Ben Robbins | NorCal Resilience Network

Neighborship

by Ben Robbins | Aug 28, 2021 | Case Studies, Case Study Blocks

In the aftermath of the financial crisis, and the skyrocketing cost of living in the United States, many people turned to tiny homes and mobile homes as a means to survive. Tucked in a small lot at the edge of West Oakland lies a tiny home community known as Neighborship. Founded by Adam Garrett-Clark and other pedicab drivers in 2015, Neighborship is a resilience space in a variety of ways, from their energy resilience to their response to various legal and zoning challenges unfortunately common to many tiny home communities throughout the Bay Area.

Off-Grid Living

Neighborship is composed of several mobile homes, all with a variety of innovative climate solutions. The community is truly a resilience hub in that it is completely off-grid, with each home outfitted with its own solar panels and battery back up.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

The combination of the limited financial resources with limited energy from their batteries and solar panels have prompted the residents of Neighborship to become experts at energy conservation. All of the homes have energy efficient appliances, while the community also sports a wind turbine which is essential during prolonged periods of minimal sun visibility such as heavy smoke days.

The community is also food resilient. Built on a former junk yard with a history of toxic heavy metals in the soil, the residents have had to get creative with their gardening. All of their edible and medicinal plants are grown in raised beds and pots and are pollinated by the several hives of bees that live on site.

Despite their model resilience practices, the community is under constant threat of closure. The residents have become outspoken advocates for zoning code reform and leaders in the struggle to legalize tiny home communities, as highlighted in this recent San Francisco Chronicle article. Their local partners and collaborators in this struggle include the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Sustainable Economies Law Center, Northern California Land Trust, and Bottom’s Up Community Garden.

Recently, their efforts have seen some success with Oakland’s New Ordinance to Increase Housing Affordability which would give communities like Neighborship a legal designation and protection. But these efforts are a double-edged sword: the requirements stipulated in the ordinance will increase financial burdens that could jeopardize their very affordability.

Community Asset Mapping

Inside Neighborship, there is an informal understanding of both the skills and vulnerabilities of the residents. Since many of the residents have been pedicab drivers, there is extensive use of bicycles and knowledge to prepare them. To keep things affordable, they are also skilled in water conservation and are constantly looking for new ways to save and store water.

Disaster preparedness is one area of growth for the community. The site does have a 72 hour supply of food and water, but they do not have sufficient supplies of other emergency materials such as masks, air filters, and radios. They used to meet on a regular basis to discuss disaster preparation, but since the start of the pandemic, these meetings have become less frequent. Recognizing these deficiencies, Adam is interested in formalizing disaster response procedures and adding capabilities to be able to respond to a variety of different emergencies.

Although their community faces many challenges, Neighborship stands as a model for how tiny homes can effectively fight the housing crisis, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase community resilience.

Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Case Study: Bay Area Maker Farm

by Ben Robbins | Aug 17, 2021 | Case Studies, Case Study Hubs

The climate crisis is already here. Every year, the threat to vulnerable communities rises. In order to meet the moment, we must act quickly to protect those at risk. Recognizing the urgency to adapt, a group of skilled craftspeople have rapidly developed a new resilience space in the City of Alameda. At its current location, the Bay Area Maker Farm has only been around since the beginning of 2021. Since then, they have developed their allotted plot of land into a dynamic site. Their new location is on land owned by Alameda Point Collaborative (APC), the largest supportive housing community in Alameda County, which has provided them with the opportunity to support their residents, many of whom previously struggled with homelessness. This partnership has already proven fruitful, with many of the residents regularly showing up at volunteering events and workshops.

The Bay Area Maker Farm is in a unique situation, being the only resilience site in the City of Alameda. Although it is relatively new, the site will most likely act as a model for other potential hubs who are interested in building resilience in the face of climate change.

