Group seeks opportunities for urban communities

Urges city to revisit and reinvent social, economic and educational initiatives

Sunday, November 16, 2008

BY CHRIS STURGIS
Special to the Times

TRENTON -- Leaders from many walks of life assembled here yesterday to plan for an urban environment whose economy, social system and educational opportunities work better.

Tim Razzaq, a lead organizer, said some job training programs fail when the trainees finish but remain unemployed, making him wonder if the trainers are connected with any employers.

"That's called a broken opportunity structure," he said.

Razzaq is executive director of BOOST -- Building Open Opportunity Structures Together -- which helped organize yesterday's forum: "Inventing the Future: Designing Our Tomorrow, Today." It was held at the Hanover Street meeting house of the Trenton Society of Friends.


Ultimately, Razzaq said he wants participants to form committees to attack urban problems.


Razzaq and others at yesterday's gathering described frontiers in merchandising art, restoring the healthfulness of the environment and fighting racism, all of which they want to see addressed.


For example, Pete Abrams' Trenton-based company, Modern Metal Works, recycles discarded elevator cable into furniture and metal vessels called fire bowls.


Razzaq said Abrams' fire bowls (and other sustainable designed functional sculpture art works) should be incorporated into Trenton's urban revitalization efforts because they are locally made and fashioned from flexible cable, the material used to build the Brooklyn Bridge and put the city on the map in the first place.


"Trenton made, the world took and now it's time for Trenton to get something back," he said.


Abrams said his company teaches sculpture and offers internships. He had a very rewarding experience when he took his students and interns to the Art All Night festival earlier this year.


"The satisfaction of seeing something they produced sold for money was much greater than being a tiny cog in a big organization," he said.


Artist Leon Rainbow said he makes his own opportunities by painting murals on urban walls. He drew applause from the audience when he said urban revitalization goes wrong when it's aimed at creating tourism, instead of investing in the city's own residents.


"They spend a lot of money on getting people to come here, who aren't going to come here," he said.


Another participant, Stacey Kennealy, coordinator of New Brunswick-based Green Faith, told the audience spirituality is a fertile starting place to begin discussions on the environment because virtually all the sacred texts promote good stewardship of the natural world.


She said it's a mistake to think only white middle class people should be concerned about pollution. She said contamination most seriously harms the health of the urban poor and minorities.


Carolyn Mitchell, director of the Racial Justice Institute at the Trenton YWCA, urged attendees to improve the urban environment by organizing an event in the Y's Take a Stand Against Racism initiative.


She said the goal is not a colorblind society, but one where everyone is proud of who they are.


"I want you to see me as I am, an African-American woman, because I am very proud of that," she said.


More information about BOOST is available at http://www.weareboost.org/.

©2008 Times of Trenton - © 2008 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

Panel Set and Still Time to Register for: Women Leaders & The Triple Bottom Line Approach to 21st Century Opportunities

November 2008 - Philadelphia PA - Patricia Gaylor has practiced green design in the northeast for over 25 years. After seeing many remodeling jobs start with the demolition and hauling away of tons of materials, she began to wonder how to create beautiful new spaces without making such an environmental impact. Reducing landfill waste and specifying materials that are renewable, recyclable or sustainable has been part of her design business for many years.

On Sunday, November 16 from 3pm until 6pm, Gaylor joins a panel of leaders in a broad range of fields where she will share her vast experience and knowledge with anyone interested in greening up their home or living spaces.

Women Leaders for Entrepreneurship, the Environment and Social Equity is being hosted by We Are Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (We Are BOOST) at the showroom of Greenable, one of Philadelphia's premier resource for interior and exterior green building products and services for residential and commercial projects.

"In an economy where home building and remodeling is suffering one of the worst slumps in decades, green building and remodeling are experiencing incredible growth. Recent surveys reveal that home buyers will pay a premium to purchase a green, energy efficient house. Coloring your business GREEN is a smart move in a sluggish economy!" says Gaylor, who was recently featured on Good Morning America.

Yvonne Haughton, founder and director of For My Daughter Library and Ali Shapiro, proprietor of p Your Nutrition will lead a panel discussion and interactive question and answer session at Greenable. Presenters include:

Patricia Gaylor, Green Interior Design and recently featured on Good Morning America - Topic She Will Share: "Simple, Affordable, and Doable Ways you can Make Your Home Healthier and More Energy Efficient & Green Business Advantages"

Ariane Delafosse, Founder of Community Green
Topic She Will Share: "Easy Steps to Take Growing Your Community Green Nonprofit from the Grassroots to the Grass-tops."

Susie Beiler, Spectrum Health Consulting
Topic She Will Share: "My Vision for Shamalada Healing Sanctuary and How You Can Become Engaged in Holistic Health for Personal and Community Wellness"

Trisha Mandes, Founder of Philly Eco Kids (PEK)
Topic She Will Share: "How to Easily Educate Your Children and Students about Climate Change, Global Warming, and What They Can Do About It"

Marilyn Moran of Marilyn New Media Marketing and author of Philly Green Blog
Topic She Will Share: "Grow Your Business, Web Site or Blog: Sound Economical, Social, and Green Marketing Opportunities"

Barbara Stange, Simply Natural Living
Topic She Will Share: "Simple Steps to Improve Your Personal and Family Health by Balancing of Mind, Body, Spirit"

Julie Hancher & Beth Funari, co-authors of GreenPhillyBlog.com, a Philadelphia-based website providing environmental information for the local region
Topic They Will Share: "Planting the Seed: Growing Your Green Business from the Ground Up"

Donation is $15 per adult and $5 for children under 12 years of age and college and university students with valid student I.D... A refreshments buffet of locally grown and harvested food will be prepared by Cosmic Catering and available to all who attend. Advanced registration is required, please call (206) 202-2883 or visit the calendar of events page at http://www.weareboost.org/ and you may also email greenablewomen@weareboost.org.

We Are Building Open Opportunity Structures Together (We Are BOOST) is a creative community solutions organization that develops and utilizes innovative and customized strategies to build structured relationships between individuals, organizations, businesses, institutions, and agencies that lead to beneficial social, economic, and educational opportunities and outcomes in under-served communities and emerging markets and neighborhoods. Contact: 206-202-2883 info@weareboost.org and http://www.weareboost.org/.