who since moving away have grown to truly appreciate the assets of Delta County and the Upper Peninsula. I also need input from you who have always remained. One has to live here to fully appreciate the quirks, potential obstacles and citizen dynamics both positive and negative.

Net zero-energy construction can be our solution to homelessness.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Delta County Homeless Statistics

2009-01-08T20:50:00.014-05:00

Even Sparse Rural Counties Have Homeless Problems

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

I recently had the pleasure of compiling statistics on the homeless population of Delta County Michigan for the next HUD Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. The results mildly surprised me, despite several years involvement with front line service providers in our area. Read on and see for yourself.

• During the 12 month period from 10/01/07 through 09/30/08, an AVERAGE of over 18 HOMELESS PERSONS were sheltered EACH NIGHT of the year in Delta County.

• The above statistic does NOT include our always full, 15-bed capacity domestic violence shelter.

• During this same time period, only 8 emergency shelter beds were available in the entire county - 4 beds at the men's shelter run by The Salvation Army and a total of 4 beds between two rooms on site at St. Vincent de Paul.

• The remaining 10 persons per night were sheltered using emergency motel vouchers - making it almost impossible to case manage these individuals and break their cycle of homelessness.

• The facts I have cited only cover those persons who requested and received services. The counts do not include persons such as homeless PTSD vets hiding out in the woods. They also do not include many persons who parked and slept in their vehicle in the Wal-Mart parking lot all summer or much of the tent population hidden within the buckthorn in the wetlands behind Wal-Mart.

Last May, The Salvation Army provided a few nights shelter to a young woman who had been sleeping in a boxcar. This woman was employed - she cleans motel rooms almost full-time. As far as anyone knew she had no substance abuse issues. Before follow up assistance, such as help with a Section 8 housing application, could be offered, she disappeared - apparently to sleep in an abandoned trailer at the back of a friend's property.

As recently as 6 years ago, I was barely aware that we even had a homeless problem. That's a misperception commonly shared around here. After I've done a radio interview to promote The Salvation Army "Home" Run, or because of the generous PSAs the radio stations have given me to promote this homelessness fundraising event, people approach me often remarking "I never knew we even HAD a homeless problem" because they don't see the more stereotypical evidence such as the meth-addicted "Tweekers" who sleep in the parks of Arcada, CA.

Surprised?

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Running and Life Expectancy

2009-01-05T18:59:00.010-05:00

Here's another take on the Stanford study of aging runners...

Engaging Youth Volunteers CAN Change the World

2008-12-28T17:00:00.008-05:00

Here's a wonderful op ed from the Christian Science Monitor about engaging adolescents in volunteer service.

Website By and For the Homeless

2008-12-01T11:32:00.004-05:00

Have you seen HomelessNation.org yet? It's a website by and for the homeless. Once you start to follow links on the site to personal pages and stories it gets quite fascinating. You don't need to create an account to read the posts or view the videos.

Within two weeks I will post data about our own homeless population - just in case any of you out there maintain doubts that they exist.

Net-Zero Energy in the UP?

2008-11-14T10:49:00.029-05:00

Can Cold-Climate Net-Zero Energy be Accomplished in a Small Town?

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

Off and on over the past year I have searched the internet for examples of affordable, net-zero energy, cold-climate homes. So far, I can count the results on my fingers with digits to spare. Net-zero energy commercial buildings are just as sparse. The Department of Energy Zero Energy Buildings Database holds a whopping seven examples. Only three of these were constructed in cold-climate locations.

The most affordable residential home example to date (pictured above top) was built in Wheat Ridge, Colorado as a joint project between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Habitat for Humanity. It has plenty going for it - simplicity, off-the-shelf appliances and materials, ease of mainenance and affordability. But it also lacks aesthetic appeal and like any other net-zero energy design it cannot control the habits of the occupants. Plugging in large inefficient TVs and forgetting to turn off appliances can counteract the design efforts.

