[Dialogue] Letter to Alumni of the kemper building communities of the last few decades

[George Packard]

The following is a letter to all who have had residential experience in one
of the many community manifestations of the last 45 years or so in the
Kemper building or to any interested. I am sending this as a current board
member and  with the help of various colleagues of the present group
described below under the letterhead with a request for your assistance.

thank you for your consideration,

George Packard

 

Keystone Ecological Urban Center

4750 N. Sheridan Road, 7th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60640

phone 773-305-2827, e-mail keystoneeuc at yahoo.com

 

 

 
June 5, 2008

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

            I am writing to you as former or present members of the OE, the
E I, and the ICA; and as former members of the RCX, and its successor, the
Keystone Community.  I am writing to you as present or former colleagues in
village development who have given over large portions of our lives in
promoting and carrying into the future values dictated by our varied
concerns for the world.  

 

The Targeted Audience

            The targeted audience for this e-mail letter consists of those
of you who are progenitors of KEUC - the Keystone Ecological Urban Center -
the latest incarnation of the RCX and the Keystone Community.  We the
members of KEUC are the present manifestation of our lifelong community of
people who care for the earth, a community which all of you helped to create
and carry into the future.  Though some of us are well into extended middle
age or beyond and related as board or affiliate members rather than
residential members, we are  modeling our developing residential membership
on young adults interested in lives of service.

 

The Intentional Community

            The Keystone Ecumenical Urban Community, NFP occupies the 7th
and 8th floors of the ICA (Kemper) building, and is recruiting young people
dedicated to greening the cultural practices of the urban world environment.
The residential core are but a few, at present, but one should never doubt
"that a small group of committed people can change the world -- indeed, it
is the only thing that ever has."  Specifically, we are currently recruiting
among such groups as the Catholic Worker Movement, the Lutheran Volunteer
Corps, AmeriCorps, City Year corps, and local seminaries.  Generally, we are
on the lookout for individuals with an interest in ecology, such as graduate
students in Ecological Studies programs, city planning, anthropology, and
students of intentional communities or other people looking simply for green
communities to join.  

 

Our Mission

            Our mission is to research, develop, demonstrate, and replicate
ways in which individuals singly or in small groups can decrease their
ecological or "carbon" footprints in order to promote environmental
consciousness, protect and improve the urban environment, and promote the
creation and restoration of diverse, compact, and vibrant urban communities.
Pilot projects to date include bicycle maintenance and safety classes as
promotion of cycling as viable urban transportation, and raising red-worms
as soil composting agents to provide soil rich in nutrients for urban
gardening.  

 

What We Hope To Achieve

            Our intention is to become a part of the "urban green" movement,
promoting environmental stability in densely settled, urban neighborhoods.
Our particular interest is in developing and enhancing practices and
methodologies which can be accomplished within the often shelter-skelter
scheduling of artists, craftsmen, and professionals sometimes living alone
or in loosely affiliated groups and frequently working independently or on
contract.

 

Our Website 

            Our website is now under construction.  Developing both the
website and many of the programs that will be described on it has taken a
back seat to legal and organizational matters including our IRS filing for
501C)(3) tax-exempt status, which we expect to receive shortly.  A link to
the present website is  <http://www.geocities.com/keystoneeuc/>
http://www.geocities.com/keystoneeuc.

 

How You Can Help

            Like any startup venture, we need backing in the form of
emotional support, ideas, and cash.  The timing of our startup was dictated
by unforeseen external circumstances, and startup expenses were particularly
onerous because circumstances beyond our control required us to absorb a
number of unexpected financial costs. In order to maintain our present
housing accommodations at 4750 N. Sheridan Road, we were required to absorb
significant legal costs traditionally absorbed by the landlord.  Some
$10,000 in legal bills remain outstanding, and our present circumstances do
not allow payment of these and certain other operating costs in a timely
manner.

 

            Our Board of Directors and certain of our members already have
contributed more than their fair share of capital, and any additional
monetary contributions from "alumni" of the OE, EI, ICA, RCX, and Keystone
Community would be greatly appreciated. Indeed, the start-up costs require
that we invite the wider base of support.  

 

            KEUC is a membership organization, and we hope to have the costs
and benefits of affiliate membership soon published.  Anyone who contributes
in the meantime will receive full credit toward membership, and when we
receive notification of our tax-exempt status such contributions should also
be deductible.  Checks may be made payable to Keystone EUC and addressed to
Travis Downs, Treasurer, 4750 N. Sheridan Road, 7th Floor, Chicago, IL
60640.

 

            We are poised at the beginning of a new leg of the journey we
began over 40 years ago.  This time, perhaps the most critical leg, in that
the very survival of human life on planet earth hangs in the balance.  We
realize that as we begin, we are the beneficiaries of the wonderful legacy
which you, as present and former community members, have bestowed.  

 

            It is with sincere respect for the past, enthusiasm for the
present, and hope for the future that we would like to reconnect with you,
our alumni, as we embark on this new journey.  We value your wisdom and
support, and hope you will make this journey along with us, as least in
spirit.  We are enthusiastic about the possibilities, and hope you will be
as well.

 


 
Sincerely,

 
George R. Packard

                                                                        KEUC
Board and Affiliate Member

 
Santa Fe, NM

                                                                        June
10, 2008

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

 

 

 

 

 

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