By Tom Braford
In her acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination for president, Hillary Clinton returned to the themes of her ‘It Takes a Village’ book written two decades ago. This idea, from an old African proverb, is timeless and applies to much more than raising children, as the other candidate in the race is now quickly discovering. We are all like boats that bob up and down on individual waves but ultimately rise and fall with the same tide.
Carol and I and many valiant others have ridden the waves in creating an Ecovillage and managed to move it forward, steadily rising in potential. To raise it from the ground, it is now going to take the whole village with everyone contributing their own unique gifts and appreciating those of others.
Our team has created a community plan that we believe can work for everyone with no one left out, unless of course they take themselves out, like The Donald, by having to have it their way and no other way.
So for the big picture, all-inclusive folks we have come up with a substantial project that easily can and must be broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks so we can all find a role that lets us do what we love to do.
For now we are focused on the first part of the Culver Way Cohousing community, the first of four planned at Arizmendi Ecovillage. This includes the 5,000 square-foot Buckminster Fuller Eco-Innovation Center that doubles as a common house and a co-op business incubator and co-working space in a working cafe setting and will also serve as a special events space for the surrounding neighborhood.
Directly behind this space is a 6-bedroom, 3-bath, fully accessible, 3,000 square foot co-op home with a community archives space and an elevator connecting it to the Eco-Innovation Center. Behind that are a variety of seven exquisite condominiums called Falling Waters with unique hanging gardens and water features surrounding them.
To find out more, look for us at the
Healthy Planet Expo on Sunday,
September 25 in Webster Groves.
Contact: Tom & Carol Braford,
braford@sbcglobal.net