Regardless of cold-climate, Wheat Ridge, Colorado averages over 255 days of sunshine per year. Michigan's Delta County averages almost 100 fewer days of sunshine, greatly limiting the value of a solar panel investment. Retrofitting my own eight year old home with solar panels to produce 90-100% of electricity consumed would currently cost in excess of $60,000. The payoff just isn't there. Zero energy would probably have to be achieved by employing a combination of solar, geo-thermal, wind power and the installation of prototype appliances and fixtures that aren't easily serviced in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

My favorite net-zero home example so far is a remodel of a 100 year old farm house in New Jersey (right side photo above) Resembling so many houses in Delta County, I see hope in this example for what I believe can be accomplished in our community. The problem is that this is one of the only examples of its kind in the nation. There are few predecessors to show the way.

Does this mean that zero-energy properties are a territory to be avoided? Not in my opinion. It's all the more reason to forge ahead. Delta County would lead all cold-climate communities in the nation and land on the map doing so - gaining world-wide recognition.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Community Foundation Supports Home Run Events

2008-11-12T12:15:00.016-05:00

Community Foundation for Delta County Supports Innovative Approach to Community Revitalization

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

The Community Foundation for Delta County recently awarded a $2400 start-up grant to the organizers of Home Run Events: Running for Caring Communities.

Home Run Events seeks to build the next generation of good citizens through fun, fitness and ending homelessness in our community.

Three Delta County homeless shelter and transitional housing providers will be the beneficiaries of the first Home Run Event on May, 23, 2008 in Escanaba - the Alliance Against Violence and Abuse, Lutheran Social Services Voices for Youth and The Salvation Army. The Salvation Army Home Run 2009 will incorporate joint fundraising for all three agencies.

Half of all Home Run Event proceeds will be placed into an endowment with the Community Foundation of the Upper Peninsula the interest from which will fund badly needed services that goverment funding historically has not covered in our rural area.

Initially, Home Run Events will seek grants from national foundations and energy conservation companies to create net-zero energy properties for use as transitional living facilities for a five year period. These properties will provide a bridge from homelessness to self-sufficiency, typically a six to eighteen month process per individual or family. At the end of five years the properties will be sold to private buyers and the capital gains re-invested into the next zero-energy project in a new neighborhood, eventually self-funding the program.

Shown in the accompanying photo are from left: Sherri Viau of the Alliance Against Violence and Abuse, Bobbie Stacey, Mary Busick of Lutheran Social Services Voices for Youth, Major William Cox of The Salvation Army, Alice Butch of the Community Foundation for Delta County and Brenda Lippens of the Delta County Credit Union.

Delta County residents with a passion for youth development and/or community development are asked to call Bobbie Stacey, (906) 399-3567 to get involved.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Supportive Housing Can Improve Neighborhoods

2008-11-07T11:55:00.006-05:00

A friend spotted this OpEd piece in the New York Times today. Well run shelters and transitional housing units can improve a neighborhood.

Marquette Has Room at the Inn

2008-11-03T18:22:00.009-05:00

Churches in Marquette Do the Graceful Thing to Help Homeless

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

Several churches in the city of Marquettte, Michigan are taking turns sheltering the homeless. The program, called Room at the Inn, was launched in 2007 and provides food and a warm place to sleep on cold winter nights. One church, Faith in Christ Fellowship on Wright St., has opened it's doors during the morning hours year round to serve as a warming center.

Room at the Inn is an inter-faith effort that runs by the grace of its volunteers and through the vision of its founder, Helen McCormick, who "had become heartbroken by the homeless people she encountered while volunteering at the St. Vincent de Paul Society."

Catholic Charities of the U.P. coordinates the training of Room at the Inn volunteers whose four hour assignments range from in-take and night shifts to meal preparation and laundry. The program has been averaging four guests per night and can accommodate a maximum of ten.

According to Catholic Charities Director, Laurence Ziomkowski, Room at the Inn "...shows that by working together, faith communities can address problems without relying on the government for funding.”

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

National Service and Home Run Events

2008-10-30T20:52:00.019-04:00

Will National Service Help Rural Economies?

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

One topic both U.S. presidential candidates agree upon is National Service. Home Run Events should be able to provide hundreds of engaging volunteer assignments for our Delta County youth in connection with fundraising events and community development projects and should be launched from the start with that focus.

