I'm sitting in a refurbished factory builiding in downtown Cincinnati, OH that is now the home of community organizer and construction buff, Maureen Wood, our host in this old city. Maureen has opened up the space to artists and students and folks from the neighborhood for use as a meeting space, art studio, community garden, what ever. This morning we completely cleaned out and weeded a 100 year old green house and former florist shop that Maureen recently acquired to turn into a community gardening space. She seems to be single handedly cleaning up and opening up old buildings in the neighborhood to create her vision of a village within the city--inhabited by people of all incomes and ages, race and interests. Her goal: to foster collaboration, cooperatation and exchange between the diverse folks of the neighborhood.
The last week and a half or so has been intensely focused on community. I think I last left off as we were pedaling into Madison, Wisconsin at the end of July...
In Madison, we stayed at the home of one of our riders, Nottingham Co-op. The house is cooperatively owned by the 16 or so 20 to 30 somethings that we met our first night there. They share mortgage payments and maintainance costs as well as buy local organic and vegetarian food together. I think Kristen told me she pays $410 a month to live in this gorgeous and huge lakeside house near downtown Madison, and that's including meals. I was amazed. Especially impressive was her community of housemates who're all engaged in activism and social work in and around Madison. They welcomed us into their home that evening with a coffeehouse style open mike where several riders and housemates shared their music, poetry, and skits.
The following day in Madison we got to tour 3 of Madison's cooperatives--a cooperatively managed grocery store, a cooperatively owned vegetarian restaurant, and a cooperatively owned and run bookstore. Kristen actually is own of the co-owners of the restaurant and she shared with us her trials and successes getting the place up and running. At the grocery, we learned about the cooperative model and philosophy, one that places a higher value on workers rights especially a liveable wage, organic and locally produced goods, and cooperation as opposed to the competition of more traditional forms of business organization and management. Learning about co-ops has gotten me excited to find my niche in a housing co-op once I get back into Seattle.
The following day we cycled into Milwaukee, WI and I saw for the first time the GRADEUR of the Great Lakes--one would think we were out on the Pacific. In Milwaukee I saw some friends (newlyweds!!) from Seattle and stayed with a group of bikers who run a community bike shop that teaches bike maintainance to the local community in exchange for help around the shop.
In Chicago, we stayed at another rider's apartment, ate the famous deep dish Chicago pizza, and went out to Al Capone's old haunt, the Green Mill jazz club. We shared a potluck at the Stone Soup Co-op, having the opportunity to speak with folks there about Chicago's affordable housing dillemma. Apparently, the city has over 175,000 people sleeping on the streets on any given night. The city is doing little to address the problem, though some folks at the co-op informed us that they're organizing in support of an initiative to set aside 25% of all new housing developed in the city as affordable housing ***affordable housing basically means that rent is adjusted on a sliding scale to be 1/3 of the tenant's income*** In town, we visited a supportive affordable housing complex to learn about its operation and its place in Chicago's housing scene. The folks there are working to move some of the homeless off of the streets and into permanent housing. Their facilities have social service case workers in house for those tenants who opt to use them. The organization is the largest in Chicago, yet still only has about 1,000 units of housing at this time. Much more needs to be done to address the issue.
The rides, let me tell you, at this point are becoming excruciatelying LONG--to the tune of 100+ miles in a day. Being on a bike for the large part of the day is taxing, no matter how much I love cycling. I think one day I pedaled for over 10 hours to get into our host for the night. The host stays, however, are well worth the long hard days of biking.
Each community that we enter has continued to amaze me with the openness and generosity with which they welcome us. We are in such a unique position to be travelling through these small towns (and big cities) as complete strangers, yet to be welcomed into people's homes and communities without question and in fact with much fanfare. Bike-Aid has developed a rapport with a few hosts along the way, and these folks roll out the red carpet with joy and celebration when we come into town. The conversations and connections I've made with our incredibly generous hosts have marked me and shown me a form of hospitality that I hope to incorporate into my life.
Thank you for your ears (eyes!) as I try and sort out this continually unfolding experience. I love hearing from each of you and think of you often. Love and Smiles!!!
Julia