City of Seattle and Moontown

The city of Seattle got a big federal grant just the other day. The funding was awarded to much fanfare and bombast as the mayor flew to D.C. in order to accept the reward from the Department of Energy. The city has decided to use the funds to weatherize the buildings of south Seattle including both public and private.

It is a good day for sustainability folks as the money is going directly to people who need it and it is a great first step towards making the city carbon neutral. What is important now is how the city contracts the actual work that will start to take place within the next few months and I offer up for your consideration: Moontown Foundation.

Moontown Foundation is the brain child of Stacey Nolan, a giant in the sustainability, environmental, and green jobs crowd here in Seattle. The foundation is based around green jobs in energy efficiency, weatherization, solar power, and raising awareness of the impact of global climate change.

If the city of Seattle has not considered organizations such as Moontown, perhaps they can take a second look. Using local organizations to do the work that was awarded to them would not only help the local economy, but show the city's dedication to real sustainability.

I'll let the foundation speak for itself here.

Moontown: Who we are

Moontown Foundation’s programs include outreach and advocacy, curriculum development and recruitment, career orientation workshops, and launching demonstration programs designed to:

• Raise awareness of the impact of global climate change on poor and historically disadvantaged communities in both the United States and the emerging world;
• Introduce underrepresented minority teens and young adults to green career opportunities in the clean and renewable energy industry sectors (i.e., wind, solar, and biofuels);
• Implement effective education and training programs that meet industry demand, recruitment and supports our the target demographic groups;
• Link basic and remedial education with occupational skills training that are in demand now;
• Involve employers and labor unions in the determination of core skills and competencies; and
• Ensure that supportive services, integrated with education and training are delivered by organizations with direct access to targeted demographic groups.

Ignoring what hurts

Every time I walk into the city I start counting. I notice the first number usually huddled out of sight. I step over and continue to count the numbers swelling as I reach the downtown area. I notice more counts and I start a second count in my head to acknowledge the responses.


I usually stop counting when my heart can't take anymore, on some days that is one on others ten. Every number is a piece of myself tearing away as I do the second category of denial: seeing and refusing. The second category is better than the vast majority response: outright ignoring and denying humanity, but it still makes me feel like a shell of a person.


I'm talking of course of the people suffering from an economic downturn of years and seasons. The city has a homeless population that is rising with every turn of the earth, yet we pat ourselves on the back with pointless city wide counts that announce their approach like a child yelling out a count for a game of hide and seek. The city wide count of homeless is ineffective as the homeless simply retreat into their buildings, parks and urban forests. The count is simply a way of saving face. I don't count like that.

I count and look at every person who is on the street. I look and try to give them a smile, food, money if I have it and I try even harder to see them as people and not failures who have somehow brought this upon themselves. We cannot afford to think of ourselves as seperate anymore when we see the numbers increasing especially amongst the young.


The most disheartening fact is that the city of Seattle has not even made the ending of institutional poverty a core part of their priorities. Instead we have laws and ordinances making it harder for the downtrodden to make any type of living because we don't want to scare the visiting tourists from Wisteria Lane who would hold a clothe to their noses if they wanted to even recognize someone was there.


Instead of making some changes and choices to give shelter, education and mental health help they need, we have chosen to be satisfied with an annual count that is meant to soothe and not inform. When are we going to make serious reform in regards to the poor and impoverished? We cannot ignore them forever if we want to be able to look ourselves in the mirror. We hug our children and kiss our loved ones while we watch our fellow people suffer.


We need to have a public outcry in order to put the pressure on community groups, churches, and government. We do not want more laws making being homeless a crime, but we want a paradigm shift away from blame and towards understanding. There are numerous groups involved in eradicating poverty and many of them have made the difference in scores of people's lives, but we cannot simply write a check to Real Change, or drop off an old pair of shoes at Good Will, we have to make concrete changes in the way we think of our fellow person.


Give your shoes to charity, write checks and buy papers from Real Change, but don't start subtracting from your count with every handout. People need a hand up. We need to make it unacceptable to ourselves and our city that people live in tents and garbage pails. It needs to tear at us every time we sip on our latte and then shake our head saying we don't have any to spare. The clock is ticking and it is time we stop hitting the snooze button.

Smart Growth Conference: Conclusions and Lessons

SGN is a national network of more than 5,000 people and 42 partner organizations working together to facilitate smart growth in neighborhoods across the United States. The SGN is designed to encourage development that serves the economy, the community, and the environment, all at the same time.



The Smart Growth Conference ended on Saturday in one of the most inspirational ways with a powerful speech by former King County Executive and current Deputy Secretary of HUD Ron Sims.

In a wide ranging speech from the immediacy of combating Climate Change to the revitalization of our Urban centers, which Mr. Sims defined as any gathering of people with a semblance of central population and industry, Mr. Sims brought a reverential tone to the closing ceremonies. Many in the audience were shouting out agreement, clapping and nodding their heads. Many times the speech would be humorous and laughter would erupt suddenly to disperse as Mr. Sims slammed home a truism.

He spoke of sustainability and livability as two sides to the same argument often pairing the two terms in a quick slur of a phrase repeatedly. The two terms were then tied to the process of social justice and fair treatment. He made the point numerous times that nothing of consequence will change until we realize that we are all in this together and what happens to your neighbor does affect your own happiness. If there is no social justice everywhere there is no social justice anywhere.

Social Justice is an integral part of sustainability and there must not be a wall between the rich and the poor and a wall between the classes. We need to make the aspect of equality reach every section of our sustainable theories and practices. Make equality a means and an end.

The speech was a call to action for the three hundred or so crowd who gathered in the Convention Center Ballroom. It was practical and far reaching. It sent goosebumps at times with a silenced crowd when Mr. Sims talked about the struggles his parents went through and the incredible amount of personal strength it took them to be dehumanized in front of their children. The struggle of civil rights and fair treatment was used as an example of an idea that seems self evident in hindsight, but was unheard of when it began. He challenged us to again challenge the status quo and the expected outcomes.

"Think like a movement," Mr. Sims said, "Give up your single interests and your silos. Everything is connected whether you are a builder, a planner, a teacher, or an advocate."

A major theme in the speech was the power of diversity and terminology. "Begin to realize the power of terms. Terms have power." He wanted us to realize that the actions that take place in the communities we are trying to reach will fail if we do not frame the issues in terms the community will understand. We need to find the terms that are accessible and precise. We need to stop using our acronyms and jargon and connect the meaning back into our talk.

"The United States is the great human experiment. We are the first nation in history to be an economic power, a military power and a social power without a common ancestry. Our diversity of cultures, peoples, and backgrounds is what gives us our strength. Can you communicate with the people who look different than you?"

"Ignorance creates terrorism, disease, and war. We need to break the chains of ignorance."

"You may have a big house, but if you can't even talk to your neighbors, you are lonely."

"Poverty will not keep us apart."

The listening crowd was paying attention. They were not tapping on Blackberries or checking their Facebook status. They were looking and leaning forward. They stood up when called to and the ovation was genuine, positive and energized. Now the challenge is to keep going.

"In a relay teamwork matters and it doesn't matter how big a lead you have if the baton doesn't get passed on. You are the person I hand the baton to. Now, how are you going to win?"