May 2019 Update from Karin Krause
Just as exciting as the look and feel of spring; is where we are at with development plans at Hope & A Future! This has also been a long wait and there is a lot more to do before we can dig a hole in the ground. But we had been stumped for quite some time in the area of navigating the policies that will affect how we do things in the next phase. I have mentioned before, that for a very long time, policies for vulnerable populations have been set up for one group of people at a time. There are rules for how we care for infants, preschoolers, children and on up to seniors. Yet, because people are individuals, some of these rules do not even work for the people that are part of the defined group. And then there are more rules for affordable and special needs housing. The result of all of these rules is that when we propose to bring people of different ages together in a neighborhood equipped to support everyone—things fall apart. Existing rules put intentional intergenerational shared site neighborhoods out of compliance. Yet there is mounting research as well as recommendations by the World Health Organization to do exactly what we are trying to do!
(Ehart, B.K., Hopping, D., Power,M.B.., Mitchell, E.T.., & Racine, D. (2009). Generations of Hope Communities: An intergenerational neighborhood model of support and service. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(1), 47-52.)
(Kaplan, M., Sanchez, M., & Hoffman, J. (2017). Intergenerational Pathways to a Sustainable Society [PDF file]. Switzerland: Springer. Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47019-1)
(Solar, O., & Irwin, A. A (2010) A Conceptual Framework for Action on the Social Determinants of Health. Social Determinants of Health Discusssion.Paper 2 (Policy and Practice); World Health Organization: Geneva, Switzerland)
However, thanks to a great deal of work on the part of the many good minds involved at Hope & A Future, we have found a path! Stay tuned for monthly milestones as we make our way through the next leg of this journey. For now the big news is that we are moving forward again! Meetings are being set up and documents are being drawn. We are springing forward!
For now, we welcome you to become involved in the fun! This Friday May 10th is our house concert with the great folks from Dark Gazebo! This will be a fundraiser for Hope & A Future! The bands interesting name comes from a lovely backyard gazebo belonging to one of the band members—it does not have electricity and most musicians just play and play once they get started! So, they often play in a dark gazebo! This will be a fun concert!
We will be the featured non-profit at the July 31st Mallards game! We have Tickets at Hope & A Future. For $12.00 you get a ticket, Mallards hat and cup! Plus you can buy 50/50 raffle tickets at the game! Half of the raffle ticket sales pot goes to the lucky winner and Hope & A Future receives the other half! The games are always good hometown fun!
Then on Sunday August 4th, join us for the Battle of the Bands from noon to 5pm at Capital Brewery! This will be family friendly! SixChips will have a food truck with part of the proceeds being donated to Hope & A Future! If you know a band that would like to join the fun, have them send their information to Ruthie. The winner will take away $500.00! At this event you can also purchase raffle tickets for some really fun prizes including a 50/50 raffle basket. (I am going to pick up an amazing gift from Aniu Salon today! And I just heard about a Food Fight card coming from Monona Bank!) This is going to be fun!
Our pool is awaiting a repair and opening, but once it is up and going, volunteers are welcome to swim (at your own risk and minors must be supervised)!
For now, enjoy the spring!
It seems like a lot of things are going to happen among the organization and I would love to be part of these! But can I just ask if you are in need of help? Because it seems like you are loaded with so many stuff to do and I am worried if you can carry all these responsibilities and pull it off. I am supporting the fundraising event you will have as well as the open-night concert. Both events are going to be a blast, and that’s one thing I am sure of! If you need any help, we are just here one call away.