Talking About Affordable Housing for Locals and People Who Work or Want to Live in Rural NWCT and more, on Northwest Corner Chatter and here
While most states and cities have online resources listed for those intereseted in the US and likely other countries, hearing from the people living and working in an area or otherwise studying or visiting the area (sometimes for years as part of a summer experience or private school or other longterm connection and other times more as part of travelling, going to events, visiting friends and more) can help one feel like they are tuning in to important realities.
The Lakeville Journal newspaper is an independent newspaper now archived largely online, so more people can appreciate the weekly and overall history of the past 123 years! Congratulations to the paper which has been covering the towns that are part of the Region One CT school district-- Falls Village (also known legally as Town of Canaan and includes South Canaan where there is a lovely historic Meeting House that has been restored and could likely use ongoing donations as could many efforts such as The Center On Main, a restored church and even the Falls Village Congregational Church which has hosted many helpful and festive events and program spaces for Scouts and other groups), North Canaan (known locally as Canaan and includes East Canaan) which hosts an exciting Railroad Days for many years in July including fireworks and now enjoys the restored historic Train Depot, Cornwall (which includes Cornwall Bridge, West Cornwall with their own zip codes), Salisbury (which includes Lakeville and Amesville and Limerock, which is the location of the famous Racetrack for cars), Sharon (which has a hospital serving much of Dutchess County NY as well), and Kent (which has a private high school or two and Macedonia State Park, Kent Falls and land that makes headlines with regards to the Schatiocoke Natives.) To review the towns readily again in the Region One School District (which all feed into the Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village CT, that's (1) Falls Village,(2) North Canaan and (3)Cornwall, (4)Salisbury, (5)Sharon and (6)Kent. For those who'd like, you can summarize as may fit your purposes with this kind of code I am making up just now...1FV, 2NC, 3CO,4SA, 5SH, 6KE. Let me know what you think, but naming and such gets to be a mouthful sometimes and there are towns not just schools so this could be for the towns... for the Grade Schools you could add -GS and for the high school (since each town has a board member or so on the regional High School Board) you could say HS.
These are not official designations or sponsored or supported by any town or Board of Eds. These are to be helpful to people in discussions to the extent they find that helpful. For Affordable Housing you could have an -AH designation. So in Falls Village that would look like 1FV-AH. Whatever other designations you may want to make, consider two letters since that can be more clarifying. Overall I do think we need a way for people to relate as men, women, and youth, and that is something I have explored in Thinking KAPP, Kids Adults Parents Partnerships as well as Acorns to Oaks Team Outreach (A-2020). Then there could be aspects for men, women, youth in 5 year increments and even year to year since the early years of one's life are rather profound and then after one is 30 having '5 year increments' and 10 year ones may be sufficient.
Of course more peopel considering what youth are facing even if they don't have kids (and especially if they do) and younger adults considering what older people are facing cqn be helpful.
Natural family and social, and local networks can be more responsive to the needs of each age group whether for mobility (getting to places, appointment, trips and so on, school, work and other routine or local events) and housing needs (longterm but even short-term if there are transitions due to medical or social needs, events and so on), health, insurance or funds to make prevention practical with regular dental care, medical appointments and much more.
Okay so that's an overall 'game plan' and there is more on other posts..and plenty I would welcome help with for every state and town to consider implementing as suggestions and voluntary efforts to help more people feel capable and included in accessing resources and promoting safety and well-being and respect on many levels. Thanks for doing your part, planting those idea seeds and efforts, voicing concerns and resources and helping everyone feel valued and included.
Gaining clarity and confidence in understanding many aspects of life and today's world and particularly 'religion and politics' as we know it are overall important goals as well, particularly as the next US Presidential election comes up in 2020!. Try to make time to get involved even by reading online or seeing youtubes and joining with others as you can. Small donations add up.
Please consider the ideas Marianne Williamsom and people across the spectrum are offering to enrich the options and bring more balance to a world where many wrongs have led to a few feeling they have the rights to take control of others and the planet. Peak at what The Left Forum 2019 and in the past has been exploring in annual events. There are deep roots to much that is happening in the world that public education cannot inform people about for the most part. Schooling does not end with any graduation but rather 'takes the show on the road' and we are all star players in making a difference..one way or the other...
