Project Update - Celebrate! The Hood River City Council and Planning Department have approved our Land Use Permit! Next steps are to secure the construction loan, select a general contractor, and obtain the building permits. Construction is estimated to begin this summer. |
|
|
Welcome New Members! Sandy, Troy, Mark and Mary Waiting List Currently all of the planned 25 units have been reserved, but we continue to accept Associate Members to our group. If you would like to be added to the waiting list, please contact friends@adamscreekcohousing.com. |
|
|
Education Challenges and Connections in Our Community It’s been a mild winter in the Columbia Gorge, but our single significant snowfall happened on Christmas Day as we celebrated the varied winter holidays we observe, whether Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the New Year with friends and families in a socially distanced way! This January heralded changes for our community, both on a local and national scale. Along with much of the rest of the country, we greeted our new leaders and legislators with the optimism of new beginnings, and renewal of our individual efforts towards peace, health and equity. |
|
|
Many of our members are avid hikers, taking advantage of this mild winter to enjoy some great hikes in The Gorge with stunning views. Snow conditions higher on Mt Hood have provided much-welcomed opportunities for adults and kids to enjoy skiing, snow boarding, snow shoeing and sledding! |
|
|
Another way our members have found to stay connected and challenge each other is to form an ACC book club. Here’s an introduction to our new book club from its facilitator Jerri Patten. “We hope to choose books that really get us thinking about how we live in the world. Our first selection, See No Stranger, by Valarie Kaur, is a great selection to begin with! |
|
|
Ms. Kaur is a member of the Sikh faith who launched her career as an activist while she was still in college. After the events of 9/11, she spent a year traveling and documenting the hate crimes against Muslims, Sikhs, and those of middle eastern heritage living in the United States. She has since completed law school and has launched the Revolutionary Love Project. This book is a part of that project, challenging readers to be motivated by love to see the humanity in all people and to find ways to fight for justice, while still practicing self-care. Each chapter explores a different facet of what it means to practice revolutionary love. We meet monthly and at our next meeting we will discuss the middle three chapters of the book: Rage, Listen, Reimagine.” |
|
|
Over the past months ACC has also strived to keep the children in our community engaged with each other and our adult members through both online and socially distanced in person activities. Becki M enjoys reading every week via Zoom with community kids Zora, Cleo, William and Mielle. Ruth Tsu helps sharpen math skills with the kids using games that illustrate various concepts with numbers and fractions. |
|
|
Milt Markewitz, author and earth steward, led a two session “kids’ seminar”. Here’s a description of this learning opportunity in Milt’s own words. “The subject was Living Systems and in the first class we read Old Turtle and the Broken Truth. The primary message of the book is that Creation loves all life, and I highly recommend it for folks of all ages. We then had a conversation regarding how all Earth’s systems are alive and endowed with the same life processes, and the children all expressed their belief that the Earth is alive. In the second class we talked about both the attributes of living systems – that they continually cleanse, heal and restructure so that life will flourish; and the life processes to which all life is endowed – perfect order, the ability to pro-create, the attraction we have for what we need, and how we’re all interdependent. Becki Montgomery showed a small piece of wood on which life was teeming, and we all appreciated how life energy was transferred from one system to others, as well as the beauty of Nature. It was a wonderful experience and I thank the organizers for inviting me to be with them and the children.” Finally, here are some words from one of our ACC families about education and connection during the pandemic. Nine year old Mielle says the best things in her online education have been: "Zoom reading with my family and friends. If I didn't do Zoom, I wouldn't be able to see my family” and “being with mom and (little brother) Ash all the time!” The worst parts are "Essays!" Her mom Tarah Holden gives us a silver lining. “ For me, it is most challenging to have a 3 year old that has very different needs than a 9 year old. Despite all the difficulties of this past year, I feel so incredibly lucky that Mielle is getting to know people in ACC in a way that wouldn't have been possible without the Zoom interactions. She barely knew Ruth before all this began, and now she feels pretty close to her and really looks forward to seeing her. She was already close with Becki, but it's allowed her to continue seeing her regularly and maintain the relationship. She also spends an hour each with my mom, my dad, and my MIL each week. It has given them a way to be together despite not being able to see one another." |
|
|
Stay Safe. Stay Healthy. Stay in Touch. Friends@AdamsCreekCohousing.com |
|
|
|
|
