Page 14 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-18.indd

Veteran’s Village
Can We Change Climate Change?
Looking for a way to give back to your community? Well, we hope you’ll roll up your sleeves and join Daily Acts for a wonderful project we can all be thankful for!
By Catrina Walker
A friend of mine recently returned from two weeks in Ireland and
Veteran’s Village is a heart-warming example of partnership and collaboration in a time when we need it more than ever. A project of Community Housing Sonoma County, this new tiny home site will provide housing for one of our most vulnerable populations, previously homeless veterans. This site will give back to those who have given so much, providing a safe and healthy space for our veterans to age, and a sense of pride in finally having a home to call their own.
Scotland plus a week visiting his hometown in the Netherlands. He told me
the temperature was in the mid-90’s the entire time and in Ireland, miles of marshes were dried up. Normally wet and foggy bogs were dry and cracked, appearing like desolate mud flats where nature has always been eternally green. The fog that helps to define the area appeared only in the early morning, gone by 10am. I cringed. Inside, I felt pain and wanted to cry.
To help build community on-site and offer opportunity for both engagement among residents and space for quiet reflection, a beautiful healing garden
was designed by our friends at Permaculture Artisans. With rain catchment through swales and rain gardens designed by Sherwood Design Engineers, native habitat plants, fruit trees and small gathering areas, we are creating a sustainable model that can be replicated throughout our county.
How is this possible in such an ecosystem that has been consistently damp, cool and verdant for thousands of years? As an empath with a huge commitment to keeping our environmental balanced and healthy, I felt pain as I reflected on this unanticipated condition.
Daily Acts is so grateful to be involved in this partnership and has signed on to facilitate a two-day installation of this amazing new healing garden. Since there is no funding for our participation, our community has stepped up and answered the call above to support our involvement in this project. Now we are going to put this investment to work by facilitating volunteers on the installation of plants, irrigation and wood chips to help get this garden growing!
Here in Northern California, I fill a large
blue bowl with water for visiting birds every morning. The bowl sits atop a corner of our deck railing facing distant Fitch mountain. This daily act is surprisingly fulfilling and opens me to do more, yet I am part of a human system that requires my face time at work at least 40
We hope to see you there for this inspiring weekend, but if you cannot make it, we hope you will consider contributing to the fund-a-need campaign for Veteran’s Village by donating and calling Daily Acts at 707-789-9664. This will enable us to install signage, benches and other elements to increase engagement with the garden.
hours a week. Without that, I don’t get to survive in a healthy, balanced way. On evenings I’m not going out, I often walk or go for a bike ride to experience the environment–literally to taste the moisture in the air. There isn’t any. I feel uneasy and wonder where would be a good place to move to, given that I live an intentionally light footprint. I also know I’m not the only person who feels this way. It looks and feels like we’re collectively at the point where our self- generated human systems are eclipsing the natural systems upon which we depend.
Saturday & Sunday, December 1st & 2nd, 10am - 2pm
Where: 665 Russell Avenue, Santa Rosa
Thanks to generations donations from our community and the EACH Foundation!
What I know for sure is that we need to fundamentally re-adjust
our relationship with the planet. I know that I and my children want
to live in a socially just and ecologically thriving culture.
Green technology is alive and
well in many parts of the world and
for someone like me, focusing on
what’s working keeps me feeling
positive. Others prefer focusing on
environmental problems, as they
are solution-oriented and thrive
on solving high stakes challenges.
Others thrive on exploring and
mapping the biodiverse richness a
given environment holds–what’s
working in there? What’s not? Still
others prefer to cultivate positivity
through prayer, writing, tweeting,
living indigeous lifestyles, teaching
children, planting trees and pesticide-free gardens. All approaches nourish each other in intangible and quantifiable ways. The common thread we share is communication and caring for the environment that supports us.
14 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/18
by extension...through connected groups and tribes of like-hearted and like- minded people. I may or may not see that in my lifetime, yet am super stoked to discover it! How about you? What excites you? What propels you into the unknown? I invite you to reach out.
How can each of us in our own ways create a mutually satisfying relationship with the earth? What’s your daily earth loving ritual? Can you bring more of it into your world? Can you share what you’re doing with others in your life? With your tribe? Your kid’s friends?
Even with a background in permaculture design systems, ecology leadership, a degree in environmental management; inspired attendance at The Great Turning, and a forty+ year member with the Nature Conservancy, I sometimes wonder if my efforts are nothing more than a drop in the proverbial bucket of our planet’s destiny. The truth is, I can see the outcomes of my and my team’s efforts locally. I feel great about that! Global outcomes are likely to happen
More than likely, the world needs you.