The Northwest Corner Chatter FB group is now public after gaining over 5K members. This Livfully.org site has served in an overall way for any town facing similar issues or people wondering out loud about life in general, personal or more political matters, Making sense of everything can be daunting, and even figuring out or braving 'where to begin.' That's why I jump in sometimes with what I feel 'called or interested in' then 'let things unfold as they may. I could stick to one topic but what if another important insight would help that first one along.
So here I share now a post about affordable housing that some chimed in about. I can summarize briefly that some have felt we need an ongoing grassroots and political type action committee in each town. There are some social services but even with getting some things 'addressed in a crisis or short term with friends and others pitching in, there are not many housing options at all for people who don't make enough to affort even a room for a few hundred a month (and those are not readily available and can be fraught with more concerns if people have various problems...so worth talking with Berkshire Taconic Foundation's Housing US or getting ideas from reputable people and online resources to have an agreement in place (a lease or rental agreement for instance, and I am not a professional and am just indicating what I would do were I in such a position.)
Homes that need a great deal of work can be costly far beyond the purchase price. Looking up assessing real estate programs and books would be a good idea. Talk to people locally and beyond and see what surprises you might bump into. But back to affordable housing, the Lakeville Journal has had a series going and some letters to the editor to address this concern over the past few years. Some low income housing becomes available but it may be a long wait. And the rent needs to paid as well as utilities. They don't take IOUs in case you are hoping to sell your home and want to move in right away. Maybe a gofundme.com or other funding source could help with loans that could then repaid when a home is sold (by an elder or someone looking to downsize or put an apartment in or add to their large home as may be permissible.)
I will blog about this topic more on livfully.org when I get time...but wanted to say Brooklyn NY is discussing this issue in many contexts, exploring the dynamics and effects of gentrification, wealthier people or companies buying up real estate and driving rents or purchase prices up. In NYC and maybe much of NY, people have a 'right to be in NY even without a home...'
That's another factor I wanted to mention so they cannot be run out of town that was theirs,but it's no picnic. I have considered that people could share ideas of how to stretch dollars with co-housing, finding people who could share land (possibly camp in the warmer months and rent rooms out if that is legal) and otherwise pool resources as well as advocate for more tenant rights and supplemental housing funds to help people make their rent.
Another rather important option I have promoted for a couple of decades if putting kids into school a year later than recommended so they can be more mature and handle the academic, social, and other opportunities and expectations more successfully.
That would also provide 18 and 19 year olds time to mature while still in high school (rather than having kids out of the house by 17 or just 18...) I had hoped to do a 5th year of high school to complete more AP classes and have more college credits going in..
That was back in 1985. As it turned out, I headed right to college (after being at HVRHS in my hometown of Falls Village CT, Wilbur Cross HS each in New Haven each for a year --and a dance program Educational Center for Arts near Yale in New Haven--and Roger Ludlowe in Fairfield for two years, learning to drive in the suburbs on I-95.)
Then I was off to Vassar and got to travel around the US for a few months with friends before settling back into the area in 1986, always with family or finally with a special housing that came with a job, a rare but special opportunity.
I was very fortunate we had family near initially to rear kids--living with family for a few years before the job with housing-- and let them go to the schools here (especially when there were more kids and excellent programs, yet had other challenges as many have learned from the mainstream media and my blog about the untimely passing of our teen son Kaelan when he tried to save a friend from treacherous waters by the Falls in 2009.
