Food Security Panel and community dialogue

This panel and dialogue will include Michael Casper and Sherielyn Gardner of Milk Crate Kitchen and Tamara and Jayne Freshour who are volunteers with Ariadne Garden located in North East Portland. They will set the context of the discussion while also guiding a dialogue with participants in this Zoom gathering. Michael and Sherielyn are community leaders who are actively engaged in addressing Portland's food crisis, providing immediate food relief to people living in diverse conditions of food insecurity with no questions asked. Tamara and Jayne Freshour are engaged in the important work of Ariadne Garden. The garden is a reminder of where food actually comes from and another avenue for providing a thriving sense of community within our urban setting. Milk Crate Kitchen and Ariadne have developed resilient infrastructures to provide food security for an uncertain future. Please come prepared to contribute reflections, questions and ideas to this exciting dialogue.

Location: via Zoom (click for invite)
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Permaculture evening: placemaking and naturescaping

Join us for an intriguing discussion and slide presentation on native plant-based permaculture design by two of Portland’s up and coming permaculture practitioners, Natalie Van Dreal and Liz Blalock. Natalie, proprietor of Biophilia LLC, seeks to enhance the health, equity, and sustainability of all spaces, from homes to schools; inside and out. From placemaking to naturescaping, and even interior design, Biophilia works to create spaces that are better for human health and the health of the planet. Liz loves soil, biodiversity, designing and planting with natives, propagating and sharing plants with neighbors at her ‘garden share’ corner, finds joy in growing plants for shade, takes pride in reusing everything she can, gets excited to teach people about composting and fixing ‘problems’ the sustainable way, and wants everyone to know there’s usually an easier ways to do things. This event will be held in the under construction permaculture courtyard and playground at the beloved Sellwood Community House in Southeast Portland.

Location: Sellwood Community House at 1436 SE Spokane St
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
City Repair’s Nest will be on hand offering delicious treats for suggested donations

Innovations in Natural Building

Join us for a stimulating evening presentation on the cutting edge work of PlaceCraft and their various initiatives to mass produce prefabricated natural building systems, while making these approaches more accessible and affordable. Oliver Ogden is one of the most skilled and prolific ecological builders in the Pacific Northwest, building innovative and code-approved radical projects from California to Washington.

Location: EarthSpace at 4135 SE Gladstone Street
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
City Repair’s Nest will be on hand offering delicious treats for suggested donations

On Hosting Healthy Futures; Community in Times of Crisis

Everyone knows something, no one knows everything. This is the most common (and shared) understanding of being in relationship towards all futures. Who knows what in relation to the collective vision of what will become?

We can expand the spaces and places we engage with by agreeing to share what we know of ourselves, our capacities, and the interests that bring us together. Through consciously practicing this, we open up and increase the possibilities for healthy communities as our shared future.

Orland Bishop will share ways of engaging the collective spirit of a group when we have to navigate a crisis. When there are many unknowns, uncertainties and limited tust, are can ask, who knows what about the situation and begin to see how the move forward.

Globally-acclaimed visionary and speaker, Orland Bishop, will join us in the exploration of our agreement maps for creative certainty and community. Orland is the Founder and Executive Director of Shadetree Multicultural Foundation, based in Los Angeles. Shadetree is a community centered collective of social entrepreneurs, artists, healers, educators and elders in service to pathways and human development. Orland is in service to individual and community development through combining new and emerging ideas with traditional knowledge.

Location: Ideaworks at 1002 SE 8th Ave
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
City Repair’s Nest will be on hand offering delicious treats for suggested donations

Cultural Appreciation & Appropriation, A Facilitated Community Dialogue

Are appreciation and appropriation the same things? What is the difference? Isn’t cultural fusion a key strategy of revolution? In a time when many people hesitate to ask questions, the VBC will host this dialogue in order to explore this vitally important topic in a way that encourages and supports participants in listening to others, asking questions, and sharing their own developing point of view. Thought and action leaders from the Portland community will help guide the discussion, and then the floor will open to see what more there is to consider.

Panelists include Uprise Collective’s Co-Directors, Stephanie Roberson and Brianna Bragg whose mission is to open spaces and provide support for people with targeted identities to engage in social uplift within their own communities, outside of privileged, hierarchical, white supremacist models. 

Author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism, Starhawk. She is the author or co-author of thirteen books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess and the ecotopian novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, and its sequel City of Refuge.

Charles Williams, permaculture teacher and activist. He works internationally and is the Program Director and Lead Teacher with Earth Activist Training.

Brandy Gallagher (BSW, MA) is one of the original founders and developers of O.U.R. Ecovillage, Shawnigan Lake (Vancouver Island) BC. As a designer and educator, she worked with local and international community builders to create a 25 acre Sustainable Living Demonstration Site and Education Centre.

Location: via Zoom (click for invite)
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Sweethome’s cob project open house

Join us here at an exemplary residential natural building project nestled in the community of NE Portland. Come by to tour this urban farmstead project, with animals and gardens, and a very impressive, newly constructed cob home. There will be live music, fun, and potluck food available. Please bring a dish and join us!

Location: 5240 NE Ainsworth Street
Time: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
City Repair’s Nest will be on hand offering delicious treats for suggested donations

Climate Action Dialogue

Join us for an essential and invigorating dialogue focusing on the greatest ecological crisis of our time. Members of the activist-led global movement known as Extinction Rebellion will be present to provide context and updates, and help guide the discussion in a productive and action-oriented direction. 

Panelists include Lynn Handlin, an ardent fighter of the forces fueling climate change with XRPDX and user of magic to heal the world with Cascadia Magical Activists. David O’Longaigh, member of Public Employees for Action on the Climate (PEACE) and coordinator of action-oriented ways to work within city government to affect change. And, Adah Crandall, dynamo youth activist with the Portland chapter of the Sunrise Movement who is unafraid of holding leaders accountable. All constructive and respectful voices are welcome.

Location: via Zoom (click for invite)
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

VBC22 Closing Pizza Party

Join us in the neighborhood where City Repair and the VBC began in 1996: Sellwood! Enjoy live music while celebrating our successes and discussing ways we can grow while reflecting on VBC22. The first-ever “Intersection Repair” project will be a stone's throw away from where we will be baking dozens of pizzas and making merry till dark. Please bring a dish to share and tasty toppings to go on a pizza for you and your team. If you’d like to partake in the mobile sauna, bring a suit and towel.

Location: Planet Repair Institute at 8512 SE 8th Avenue
Time: 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
City Repair’s Nest will be on hand offering delicious treats for suggested donations