Point number two of the Obama plan for National Service regards integrating service into learning. "Obama and Biden will set a goal that all middle and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year, and will establish a new tax credit that is worth $4,000 a year in exchange for 100 hours of public service a year." The Obama plan also calls for expanding AmeriCorps from 80,000 to 250,000 slots and doubling the size of the Peace Corps.

Among other points, McCain's National Service plan calls for engaging "more college students in community service through the Federal Work-Study program" and also engaging Americans in disaster preparedness and response by providing education and training resources for effective community-based efforts."

Will Delta County be able to offer meaningful volunteer service opportunities to our youth or young adults when either of these plans roll out? Or will our high school graduates find it necessary to pursue these opportunities elsewhere - just as they have for years now to improve their employment options?

I believe that Home Run Events Inc. can be established right from the start these next couple months with a plan to engage our youth in volunteer service that will revitalize our community through our newest generation.

Join our effort to discuss the many ways this can happen.

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Study: Running CAN Make You Live Longer

2008-10-29T08:23:00.010-04:00

More reasons to choose a running event as a charity fundraiser...

Time magazine published an article this week by regular Health & Fitness contributer, Sanjay Gupta M.D. summarizing a study that tracked the health of middle-age runners from the 1980s to now. Read the the inspiring results at http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1703763_1703764_1853207,00.html.

Home Run Connections

2008-10-28T11:39:00.010-04:00

Home Run Events might benefit greatly by pursuing partnerships with some of the following organizations.

PLEASE blog about ideas that you get from these websites or add suggestions for other foundations that should be explored.

Saucony Run for Good Foundation

Nike Foundation

NYRR Foundation

Just Run

U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Program

Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) - Office of Community Development Programs

Project Great Start

Northern Michigan University Department of Communication and Performance Studies (Entertainment and Sports Promotion Major)

Three Components for Home Run Events

2008-10-28T06:58:00.015-04:00

Three Phase Approach to Small Town Economic Revival Beginning with the Homeless

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

The three main components (Collaborative Community Fundraising, Joint Endowment, and Financially Self-Supporting Dispersed Housing) proposed for the structure of Home Run Events Inc. may seem too ambitious to lump into one package under a new non-profit. But I argue that unless an organization embraces and positions itself to fit dynamically into the "big" picture from the outset, all of its efforts will ultimately wither and die.

I'm a fan of systems thinking, one of the disciplines mastered by successful learning organizations who have given up the "illusion that the world is created of separate, unrelated forces."* In his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, author Peter M. Senge describes what an individual experiences as part of a learning organization.

"Most of us at one time or another have been part of a great team, a group of people who functioned together in an extraordinary way - who trusted one another, who complemented one another's strengths and compensated for one another's limitations, who had common goals that were larger than individual goals, and who produced extraordinary results. I have met many people who have experienced this sort of profound teamwork - in sports, or in the performing arts, or in business. Many say that they have spent much of their lives looking for that experience again. What they experienced was a learning organization. The team that became great didn't start off great - it learned how to produce extraordinary results."**

How I have approached the groundwork for Home Run Events has been greatly influenced by at least one of Senge's partners - a man named Robert Fritz. In my opinion, and in that of many others, Fritz is perhaps one of the most original thinkers of our lifetimes. I used to work for Fritz. I also used to teach courses designed by Fritz from a series called "Technologies for Creating" for which I was certified and licensed. Robert Fritz is the author of several books, the most popular of which is his bestseller The Path of Least Resistance: Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life.

The tenacity with which I have continued to develop The Salvation Army Home Run over the past two years does not come from foolish stubbornness. It comes from an unusually high ability to maintain "structural tension" that I owe to the lessons of Robert Fritz and his wife Rosalind. Read the Amazon customer reviews of The Path of Least Resistance to see what others have to say. It will impress you. I promise.

My vision for Home Run Events is one where we create a housing solution for our community that no one has ever accomplished before, one that becomes a model for rural America and an innovation to the field of social services. Bringing something into being that has never been there before -that is the essence of the creative process. Can that be accomplished with only one of the components in isolation from the others? Not in my opinion.

Do you agree?

Will you join me?

* The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter M. Senge, p. 4

** Ibid., p. 3

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

Can Running Solve Homelessness?