Here are some outreaches I have done since the mid- 1980s a recreation director in Falls Village CT and taught phys ed at Town Hill (including driving kids to ski on Wednesdays at Catamount in my own old car or to use the gym at Hotchkiss and go on a field trip in a van, coached soccer at Kellogg and basically promoted many grassroots ways for people to network long before the internet by handing out flyers and writing to the newspapers and bridging links between people at local schools, parents, sports and other resources in the tri-corner area (all while caring for elders in their homes and taking a free CNA training in Great Barrington, training as a mediator, permaculturist and learning a ton from Congregational Churches, many agencies such as Housatonic Youth Services, counseling programs, mental health services (near and far and NAMI, as well as AA, Al-Anon and many more services 'just below the surface of our society), Sharon Hospital and Fairview Hosp--Life Enhancement Program that's still ongoing (Cancer Support Group that no longer meets for those with cancer, family and and friends but should be done voluntarily...and other groups such as Hospice Volunteer, Adult Ed and Taconic Learning, North East Community Center and Millerton NY Library and Annex,, Construct in GB, Non-Violence Communication and a great deal online on these topics and others such as from Steven Greer and many woo-woo but likely tuned in folks such as Gregg Braden, Patti Sinclair, Jenn McLean and tons more.)
I feel the overall messages are ones that 'I can't keep to myself and will help heal our situations on many levels...' with a consideration of our legacies on many levels as well as our hopes and abilities to consider 'the bigger picture.' With climate change having our challenges for housing are playing out around the country and world in difficult ways.
What used to be an economic concern is a shared environmental one. We are seeing plenty play out 'on the border' and need to pay attention to the impact of politics on what anyone can expect (in many areas of their lives, from the borders to the bedrooms. and from the board rooms to again our homes or any kind of housing or place to camp and live legally outdoors.
I have felt the country should provide a reasonable way for everyone to get to a 'warm climate' in the winter who would be at risk to be homeless or actually without housing. Those definitions are always changing (for 'homeless' but living on the streets or outdoors not by choice and without appropriate accommodations needs to be acknowledged.)
What Steven Greer shares is that there are layers of secrecy, cover-up and not letting people understand (even some politicians at high level) what is really going on in our country and world..underground as well as with decision making about UFOs, free energy sources and of course, much more.
That has been something I have studied mainly through youtube.com and hearing from others who were in the field much longer. Not everyone agrees who feels 'there is more to space, aliens (who may be rooting for us much more than not but possibly there are contenders on both sides..for the earth's resources and even our DNA or humanity.
Some say there are efforts to upgrade our DNA to handle higher frequencies or maybe live 'St. Elsewhere, maybe in a different form.' Plenty are offering the idea that as consciousness we really are not 'dying in terms of ceasing to exist' but rather changing form much like ice turns to water and that to steam yet it still H-2-O.
OKay I will plunk this on my blog and really need to get some other work done, But let's keep the locals being acknowledged, even jot down your own life timeline and that of your parents to not lose the rich sense of history andconsider spurring more activism and support for those 'coming up through the ranks' in terms of those you know or are younger than you, all of our youth and their caregivers and the non-profits and many more.
The FB page (and fundraiser that is still running for a bit, Remembering Kaelan Alexander Palmer Paton's Legacy also echoes the efforts of his grandparents, Dale and Mary Palmer Srs of Falls Village Ct and Sandy (Charles Alexander) and Caroline Paton of Sharon Ct.
The memorial service for Kaelan and celebration of his life was held in a festive manner a month after his passing (and as it turned out only 10 days prior to Sandy's and thankfully Sandy was able to see many of his folk musician, family, and friends before his decline in health and heartache took its final toll physically. With a lifelong Christian set of values and beliefs, I have since become more familiar with the sense of a shared greater love for people of many paths and energetic healing sense of being more than physical creatures.
Our science and society is rooted in the realm of the physical or property rights, but maybe at this time in our evolution (which some say are marked with inputs from the stars, beings in various realms and our own inner heat evolution and sure a little more sparkle in the noggin (brain)... but much happens when we sleep so we likely need to give everybody more credit and care to get Good Sleep (eye masks even with a light towel or cloth, a pitch black room ideally, and regular sleep from 9:30pm to 7am which of course it not ideal with the early school or work schedules, so back that up to 8pm to 6am...again much more on livfully.org and by the way, I am open to help figuring all of this out. I'm really a rest and relax kind of person at heart...
Thanks for all everyone is doing. We need to do it ALL--Allow, Listen & Learn, and can do more of that online and with some calls and advocacy than we could in the past,...and be aware many others are wanting and working toward the same things, so plenty to ponder and appreciate.
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