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

[mhampton at att.net]

ecological or ecrumenical?  Both?

Tricky depending.

mary
-------------- Original message from "George Packard" <george.packard1 at rcn.com>: -------------- 


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 501©)(3) tax-exempt status, which we expect to receive shortly.  A link to the present website is 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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