RSFIC is a private operating foundation building long-term, systemic resilience in Iowa City. We say "rizz-fick!"
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Building and extending the work of many other folks, Kat & Claire watered and weeded the RSFIC outdoor gathering space, which helps folks using that space feel more confident and become more powerful. Plus it just feels more relaxing to be in a nice space. You can see the benefits of their work at tomorrow evenings' free concert at 7 PM!
Roger & Becca helped organize and set up parts of the interior space at RSFIC including a new printer / flyer-creation room for folks to use!
Thanks to Kat, Claire, Roger & Becca for this work in the last couple weeks. If I missed you, sorry! Let me know. Check out the next few volunteer opportunities on this page.
Our current way of life is fundamentally unsustainable, which means that our current way of life is literally going to end. At RSFIC, we want to try to find NEW ways of life while we still have useful things like, you know, power tools. If we're going to have to rip up parking lots to grow local food, for example, wouldn't it be nice to use a bulldozer instead of a pickax? If we're going to need to learn to share resources and stop depending on global trade, wouldn't it be nice to start experimenting while we can still get food at a grocery store?
Instead of taking the current opportunity to experiment, most of our leaders are pushing more of the same. Instead of looking for ways to lower energy usage, we see folks across the country investing in data centers that increase energy usage. We're building more roads and more houses even though we know we won't be able to sustain them. We continue to use more and more fossil fuels even as smoke from wildfires filters through our windows.
Why are we working against ourselves and the planet like this?
At RSFIC, we think the fundamental answer is "individualism."
There doesn't have to be an evil villain at the helm for this to happen. It just follows from the fundamental mistake of individualism. Living separately from community and the earth fuels the death of community and the earth.
The good news is we can learn to stop making this mistake. We successfully lived in right relationship with nature for hundreds of thousands of years, and only really started making this mistake when we found fossil fuels.
RSFIC's NRG program is about helping people who want to make small, achievable steps towards right relationship with nature and each other.
A Neighborhood Resilience Group (NRG) is a group of neighbors who are working toward a shared vision of resilience in their neighborhood. RSFIC's helping NRGs get organized and connected to carry out the transition to a resilient, sustainable future in diverse and modular ways!
We've been developing our NRG program with five groups that have helped us flesh out how it's going to work. One group is working on making public art and a message board that folks in the area can use to communicate. Two groups are focused on affordable housing for themselves, each in different ways. Yet another is putting on music festivals to weave their social fabric a little tighter. NRGs work on whatever they think is the next best step towards a more resilient future.
They each meet with a RSFIC project manager regularly, who helps them get organized, stay on track, identify opportunities, and gain access to resources like time and money, permits and pickup trucks. They also become part of the NRG grid, the network of all the NRGs, and RSFIC facilitates skill-shares, workshops, socials, and resource-sharing between all the groups. No one knows what "the answer" is, but we can all learn from each other.
Leaders at high levels of huge companies / governments are stuck in a systemic whirlpool of incentives to keep destroying the earth. At smaller levels, like NRGs, we are free to do what's best for our livelihood. This is RSFIC's whole theory of change!
We're going to open applications for new groups soon! If you are working with one or more neighbors and some of this sounds like it would be helpful to you, ask them if they're interested in applying with you! You can also send them to rsfic.org/relocalize-power/NRGs . I will write with more information next week.
We are planning to accept three more NRGs in this round of applications.
Peace,
Riley
RSFIC is a private operating foundation building long-term, systemic resilience in Iowa City. We say "rizz-fick!"
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