One area where they stand out is their incorporation of various makers, whose expertise and ingenuity contributed to the rapid establishment of the site in its current location. The members of the Maker Farm are skilled in a variety of crafts including woodworking, sewing, blacksmithing, and gardening. The site contains several shipping containers which have been converted into workspaces for the makers to rent out. Some of their projects include NorCal Resilience partner Wholly H2O, which promotes water conservation, and the Foodz Project, which turns food waste into hot meals for the homeless. During the pandemic, the makers have put their skills to good use, producing personal protective equipment and painting murals in support of Black Lives Matter during the height of the George Floyd protests.

Recognizing the lack of diversity in the maker community, the site has made efforts to promote equity by hosting community events for local BIPOC organizations as well as offering skill shares for their local community to bring new people into the maker’s space. These efforts are especially important given the fact that their area is 90% people of color while a majority of the makers are overwhelmingly white.

Although they have made remarkable progress since coming to their new location, the Bay Area Maker Farm acknowledges its need to further develop as a resilience hub, especially in the area of disaster preparedness. One area, in particular, they seek to flesh out is setting up clear procedures to respond to natural disasters such as extreme heat, smoke from wildfires, earthquakes, and flooding. Currently, the farm does not act as a food distribution hub despite its connection with the Foodz Program and the refrigerated truck on-site, but they are interested in setting up a food distribution program in the future. In terms of supplies, they do not have enough food, water, masks, air filters, first aid kits, or emergency go-bags to withstand a sizable disaster. There is currently no committee dedicated to disaster preparation, but there are ongoing efforts to rectify this shortcoming.

One area of strength for the Maker Farm is their connection with their community. The site itself is designed to be as open and inviting as possible. The gates are always open for visitors and anyone can come to their volunteer days. This has made them incredibly accessible to their APC neighbors and has brought in assistance from across the area including the local Coast Guard base. They also host regular meetings for groups such as BIPOC Alameda and have partnerships with Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda (CASA) as well as APC’s Farm2Market.

The farm also has made excellent progress to be more self-reliant with its water and energy practices. The entire site runs on renewable energy supplied by a solar panel owned by FEMA and operated by the makers. They are also looking to install backup batteries and generators to prepare for power shutoffs. Through Wholly H2O, the site is also working on adopting more water sustainable practices such as rainwater catchment.

The new Bay Area Maker Farm has quickly established itself as an innovative and dynamic resilience space that could serve as a model for the entire city of Alameda. Thanks to the creativity and ingenuity of the MakerFarm members, the site will continue to find innovative ways to better serve its community.

If you wish to learn more about the Maker’s Farm or assist in their projects, check out their website here: Bay Area Makerfarm

Case Study: The Oakland Peace Center

by Ben Robbins | Jul 26, 2021 | Case Studies, Case Study Hubs

As climate change drastically upends our daily lives, promoting peaceful cohabitation, conflict resolution, and cooperation will be essential for humanity’s survival. To this end, the Oakland Peace Center is dedicated to community building through the work of its 30+ community partners, whose programs support nonviolent communications, mental health, healing, and community-based conflict resolution. At the Peace Center, the various organizational partners offer a variety of services including therapy, meditation, youth workshops, and immigration services.

Founded at the First Christian Church of Oakland on MLK Day ten years ago, the Oakland Peace Center has taken a unique approach to promote resilience. Beyond just maintaining supplies of emergency resources, their connections have given them the ability to promote resilience on a daily basis and strengthen their community before a disaster even hits.

There are many elements of the Oakland Peace Center which distinguish it from other resilience hubs. Their most unique elements are their partners. In total, there are ten in-house partners and more than thirty-five external partners who work closely with the organization. Through these, the Center shines. Acting as an intermediary, the Peace Center excels at coordinating resources and expertise to promote nonviolent conflict resolution and provide assistance to vulnerable community members. Some of the organizations include East Point Peace Academy, which offers conflict resolution training to the general public and prisoners, the Niroga Institute which teaches trauma-informed mindfulness practices at Oakland schools, and Project Darreis, which provides basic needs in an effort to curb violence. By themselves, these organizations provide vital services to the community, but with the assistance of the Peace Center, they are able to break out of their silos to collaborate with other organizations and find creative ways to build resilience.

