On April 20th, close to forty folks from Tucson, Pima County and Sierra Vista met at Startup Tucson to focus on how new online tools and collaborations can help buildup^ our communities. After greetings, information was shared and discussed about the following efforts:
- Santa Monica Well-being Project
- Community Renaissance's Do Happy Today Partnership with Limberlost Neighborhood and others
- Southern Arizona Fair Housing Council's Opportunity Index
- University of Arizona's Geodesign Collaboration Leadership Summit
The conversations have continued through informal social networking gatherings the third Thursday of the month at La Cocina Restaurant
http://www.lacocinatucson.com and through a BuildUP^ google group and at
http://www.facebook.com/buildup . Sixteen additional members have participated in the informal La Cocina gatherings of 10-12 and another forty have expressed interest through Facebook. Forty nine members are registered on Facebook.
At the La Cocina gatherings, participants share brief info about the positive work they are doing and, if appropriate, make an "ask" from the group that other participants can respond to and/or support. Previous gatherings included info and asks from The Mindfulness Exchange Project, City of Tucson Urban Landscaping Program and Water Dept. City of Tucson Ward 3.
Examples from the most recent gathering on 7/21 are:
From Debbie with "damenschen: making life better for people with dementia"--where can she offer baby dolls to be be placed (and assuage anxiety for) seniors with dementia? Response: Cascades of Tucson. Also, Debbie shared the upcoming STEAM Adventure for 900 4th-8th graders at PCC/Northwest.
http://agentsofsteam.org
From Tina Marie, a member of Tucsons Young Professionals/TYP: she is a startup coach and business coach at
www.profitproject.co . She is assisting TYP with IGNITE 520 on 10/21 and needs help in raising funds through sponsorships of $1500-10,000. Response: pending
From Michael/President of Limberlost NA: shared info on the progress of the Limberlost Family Park's Walking Path which will proceed with funds through City of Tucson Parks and Recreation. His ask--is there/could there be a way to add an app such as Pokemon Go to draw people to walk the park? Response: Valley of the Moon is purchasing a "lure" to draw more people to their venue which is already registered on the Pokemon Go map. Also from Michael who is developing desert-designed greenhouses through Nurse Tree Arch
www.nursetreearch.com . He is looking for team members to help build more structures. Response: suggestion to contact Citizens for Solar and Solar Tucson
From Kevin at Fengshui Planning
http://www.fengshuiplanning.com . He shared information on an upcoming Habitat for Humanity "out & about mixer" sponsored by the GLBT Chamber of Commerce, 7/29 5-7:30 p.m. at Habitat for Humanity Tucson
http://www.habitattucson.org . They are trying to raise $90,000 to build affordable housing for a Habitat approved family. He is also working with Limberlost Family Park to raise funds for reflective benches on the Family Walking Path.
From Maggie
http://www.facebook.com/safepark is working with others to build an eco-village for members of the homeless community. Response: scholarship offer to attend the UA Geodesign Collaboration Leadership Summit "Mitigating Poverty".
From Iris at UA Geodesign Collaboration Leadership Summit
http://bit.ly/collabsummit . This summit on 7/28-29 will focus on innovative collaboration and mapping approach to reduce the level of poverty...in S. Arizona. She encouraged participants to register for this event.
From Zach, at Valley of the Moon
http://www.tucsonvalleyofthemoon.com . He noted their recent successes, including being the newest historic preservation-registered site in Tucson. They are transitioning into a volunteer organization the needs more organizing capacity and asked for help with that transition and help with rebuilding their adobe house. Response: Michael offered his leadership and development resources and Hillary offered assistance from her contact at the UA College of Architecture.
From Lisa at Pima Public Library
http://www.library.pima.gov . She described how the main library's Idea Space is evolving into Idea Camp with staff development programs at Martha Cooper Library, Oro Valley and main administration. She also shared that she will be going the LeanIn Circle National Conference and bringing back new ideas to Tucson/Pima County's Women of Purpose Leanin Circle. She asked for help with WordPress. Response: Debbie told her about a WordPress Meetup Group.
Zach offered a celebratory toast to everyone's efforts and either Kevin or Anita will offer the toast at the next gathering at La Cocina 8/18 5:30-7 p.m.
POST MEETING: Anita and Iris and Kevin are exploring collaborating with other BuildUP^ and Do Happy Today Partners on the next BuildUP^ event in early November. Also, a new BuildUp^ motto has been identified from a Facebook post:
