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Last year at about this time, we felt the spirit move. Kirstin and I were listening to a presentation by Bill Strickland of Manchester Craftsmen's Guild at the annual Jubilee Conference in Pittsburgh and an idea began to take shape.

Strickland shared his amazing story, from growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh to creating a world-class community center that transforms the lives of kids and families in that same neighborhood. He spoke of bringing beauty into the inner-city and giving kids his prescription for thriving: sunlight, affection and good food.

His story isn't some pie-in-the-sky liberal do-gooding; he's driven to see kids live into their deep potential so this country can solve some of its most entrenched social problems. And he's got the statistics to show that his program is working. When almost 50% of students of color are drop out of high school, over 90% of the students in his program graduate. He has training programs teaching welfare mothers how to be gourmet chefs, horticulturalists and pharmaceutical technicians--the same women who have been told time and time again that they aren't worth anything. It's amazing what a little sunlight and attention can do for the human spirit.

A few months later, we took the leap of faith that is the Imagining Space project. We have a long way to go and our project will look a lot different than Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, but a lot of the underlying motivation is similar. We want to create a beautiful space for the people of Three Rivers and for students around North America, cultivating opportunities to transform this community and others toward abundant flourishing. With your help, I'm pretty sure we can do it ... we'll just need to be patient and keep pressing on toward the goal!

I'd highly recommend watching Strickland's lecture below. Unfortunately, the photos he's showing during the presentation didn't make it into the video; however, the story is still inspiring to hear. Just imagine what we might be able to do in Three Rivers!

Okay, so Three Rivers is only 80 miles from Grand Rapids, but at least it's SOUTH! A small group of Calvin College students will be making their way down 131 on March 20 to spend a week in our fine town working at Huss School and connecting with people and resources throughout the community. We'll be exploring what it means to "seek the welfare of the city" in a small, rural town that has abundant resources in the areas of art, agriculture, business, journalism and diversity--as well as many needs.

Rob and I had a meeting with Johnathan, the trip's student organizer, this morning and we are positively giddy about how much we're looking forward to this trip. We're hoping this group can help us get some things done at the school, as well as bring their fresh perspectives to bear on what the future off-campus program at the school could look like.

Please let us know if you'd like to connect with this group in some way while they're in town. We're still working out our schedule, so we have flexibility at this point--and of course, anyone is welcome to come work alongside us at the school! See our updated "Supplies Needed" page for a list of items we could still use for hosting work groups.

What happens when you get a couple of brilliant, creative, visionary community organizers together around the kitchen table for tea? Great things begin to grow--literally! We are so thrilled to welcome the efforts of Julianna and Brenda to the Huss School property for the coming growing season. It was a delight to walk with them through the first couple meetings about a community garden and we look forward to seeing where they take the project as they run with the idea on their own. The basics: plots will be tended by neighborhood youth and adult mentors, using sustainable agricultural methods like compost tea, organic pest control and rainwater collection. This project has enormous potential to tie in with the vision for the school property in a myriad of ways and bring an abundance of hope, creativity, beauty and good food to the neighborhood. Watch for more reports on the gardens soon...and get in touch if you'd like to be involved!

On the way to work this morning, we heard two stories from Michigan Public Radio that sparked connections for me with the Huss School project. One was about an old school building in Detroit that's being converted into artist studios, retail space, offices and more. The other was this week's edition in a series of interviews that Christina Shockley is doing, with each interviewee suggesting three things they think could be done in Michigan to help get the state back on its feet. I especially liked how hip hop artist Invincible, this morning's interviewee, suggested that creativity needs to be woven into our problem-solving in order to expand people's imaginations and push the boundaries of what's considered possible. Makes me even more excited to try to recruit local artists to submit renderings of the space's potential...

Last weekend (as many of you know), a film class from Calvin College visited Three Rivers to film a short promotional video for Imagining Space and a short, original film with Huss School as the shoot location.

Overall, the experience seems to have been a great success! The students had a great time in Three Rivers and all of the logistical details were seamlessly attended to by local friends (thanks Julie and Tim!). It was really wonderful to see such creative people using the space; hopefully the weekend was a glimpse into the future.

We're looking forward to seeing the final edits of both films. In fact, we're exploring the possibility of showing the original short somewhere in Three Rivers when it's ready ... we'll see!

We already linked to Bruce Snook's article for the River Country Journal, but the local radio station and the Three Rivers Commercial-News have picked up the story as well (thanks, Elena!).

The past few days have been a ton of work for the students and their professor, Daniel Garcia, but they look like they're having a lot of fun, as well. Thanks to Julie, Tim and everyone else who have helped make their visit memorable and comfortable!

Bruce Snook has posted a wonderful story with audio and photos about our first adventure in hosting an educational program at Huss School. Rob and I are working in Grand Rapids this week, so we can't be on site in Three Rivers to help host the students until tomorrow evening, but the process of getting things set up and watching them go smoothly from afar has been so exciting--what we were hoping to do and what everyone is chipping in to help achieve is actually happening!

Witness the ripple effects... A class of 10 film students, three actors and one professor are in Three Rivers for three days and nights. For fourteen people who have probably never been to Three Rivers before, suddenly our town is on their radar. They're not only making a connection with a place, but with people: journalists who are recording the story of their project, community organizers whom they're interviewing for their films, and pastors and other friends who are providing food and accommodations. Though students subsist on little, the money they have been able to collect for a food budget has been distributed to local grocery stores and farmers. Their work at the school is bringing artistic eyes to the neighborhood and laughter and creativity to the building. The fruits of their work--a promotional film for the future projects of the school and an original piece written and produced by the students--will eventually be seen by hundreds, maybe even thousands more people. Beyond the films themselves, the adventure of filming on location in such a unique town and building will be a story the students tell over and over again for the rest of their lives.

And it all started with a conversation. Then a few e-mails and a lot of prayers. Then a group of over 150 people around the world, all contributing what they were able to give to help meet a preposterous goal.

To be continued...

Kirstin offers a few ideas in her catapult magazine editorial for what she'd love to see at Huss School as we move forward with the Imagining Space project. Check it out and then add your own!

We'll be hosting a film class and a spring break trip--both from Calvin College--at Huss in the next few months and we're going to do quite a bit of preparation if we're to be properly hospitable. The school is currently winterized (no heat, no running water), so we're going to treat it a bit like indoor winter camping. We'd ideally like to get one room operable with electric space heaters, coffee makers and some comfortable seating.

Toward that end, we've started a list of things we're looking for to help stock our hospitality room. If you'd be able to donate any of these items, please contact us!

We're also doing a workday next Tuesday, December 29, to get the room set up for the film class in January. If you're in the area and would like to help, drop us a line and show up around 9:00 in the morning. We'll have some coffee on!

We've sent out a few e-mails requesting end-of-year donations, but it probably doesn't hurt to mention it here, too. We're hoping to raise an additional $2,000 by the end of the year to help cover Huss expenses for the first several months of 2010 (mortgage, insurance and electric) and it looks like we've still got about $1,650 to go.

If you're able, please consider donating. As always, every small amount helps ... so donations of $5, $10 and $20 are just as welcome as larger amounts. Thanks!