Monthly Archives: July 2017

New London At the Tiny Town interactive street festival this weekend, visitors can look around tiny houses and a yurt, participate in startup workshops, vote in a mock mayoral election and more.

Tiny Town is a two-day event produced by Spark Makerspace, and to Spark founder Hannah Gant, all the events are about two words: igniting potential.

"We've got all the ingredients to success but we haven't figured out the recipe," Gant said of New London, which she views as a city on the verge. She explained the concept of Tiny Town: "It's a street festival event trying to help provide support for people to learn the recipe."

Tiny Town will be held on Friday and Saturday, with events happening on Golden Street between Green and Bank streets. Gant's vision is an event that is interactive rather than just consumptive, on the belief that "people are tired of being entertained."

The "tiny" element of Tiny Town will be manifested in two tiny houses, a yurt, and a tiny fairy house contest for kids.

One tiny house sits in the Spark courtyard and is still under construction. Building began as part of a two-week course the Vermont-based Yestermorrow Design/Build School brought to New London.

The other tiny house, at 200 square feet, was built by a couple in Woodbury.

The Mongolian-style yurt comes from Peter van Geldern, a communications professor at the University of Bridgeport and a sustainability architect. Van Geldern gave the yurt to Jon Day, a Ledyard-based restoration and preservation specialist who served as the liaison between Spark and Yestermorrow for the design/build course.

For the tiny fairy house contest, kids should bring their creation to Tiny Town by 11 a.m. on Saturday. Awards, which include Children's Museum and movie theater passes, will be given out at 5 p.m.

Tiny Town will kick off on Friday with an hour-long historic walking tour, hosted by New London Landmarks, that costs $15 and leaves from 86 Golden St. at 4 p.m. There will also be a walking tour on Saturday at 11 a.m.

From 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday is the "I'm a Good Listener" station at 38 Green St. for visitors to talk about "ideas in life." Gant explained that the volunteers are self-identified good listeners like counselors, life coaches and clergy members.

At 6:30 p.m., candidates for the mayor of Tiny Town will converge at Golden and Green streets, known as Tiny Town Center, to give their stump speeches. The mayor will be elected in a system where one dollar equals one vote, with the money raised going to an organization of the candidate's choosing.

Tiny Town mayor is an honorary title that does not hold any responsibilities.

The candidates are Gant, van Geldern, former state Rep. Aundre Bumgardner, Yestermorrow president Mike Crowley and "economic performance artist" Kyra Kristof.

"I'm committed to building communities that work and building a world that works for everybody," van Geldern said in a campaign video he posted on Vimeo.

He offered three takeaways for building intentional communities: great leadership, dynamic governance and authentic communication.

While van Geldern is running for a symbolic role, real-life elected officials will be giving speeches starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Gant said this will include Rep. Chris Soto, Rep. Christine Conley, Sen. Paul Formica and potentially others.

Saturday events starting at 10 a.m. include business coaching from SCORE mentors, another listening station, and a swap meet, a chance for people to bring items they no longer want and to take those that others are giving away.

The Connecticut Small Business Development Center is hosting two Lean Startup workshops on Saturday, one from 10 a.m. to noon and the other from 1 to 3 p.m. The first is to help budding entrepreneurs from concept to launch, while the second is for managing growth in existing startups.

Each workshop costs $20 and takes place at 13 Golden St.

Throughout Tiny Town, there will be cuisine from local food entrepreneurs Jacquie Riddle and Lacy Donovan.

"My hope is to gain a lot of new clients, or at least get my name out there, my brand out there," Donovan said. "But it's also great to be representing Spark, because they've done so much for me."

Donovan will be serving salmon cakes with a slaw, lemon aioli and potato salad. For her business Guiltless Eating to Go, she creates ready-to-eat, low-calorie packaged meals that people can order online for around $10.

A full schedule for Tiny Town can be found at tinytownevents.com/event-schedule.

e.moser@theday.com

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Spark Makerspace brings interactive street festival to New London - theday.com (subscription)

Mark Enchin, left, and his step-daughter Carly Hatton, hang out in the courtyard of the Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph on Friday, July21, 2017. Enchin want to use the space to build a sustainable and affordable community hub for various groups of people to live and work together. ( Hannah Yoon / SPECIAL TO THE STAR )

By Alex McKeenStaff Reporter

Mon., July 24, 2017

A proposal by a not-for-profit organization to turn an old Jesuit college into a residence and community centre aimed at people with disabilities has drawn the ire of some advocates who fear the plan will marginalize the buildings future residents.

Angel Oak Communities submitted a proposal to Ignatius Jesuit Centre in March for a self-sufficient community with about 70 residential units, the majority of which would be occupied by adults with disabilities, and the rest rented out as affordable housing units.

The Orchard Park building at the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, outside Guelph, would also house day programming for disabled adults, a bakery and a greenhouse (where the population could gain skills and earn an income), and its own renewable energy system.

