Minneapolis, MN
Somehow, we survived our voyage across the middle of the country. While we are sure that Wyoming and South Dakota are really very beautiful, we could not tell you for certain because we drove through them during terrible weather and could not distinguish much of the landscape. When we finally arrived at our friend Nancy’s home in Minneapolis we were very grateful indeed. |
During our stay in the city, we were able to meet up with a man named Mike Greco in the city of St. Paul, which is the other half of the Twin Cities. Mike is the Program Manager of the Resilient Communities Project out of the University of Minnesota. (How perfect, right?) The program is amazing! Each year, different cities undergo a competitive application process to be paired with university students in various classes for the revitalization of their city. This year, the partner city is St. Paul. Evidently programs like this exist in about a dozen places around the country. We think they are brilliant because they allow students to apply their knowledge in a hands on way, whether it be of sustainability, community building, or food production, to a real life situation which then benefits from their work. |
Back in Minneapolis, we visited the Seward Food Co-op with our dear friend Andrew Dunn. It was one of our favorites so far. Pretty big, plenty of samples (cheese AND cookies!) and delicious sandwiches. |
Andrew also brought us to a potluck at a cooperative house full of female musicians that he lived with for a short time. Collectively, the talented ladies make up the band Knots on a String. They welcomed us wholeheartedly into their home and we ate like royalty. Afterwards, the games we played in their backyard lead to more laughter and hilarity than either of us had experienced in a long time. Ultimately, these amazing women taught us that a community can be strengthened and can remain strong by connecting with music and laughter. |
Madison, WI
We stayed with some really wonderful and hospitable couchsurfing hosts in Madison, Wisconsin. While we got to explore on foot, by taxi, and in our van we mostly biked (in the rain). | Our first stop was the Zoe Bayliss Women’s Co-op, which is in a prime location for students of the University of Wisconsin- Madison. We showed up unannounced, but luckily we were well received anyway and were promptly introduced to the vice president, Emily, who gave us a tour. The co-op was very different from what we are used to; there were a lot more people and the building style felt like a dormitory. However, group meals, chores and events identified a strong community there that was particularly focused on making the young women feel comfortable and safe in their home. | Next, we biked through the rainy city (on a great bike path!) to get to the Willy Street Co-op. The place is amazingly well stocked with delicious food and serves as an important community resource for Madison. We got to meet up with a friend, old housemate, and staff member of Santa Barbara Student Housing Co-op, Jeff, who had worked at the food co-op for years when he lived in Madison. |
Later, he showed us the cooperative house he used to live in called ‘Summit’. Once again, we were surprised. The place looks nothing like what we recognize as a “co-op” in Santa Barbara but instead boasts the class of a literal mansion. It was a cooperative filled with adults who wanted something relatively permanent and who knew how to respect and value their place. It was beneficial to see this attitude, which differed from some of our previous experiences. The next evening we went to dinner at ‘Friends’ co-op. Everyone was very welcoming as we walked in, offering delicious food and a tour. ‘Friends’ co-op was the most similar to what co-ops we have lived in, while ‘Summit’ may have been the farthest. |
Are you up to the challenge? Try to put the puzzle pieces together as fast as you can to see a photo from the zoo!
Milwaukee, WI
Before getting to our next awesome host’s house in Milwaukee, we stopped at a place we had been hearing a lot about: Growing Power. We first heard about this amazing organization, founded by Will Allen, on facebook, with the graphic to the right. Unfortunately we weren't able to meet Mr. Allen, as he was away, but for a small donation we got to go on a tour of their main location. Growing Power is a unique and wonderful organization because it addresses many problems at once with its work. The area of Milwaukee they are in is called a food desert- residents do not have access to fresh, local, or healthy food. |
Liquor stores exist where grocery stores should be. | Areas like this are generally plagued by health issues like obesity and heart disease, and disproportionately affect people of color | Often, as is true in Milwaukee, lack of economic opportunities create a climate of crime in the youth. | Growing power provides a solution to environmental and societal ills in one fell swoop. |
They produce tons of healthy food with innovative low impact techniques like aquaponics, and employ and educate local youth. The organization wouldn’t survive without the help of volunteers and with that help over the years has developed gardens and fresh food markets all over town. We love seeing examples of organizations like this that show how community resilience can take many different forms. It is especially inspiring to see such a well-functioning idea in the face of the extreme adversity of the environment. |
Later, we discovered Milwaukee has an entire connected cooperative network. | Books, food, a cafe, and a bar with lending library make up the group of non-housing cooperatives which we were able to visit while in this one amazing city. | Actually, we have seen lending libraries all over the US; Seattle, Minneapolis and Chicago all have little stations where people can take or leave books or info materials- all free! |
Our hosts told us to check out the Urban Ecology Center and we are so glad we took the time to explore it! We met a wonderful desk attendant, Marissa who told us a little about the Center, her area of study, and also asked us a lot of questions about our trip. She was incredibly supportive, encouraging, and helpful, asking us if there was anything she could do for us- after meeting us less than 10 minutes prior.
The Center itself is an amazing building that offers a lot to the surrounding community. It serves mostly as an educational community space, with informational signs popping up everywhere explaining things like how they capture rainwater to use in the toilets and put in recycled cork and rubber for their flooring. Every day there are different fun events, and we got there just in time for REPTILE FEEDING. Bumping elbows with hovering mothers and one very competent employee, we watched excited 6 year olds feed the snapping turtle, each grabbing a squirmy goldfish and plopping it into the tank in turn. The childlike energy rubbed off on us, and we climbed the stairs to find “Riverside Falls”, an amazing slide made to look like part of a river habitat. |
The center also boasts a rain garden, solar panel array, a rooftop teepee complete with children’s books, and animal education through a Citizen Scientist Program. This program is particularly intriguing because it is a creative way to foster an ecologically literate, engaged, and caring society that ends up doing important scientific data collection. Also, it seems really fun! |
Perhaps the best part about the experience though, was that the Urban Ecology Center was so inviting and accessible for everybody. We saw a wide variety of ages, races and genders and everyone seemed to be having a great time because they felt welcome and entertained. The center was born out of a need to address the high crime rate in the immediate neighborhood, and evidently they have been wildly successful in that regard. Overall, the Urban Ecology Center is an outstanding example of community building through environmental education.
More FUN
Free Zoos Both in Minneapolis and Madison we were drawn toward wild animals. Even though we were not excited they were caged, we still appreciated getting to see such incredible creatures up close and personal. We had a little scare in the Madison zoo when the tornado sirens started going off - these two native Californians had no idea what to do! We frantically thought about running to the “extreme weather bunker” we had seen in the women’s bathroom, but instead kept our cool and made our way to the guest shop. The cashier did not seem worried, and we casually (ha) asked her if there was going to be a tornado. Thankfully, she laughed, and said the city was just testing the sirens, so we were perfectly safe. Narwhal Our wonderful Milwaukee host, Zahner invited us to one of her communities- the Narwhal tubs. It is a place to soak and relax, but also a place to heal and to make friends. Not many people know about it but the members who do participate take care of the place together and seemed to have a great respect for each other and the tubs. Also, it is an important place for personal resilience, which we are realizing is a constant concern on this trip. |
Thank you so much for reading! We hope you have enjoyed our recollections of the lessons we are learning the experiences we are having. We will be back with more very soon.