2008-10-22T08:19:00.030-04:00

Engaging and Developing Future Leaders through the Inclusive Sport of Running

By Bobbie Stacey - Founder of Home Run Innovations Inc.

Running solving homelessness? Come on. How can sweating on streets, treadmills and trails, mile after mile, put roofs over peoples heads? Isn't running a time consuming personal pursuit for self-absorbed, obsessive fitness nuts? Wouldn't we be better off if all those running hours were collectively poured into volunteer home building?

Read on and decide for yourself.

First of all, let's back up and examine the popularity of running as an activity in the United States. According to Running USA's Road Running Information Center (RRIC), in 2007 there were 8,875,000 road race finishers in the United States, a 4.2 percent increase over the previous year with a 50-50 split between males and females. By comparison, according to RRIC data, there were just over 3.7 million U.S. road race finishers in 1987 - quite a leap for one decade. It is also estimated that in 2007 there were somewhere between 11 million and 16 million frequent (Run/Jog 100+ days/yr) runners, depending upon the studies cited, approximately 40 million U.S. residents claim to have run or jogged at least once during the year.

Next, examine the money raised for charity through road race events Road runners and walkers raised $714 million for charity in 2006, according to USA Track & Field (USATF). Dividing that dollar amount by 8,535,000, the number of road racers in the same year, comes out to an average of $83.66 per event finisher. Hmmmm, healthy aerobic activity and assistance for charitable causes. OK, maybe running isn't such a self-absorbed activity.

What about youth? Who among us has not observed an epidemic of obesity among the current generation of U.S. children along with several health problems that follow? The same RRIC report cited above also includes a whole section of youth running statistics and verifies the increasing popularity of youth running programs.

The middle school youth in the photo above are celebrating their joint victory (boys and girls) at the Central Upper Peninsula Middle School Cross Country finals. As one of their coaches, I can tell you that the children grew to love each other's company and looked forward to practices and meets. The positive social aspects of the X-Country program amazed me. By the end of the season, it would not have mattered what we asked them to do, as long as they could do it together. They are begging me to begin the winter running club I suggested during our awards dinner.

Interestingly enough the positive social rewards of running are almost as important to adults. The RRIC reports also show that while weight control is by far the number one reason that adults start running, at least 50 percent of runners continue to run because of the social aspects - the sense of belonging to a larger community with common interests.

It isn't that children don't want to run and be more active. The problem, as I see it, is that the parents can no longer imagine why their child would want to run. So parents don't suggest it or seek running program options for them.

Granted, telling your child to go and do something that you are not willing or able to do yourself doesn't cut it. At least it sure doesn't work with my children. However, I respect that there are legitimate reasons why some parents are unable to take up running with their kids - besides an aversion to exercise. During the time that I competed in high school sports, it would have been very easy to acquire a sports injury from overuse or lack of cross-training and subsequently receive medical "treatment" for it that even made the problem worse. These were the days before laser surgery techniques, Title IX, physical therapy - and even running shoes became ubiquitous in our lives. Besides, there are other active pursuits that can produce the same positive results. My family just happens to have a bias for running.

Today as coaches - we all run with our team at each and every practice. It's an amazingly simple concept. We make a commitment to hang out with a bunch of fourth through eighth graders for an hour, three to four times per week and for approximately eight Saturday mornings during the fall season. We gather the kids, stretch them out, tell them where and how far they are running that day. Then we run. Afterward we gather back together for more stretching and exercise and often a group game that improves their agility, footwork or speed. No equipment is required other than appropriate medium-price running shoes and a pair of shorts and t-shirt. Most importantly, all children of any abilities and from any background are welcome.

Those are happy kids in that photo. They are each pleased with their individual progress from the start of the season and proud of their team accomplishments. They are better friends to one another than before the season began. Virtually all have said they will return next year. I know that I am proud of them. I know how far each of them has come. I have never in my life been so awe-struck by the unlimited potential of youth. That's no longer a cliche´ in my mind.

Could these young runners be the seeds of a new, socially responsible generation? Will they embrace causes as a group, such as homelessness, and run together to solve them? Will they expand their collective running experience to the world at large, becoming stronger individuals in the process? Will their peers from other communities do the same? I'm betting YES - if only we'd ask them.