Another central element of these organizations, and the Center at large, is their focus on promoting equity and supporting marginalized communities. This can be seen in their agreed-upon values where they recognize the persistent legacy of slavery and commit themselves to always center racial equity in their work.

The Oakland Peace Center stands as a model resilience hub thanks to their extensive disaster preparations, relationships with their community, and their efforts to fight climate change. In the event of a disaster, the facility will be prepared thanks to their regular evacuation drills, designated meeting places, and supplies of essential resources. Currently, they have enough food and water to supply thirty people for over a week, a reserve of bunk beds and sleeping bags, as well as go-bags that contain feminine hygiene products.

To ensure that nobody is left behind in the event of a disaster, one of their most important roles as a resilience hub is to stay connected to the community that they serve. As an organization whose primary purpose is networking, the Oakland Peace Center is perfectly situated as an intermediary in their community. Through their partners, they are able to identify those who need the most assistance and connect them with resources. When one partner is working with someone who needs mental health counseling, they are able to work with another partner who provides these services. Finally, the Center has been making efforts to combat climate change. This is mainly done through partners such as The Sunflower Alliance, Urban Releaf, and the Alliance for Climate Education. These community organizations work with the Peace Center to educate the community about climate change and fight for climate justice. Recently, they have been retrofitting the facility with sustainable appliances such as energy-efficient lights and low water usage faucets and toilets. One area of potential growth for both disaster preparedness and fighting climate change is switching to renewable energy and expanding backup power options.

In the near future, the Peace Center plans on adding solar panels as a form of renewable energy, as well as adding backup power in case of power shutoffs. The Center is also looking to build up a larger network of volunteers to assist them in their endeavors and to create a list of people’s skills so they can better assign people to various work projects

If you wish to help them promote nonviolence and create a more equitable and resilient future, you can click the link below.

https://www.oaklandpeacecenter.org/volunteer

Case Study: The Garden of Dreams

by Ben Robbins | Jul 22, 2021 | Case Studies, Case Study Spaces

Envisioned by young community members in 2019, the Dream Youth Clinic’s Garden of Dreams has blossomed over this past year, providing a green safe-space in a formerly blighted section of their cul-de-sac. At the start of the pandemic, health advisors stressed the importance of sheltering-in-place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This was a tall order for those without stable housing to quarantine in or somewhere to go to refresh outdoors. For residents of Dreamcatcher Youth Shelter, an affiliate of the Youth Clinic, the creation of the Garden of Dreams helped remedy this situation by providing a healthy environment to relax, remain active, and reflect during the stress of the pandemic.

Thanks to the leadership of Dr. Aisha Mays, a physician at the clinic, and her team of young volunteers, the Garden of Dreams stands out as a model resilience space. From the beginning, they have excelled at promoting youth leadership and equity. Instead of dictating what young people needed, the clinic asked their youth community what would best support them. The youth responded enthusiastically that they wanted a garden. The design of the site’s rainwater catchment system exemplifies how this emphasis on youth voices persists to this day. Using white butcher paper, the youth of the clinic wrote out inspirational messages. These messages were then carved, in their own handwriting, into the panels of their water gazebo. In terms of equity, the garden emphasizes the incorporation of indigenous healing practices and provides stipends to youth volunteers and leaders who help out on planting days and who lead workshops. By providing financial support, the garden uplifts their young community members and encourages further climate action and leadership. Two years after the first visioning session, the garden now offers a variety of fruits and vegetables that are often unaffordable and out of reach for many young people and community members

To bring people together, the hub has developed a network of robust partnerships with a variety of community organizations and local governmental departments. They received two grants from the NorCal Resilience Network and currently collaborate with DreamCatcher Youth Services, MISSSEY, Planting Justice, HumaniTree, Acta NonVerba, BART, and the Oakland City Council. They also hold regular events such as planting days, garden youth cooking workshops, food distribution, and youth block parties. These events and connections help break down barriers between groups, allowing greater cooperation and interconnectivity.