Mark Enchin, real estate sales and marketing director of Angel Oak Communities, said that concerns about the project evoking institutionalization are unfounded, and that interest has been widespread in the Guelph community.

Were building a community centre that focuses on helping people with disabilities, he said in an interview this week.

Enchin plans to sell about 50 lifetime leases on units for about $250,000 to $300,000 each to pay for the initial building costs. The preliminary budget for the building renovations totals roughly $15 million, he said in an interview. Money from the remaining rental units will pay for the ongoing operational costs in the building.

Community Living Ontario, a 70-year-old organization that oversees 100 local offices aimed at supporting people with disabilities within their communities and homes, is denouncing the proposal.

The organization cites concerns that it will segregate people with disabilities from the community and leave residents vulnerable to the kind of mistreatment and neglect that was common in historical institutions.

Yvonne Spicer, a Milton resident who is the past-chair of Community Living Ontarios council of individuals with intellectual disabilities, said she is outraged by the plan.

Institutions are not safe places for us, Spicer said. Im for inclusion. Im for people with disabilities being included in the community.

Enchin, whose 24-year-old daughter is autistic, said he is trying to build a living situation for people with disabilities that can give aging family members peace of mind about how their loved ones will get by after they pass away.

The brief describes a vision for an integrated, diverse community to enrich and support the core resident population.

Enchin said that some of the plans described in the design brief may change based on consultations the not-for-profit has done in the community, including the proportion of residential occupants with disabilities.

The Jesuit Province of Canada has agreed in a letter of intent to enter into a rental agreement with Angel Oak Communities.

Lisa Calzonetti, operations director for the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, said her organization would not be entering into the agreement if we thought it was anything even remotely akin to any form of institutionalization.

Chris Beesley, CEO of Community Living Ontario, said that despite Enchins intention to oversee a project that is different from historical institutions, his organization is certain that the proposed model wont have the positive effect Enchin is hoping for.

Its not because theyre trying to say, Lets denigrate and lets try and do them harm. But they dont know of the 150-year history that were aware of, he said, referring to Ontarios long history of institutionalization and the many stories of abuse that followed from it.

Enchin said that his project differs fundamentally from institutions because of its focus on community building.

Im not just putting this out for sale and taking the first 70 buyers, he said.

Proposed building plans show dedicated spaces for Staff/Guest/Short term occupant in addition to residential suites at the site. Seven of the proposed units are set to be barrier-free.

Beesley said that he would feel differently about the project if Enchin succeeds in creating an intentional community, meaning one that demographically mirrors that of Guelph. He says he does not see that aim in Enchins talk about the projects business model.

The proposal comes amid a housing crisis for people with disabilities in Ontario. A 2014 Ontario auditor generals report says that the provinces waiting list for people with developmental disabilities would take 22 years to clear.

If the choice isnt between a rock and a hard place and parents right now, thats what they feel this is the only option they see that might be feasible, Beesley said.

The Ontario government closed its last government-run residential institution for people with disabilities in 2009, marking the end of a decades-long transition to a community-based support model. Enchin said that, if all proceeds as planned, renovations on the building should begin later this year.

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Disabilities advocates split over Guelph housing proposal | Toronto ... - Toronto Star

Grace H. Kim is an internationally well-known expert in cohousing, which is the art and craft of creating communities. She gives a fascinating talk on TED on how to rethink your way of living in your home. Kim shares an age-old antidote to isolation, cohousing, which is the kind of living where people choose to share space with their neighbors, getting time to know them, and looking after them.

Everyone experiences loneliness at one point in their lives. For an architect Kim, loneliness is not about being alone, its a function of how socially connected people feel to those close to them especially people living with them. One could be surrounded by people yet they experience loneliness. She tells how loneliness can be as a result of the set up of our home environments.

There are people living in the neighborhoods where there is a false sense of connection and an increase in social isolation. Most of the people living in enclosed single-family homes dont know anything about their neighbors. Social media also contributes to the false sense of connection. Many people are spending most of their time on their phones either texting or checking their Facebook or Twitter accounts and in the process isolating others.

Isolation is not a new concept, its an age-old way of living and it still exists in many non-European cultures across the world. Cohousing community is an intentional neighborhood where people know each other and looks after one another. In this setup, you have your own home, but you share essential spaces, both indoors and outside. Grace Kim lives in a cohousing neighborhood where there are more social interactions among the people that she herself designed using her own architecture.

Cohousing starts with a shared intention to live collaboratively. Cohousing is achieved by supporting activities that bring togetherness such as eating together, kids playing in the neighborhood, being responsible for other peoples concerns and much more. Having common spaces also elevate the sense of community life in the neighborhood. Cohousing is an antidote to isolation and could save lives.

Go here to read the rest:

TED Talk: How Cohousing Can Make Us Happier (And Live Longer) - CCT News