History

PAST EXPERIENCE

Our project began to take shape in April 2009, when we had an Earthquake preparedness workshop and intro to CERT training. After the workshop everyone was encouraged to go into their neighborhoods and put a preparedness plan together while sharing the knowledge they had acquired.

In early June 2009, we conducted our first Town Hall Meeting and Ice Cream Social to introduce ourselves. We explained that we are here to facilitate community change through participatory projects, and engaged in discussion with the attendees about what types of activities they would be interested in. For the Ice Cream Social, everyone brought a topping to share, and following our tenet of radical self-reliance, brought their own bowl and spoon. Many brought additional bowls and spoons for others, thus taking care of their neighbors.

In July 2010, we held the very successful Second Annual Newbie Orientation for Burning Man first time participants, with over one hundred attendees, including sixty newbies and forty veterans sharing their experiences. We repeated this program July 2011 to an even larger crowd. These newbies were eager to jump in and work on community building projects, demonstrating that our strategies are working.

During July through October 2010, we held very successful monthly “Stuff With a Past“ clothing swaps where attendees could bring what they did not need and take anything they wanted. We also set up an educational sewing station to teach the basics of machine sewing. All remaining clothing was donated to “My Friends Place”, a runaway shelter.

The first Saturday in October we produced the Annual LA Decompression Arts and Music Festival now in its 10th year, where we invited artists to demonstrate and showcase their arts to the greater community; over 5000 people attended. Funds from this event were used to build an outdoor classroom at George Washington Carver Middle School in South Central Los Angeles.

In February 2010 and 2011, we held our second and third Community Town Hall meeting and Ice Cream Social to excite the community about our planned projects opportunities regarding partnering with California State Parks.

In August 2010, we organized a free family friendly 3 day camping event. Attendees created environments which invited participatory activities.
One Sunday a month from March 6, 2011 to August 7, 2011, We organized and produced the monthly Burning Man Film Series (BMFS) in partnership with American Cinematheque at the historic Egyptian theater

Facilitated the Carver Community Garden Project in partnership with Burners Without Borders, Carver Garden Alliance, and LA Unified School District at George Washington Carver Middle School. We completed this garden with a ribbon cutting with Mayor Antonio Villariagosa on October 31, 2011.

Organized a community wide art project utilizing the principle of radical inclusivity to be burned at the 2011 Burning Man event on September 1, 2011.

On-going Drum Circle heritage and education summer project in conjunction with the FamCamp program presented by California State Parks at the LA State Historical Park.

  • We developed and maintained an 8000 subscriber email newsletter list.

  • We solidified our communication strategy by developing our own website

  • We started an official Facebook page and Twitter stream (7900and 3000 members respectively).

  • We created a website as a central destination for educational programs, current and future projects and event information.

  • We instituted a weekly email newsletter to our community that informs them of events and upcoming opportunities

Each year we publish a year-end report called the Annual Regional Responsibility Report (ARRR), including fiscal statement, and recap of activities. These reports are published on our website.

PRESENT PROJECTS

  • Continued support to Carver Community Garden Project as part of the Carver Garden Alliance, and LA Unified School District at George Washington Carver Middle School.

  • Continued facilitation of future gardens for several middle schools in conjunction with the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS).

  • Organizing Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, Red Cross First Aid training, Search and Rescue training through the Los Angeles Fire Department offered free to participants to prepare them for assistance in disaster relief. Producing the 10h Annual Decompression Arts and Music Festival in partnership with California State Parks at the LA State Historical Park.Organizing a community wide art project utilizing the principle of radical inclusivity to be burned at the 2012 Burning Man event.

  • Drum Circle heritage and education summer project in conjunction with the FamCamp program presented by California State Parks.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES

  • 2012 Decompression Arts and Music Festival Event

  • CERT training sponsored by LAFD

  • Workshops: Solar DIY, Gardening, Global Branding, Marketing to Maintain Your Dreams, and others

  • Town Hall Meetings

  • Ice Cream Social

  • Community Outreach Event

  • 4rd Annual Newbie orientation – Art of Desert Survival workshop

  • 2nd Community Garden Project