Let's ask them, shall we?

Home Run Events: Innovative Ideas for Community Revitalization by Roberta (Bobbie) Stacey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License

New Non-Profit to Solve Homelessness Efficiently and Effectively

2008-10-21T13:22:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone.

Please read on, and join us for an organizational lunch meeting of a new non-profit “Home Run Events Inc.” at NOON on Monday, October 27th at The Salvation Army Community Center to learn more.

Most of you know that when I started The Salvation Army Home Run 2 years ago that it was my strong desire to grow it into a premier event that ALL shelter providers in Delta County could count on as a major fundraiser for their organizations. With St. Vincent de Paul, the Alliance Against Violence and Abuse, Lutheran Social Services Voices for Youth and The Salvation Army, Delta County is blessed with at least 4 indisputably worthy organizations who work around the clock to shelter our neighbors in times of greatest need.

I believe that the time has come for our shelter providers to work collectively to attract donations and additional sponsorships and grants from outside of Delta County and the Upper Peninsula and to build an endowment the interest from which will eventually eliminate the need for these agencies to compete with one another year after year for portions of the same small pot of local dollars. It will also eliminate the need to sit as hostages to ever dwindling government funding sources. I also strongly believe that if, as agencies with dedicated and caring supporters, we GIVE our community active, fun, family-oriented events that the GETTING part will almost take care of itself. We can enjoy ourselves and raise a new generation of healthy young volunteers at the same time.

Since I could not find a way to accomplish this under the umbrella of The Salvation Army, with the permission of Major Cox I wrote and received a grant from the Community Foundation of Delta County for $2400 to cover the legal expenses of starting up a new non-profit which will create and implement joint fundraising events in our community that also employ on-line fundraising techniques to the fullest possible extent. There is some momentum started already toward that end with The Salvation Army Home Run going into its third year. It will be up to the board of the new non-profit (current working title “Home Run Events Inc.”) to determine from the outset the completely objective methods/percentages by which proceeds from joint fundraising events will be distributed to each agency. This will be a community effort, not a Salvation Army project. I needed a non-profit fiduciary in order to apply for the grant, and Major Cox was kind enough to let me do so through them.

This is a good year to launch a new approach to the cause of homelessness in Delta County. It is a milestone anniversary year for OSF St. Francis Hospital, a generous previous sponsor of The Salvation Army Home Run and supporter of local social services.

There is more. The vision has evolved. We have an opportunity through this new non-profit to revitalize neglected residential property in Delta County and in the process create a truly financially self-sufficient emergency shelter and transitional housing program. This would be accomplished by renovating dispersed properties (probably beginning in the DDA district) with government tax incentives available to our low income community, MSHDA funds and by seeking grants from major manufacturers and suppliers of “zero energy” products to accomplish the most energy efficient renovations possible. These properties would be leased to area agencies for transitional housing for a pre-determined set period (5 or 6 years, no longer) and then sold to a waiting list of private buyers of a similar demographic to the clients that Matt Sviland is currently targeting with his Ludington Lofts project. The capital gains from the sale of these rehab properties would then be re-invested into the next rehab project, etc. Rather than potentially harming property values by locating shelter and transitional living facilities in the same neighborhood over long periods of time, we can actually improve property values in several neighborhoods and solve housing issues at the same time. I’ve already discussed my ideas with Jim Davis at MSHDA and he likes what he hears.

Obviously I could go on for a long time. Please join us to learn more and consider whether or not you would like to be appointed to the board of this new corporation.

The tentative one hour agenda for the organizational meeting at noon on Monday, October 27th is as follows:

Lunch
Overview of the purpose for Home Run Events Inc. and progress to date
Determine method for nomination of officers and board members
Establishment of incorporation advisory teams
Determine next meeting date and location
Adjournment

PLEASE RSVP so we can get a lunch count.

ALSO, please send me an e-mail if you wish to be considered for a board membership or one of the three positions of President, Treasurer or Secretary. Obviously we will need a voting member from each of the shelter agencies mentioned above. They have each expressed a willingness to participate.

Thanks for listening. Thanks for caring.