The Garden of Dreams’ leaders continue to envision how to strengthen their site’s resilience. One area that they are focusing on more is disaster preparedness. Although the hub does have sufficient supplies of food, water, and medical equipment, they do not have a clear emergency response plan for frequent disasters such as excessive heat, smoke, drought, or earthquakes. The committee intends to formalize their emergency plans and provide more training in first aid and emergency medical care. To address climate change, the Garden of Dreams has installed solar panels on the aforementioned rainwater catchment system to pump water for the garden. They have also incorporated drought-tolerant landscaping, drip irrigation, and water efficient appliances for the clinic and the garden.

The Dream Youth Clinic’s Garden of Dreams is a visionary resilience space that is constantly looking for new ways to strengthen their community. Through these measures, this hub will further promote the health and wellbeing of their youth community and strengthen their resilience in the face of an intensifying climate crisis.

If you are interested in learning more about the Dream Youth Clinic, click here:

https://rootsclinic.org/dream-youth-clinic-2/ or follow DreamYouthClinic on Instagram and Facebook

Case Study: La Colina Community Circle

by Ben Robbins | Jul 7, 2021 | Case Studies, Case Study Blocks

La Colina Community Circle is a model resilience neighborhood situated in the hills of El Sobrante, California. Founded on the vision of breaking down walls of isolation and strengthening connection between neighbors, the Community Circle has grown into a thriving community in an environment challenged by climate change. Through frequent events like block parties and crop swaps, the bonds between neighbors have blossomed. By pooling their skills and resources, they have strengthened community resilience through disaster preparation, permaculture and various work projects. Unlike a traditional hub housed at a single facility, the organic and familiar nature of this resilience neighborhood model allows the site to more effectively care for the needs of individual community members.

The community itself is a unique blend of working class families of various races and ethnicities. There is a core constituent of dedicated members who find the time in their busy lives to work on the multitude of neighborhood projects to build both resilience and community.

A model for Permaculture: food growing and water catchment/conservation

The neighborhood itself contains a multitude of gardens that grow a variety of fruits and vegetables including olives, blackberries, and tomatoes. Chief among these gardens is the food forest at Rising Spring garden, home to community organizer Jessica Bates and the focal point of resilience for the neighborhood. Their innovative water systems help to support her garden; Rising Spring contains three 208 gallon tanks, a single 10,000 gallon tank, an in house water filtration system, water-efficient appliances,a laundry to landscape greywater system, and various drought-resistant landscaping. Other neighbors also have innovative sustainable features, from gardens to drought tolerant landscaping. One neighbor has a full-house grey water system and a home made composting toilet. These measures are an essential element of community resilience and will be vital community resources during California’s persistent droughts.

La Colina is also well prepared to respond to natural disasters.

Similar to many other hubs, La Colina is constantly finding new ways to build resilience. One priority area is disaster preparedness. For example, there is one member who is becoming CERT certified, while multiple community members have prepared go bags and have stockpiled 72 hours’ worth of food and water. They also have a Ham radio tower which is connected to East Bay CERT (community emergency response team) and is stationed on the hillside next to La Colina neighborhood. At their community meetings every third Sunday, neighbors often discuss how they would respond to various disaster scenarios, including evacuation plans. Since the community abuts part of Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, neighbors are currently working on becoming trained to become a “FireWise ” community. One dangerous source of vulnerability for the community are earthquakes as many of the homes in the neighborhood currently not retrofit for a sizable shock. Beyond this, the community itself is well connected, with clear lines of communication and extensive asset mapping to assist vulnerable residents during disasters. Rising Spring is also developing mobile off-grid power through solar with battery backup.

Looking to the future, La Colina Community Circle is ambitious in its efforts to create a more resilient community. Though busy with her toddler, Jessica has bold ambitions at her Rising Spring home garden that include creating a shared shaded area for community meetings, setting up a community kitchen, and building a mobile charging solar station. These efforts and others will go a long way to further the Community Circle’s goals of breaking down barriers between neighbors and strengthening their connections with one another. As a resilient neighborhood, La Colina neighborhood is a shining example of the power of cooperation and standing together in the face of adversity.