Plugging Into Community by Justin Klugh Shopping for anything when you have too many choices can mean not making a choice at all. That’s one thing when you’re roaming the grocery store. But when it comes to energy for our homes, many of us are not yet used to having a choice, much less understanding
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“I love the feeling of taking part in a movement instead of going at it alone,” says Lauren Nagy, who co-founded the community farm Cooperative 518 with her fiancé in 2013. “We wanted to give our friends and peers a chance to be an equal in our vision,” she explains. That vision was to turn
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Nelson Camp has lived at the intentional community Bryn Gweled in Upper Southampton since 1992. “Our house was built by my in-laws after the second World War, so in a sense, the same family has lived here since the mid-’40s,” he says. The community at Bryn Gweled functions as a cooperative, but the community owns
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There are 30,000 cooperatives in the United States with over 120 million members, nearly one in three Americans, yet most of us don’t understand the basics of this business model, even if we’re buying from them. Anyone who has ever picked up a jar of Ocean Spray juice or went camping with gear bought by
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portrait by Mark Likosky “Anything I list as an accomplishment resulted from collective power and voice. Social justice—whether for land and food sovereignty, education access, housing rights or protection from police abuse—must center on collaboration, shared leadership and community power. And on the crucial fact that Black lives matter—all Black lives.”— AC Amy Laura Cahn
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portrait by Mark Likosky “In the best of all worlds, we could buy local at competitive prices, growing jobs and the local economy.”— PB Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. It’s a simple idea that inspired the creation in 1854 of the Merchants Fund, which was there to step in and help
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portrait by Mark Likosky “Bricks and mortar alone do not build healthy and sustainable communities… the shared vision and engagement of residents into the development of the physical and quality of life planning is the key ingredient to stewardship of the community’s future.” — NR You can’t build a neighborhood or a community without building
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portrait by Mark Likosky “It’s all about finding those ways to connect with each other, and for us, that always happens around the dining room table.” — TG & HJ Some neighbors will lend you a hammer, but the really good ones will work with you to build up your community. It helps when you live
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portrait by Mark Likosky “I was privileged as a youngster to live on a North Philadelphia block with neighborhood families who celebrated and thrived on the simple aspects of life: family, clean streets, safe places for children to play, learn and love. Today, I’m sure that my work and service to the community is inspired
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portrait by Mark Likosky “Energy efficiency is such a win-win. It truly is the cleanest, cheapest, safest and fastest energy resource, and it creates the most local jobs. In a city like Philadelphia, it’s also transformative. Harnessing our energy efficiency resource will transform our energy economy and enable our wonderful old buildings to last another
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