Julie, congratulations! What a lot of blood, sweat, tears and love realized for you, your team, and the community -- what a great feeling it must be :) And what a wonderful story, the way you frame it, that a small grant sent you and a youth off on your "hero's journey" to come back with a gift that many generations in your community will surely cherish. just terrific -- i'll bend an elbow for ya tonite (we have a small gathering for pizza, a movie, and art talk -- i'll tell yer story :)

cheers!

Thanks Lars,

You can also share that a group of foster kids in Elko will be working with us to get the Peace Tiles up and running here in Elko as part of the park initiative -- along with the planting of a community garden in the park later this year.

too cool julie! let me know whether i can hook you up with orphan groups in africa -- or perhaps a LiA/Gulu connection? Let me know if you'd like me to ship you some sample supplies.

It's all very exciting.

Further, I'd like to brainstorm with you how I might approach sponsoring a 2008 Peace Tile initiative.

What if we were to look at a state-wide initiative for Nevada youth -- a conversation about what is peace? --

--- tied in with the consecration of the Universal Peace Wheel in Elko Peace Park?

Certainly this could also be a national and international conversation.

And, what if we invite His Holiness the Dalai Lama to consecrate the Peace Wheel and speak to American Youth about the subject of Peace. I bet the folks in Dharmasala would be up for Peace Tile mural exchange. After all the Peace Wheel is the first one on public land and the first Universal prototype built with traditional Tibietan spirit.

Any thoughts?

Congrats, Julie!

Did you say you're gonna be on the news today?

Is that http://www.kenvtv.com/ ?

Great news Julie!!!!

This is great news, Julie. Congratulations to you and all those who helped you.

Well done. What a beautiful place this will be!

Congrats!!!

Great news and good luck to EFN stewarding these funds in the best way possible to make the world a better place. I will be watching as the EFN team uses consensus with the board and interested parties to oversee and spend the funds...a true experiment in the consensus process.

Many warm congratulations Julie!!! I am overjoyed for you and for Elko.

nmw said:

Congrats, Julie!

Did you say you're gonna be on the news today?

Is that http://www.kenvtv.com/ ?

Yes, Norbert -- http://www.kenvtv.com/ -- click on videocast - Friday -- we are the first story. You can see my new haircut!

Mark Grimes said:

Great news and good luck to EFN stewarding these funds in the best way possible to make the world a better place. I will be watching as the EFN team uses consensus with the board and interested parties to oversee and spend the funds...a true experiment in the consensus process.

Thanks Mark,

Friends of Elko Peace Park actually oversees the expendature of their funds. We have a checking account that requires two signatures (one from EFN and one from FEPP). We have been advised by our CPA to form a formal due dilegent committee made up of 1-3 EFN trustees to oversee the bookeeping activities. Consensus will be used to establish the committee but not to micro-manage the committee. The committee will monitor the accounting and report to the larger council of trustees on a regular reporting schedule. And we have been advised to secure board insurance.

The FEPP bookeeper is currently doing the books for EFN and FEPP as a volunteer. If she takes the job to oversee the grant (a paid position) she will be trained by the Nevada Lands Grant office. And, we will be working in partnership with the City of Elko. It's really an amazing citizen - city partnership. The potential of what we might be able to do in the future is just starting to be realized by the city. It's a good thing for local democracy.

If we do a good job of the park, it's very likely we will get approval to build a community center (CAT-COM CASA style) on the 3 acres across from the park. One of the center's function will be to work with more and more local people to uplift the world we want in Elko, Nevada (for our children, families and the greater world).

In 2005 and in 2006 we worked with O.net members on our Art in the Park fund raisers. Funds went to help Community Mart and TEN, both projects in different parts of the world. This year I hope to engage Peace Tiles with our youth and schools. The park is about a whole lot more than just Elko. I hope the center will feature a gift shop that will feature products that help all over the globe -- like Ned.

Anyhow, one peace at a time!

Will keep you all posted.

Julie Caldwell said:

http://www.kenvtv.com/ -- click on videocast - Friday -- we are the first story. You can see my new haircut!

You're really hot, Julie!

;D nmw

interesting link nmw pos 5

Thank-you Norbert. So you liked the haircut! Not sure I can remember the last time I was called *hot. It was a very nice news story that focused on our community and really shared the excitement of our local government and our citizens. We have more trees going in the ground for Arbor Day. I find those big evergreens hot! (For those who didn't view the interview, they showcased footage from our Oct 2006 tree planting day. Also an interview of our local assemblyman John Carpenter who helped us with the state grant process).

Julie,

you're also really cool. (that's what I like about you most ;) And you did a great job on the interview! One thing that came over loud and clear:

We still need support -- so we're really looking for our citizens, and our businesses, and the county and the city to really come together to make this happen

Maybe you can get them to mention that again on Monday -- and maybe even give a phone number (or mention the website again [the sign was great], but I think many people don't like having to write something or stuff like that) -- oh, yeah, kinda like: "keep a pencil and paper handy and we'll give you a phone # so you can contact the project coordinator"

:) nmw

Congratulations, Julie -- you've done a great thing for the city of Elko! I'm curious what the funding will cover. Will it all go to bricks and mortar (and gravel and grass!), or will EFN be receiving Project Management or other funding as well?

The grant was not written to fund EFN. The Peace Park was a trial to see how fiscal agency works. EFN offered the service (which has been delivered mostly by Julie) to Friends of Elko Peace Park without charge. However, the generosity of our Elko based volunteer CPA, attorney and bookkeeper have provided their service to both FEPP and EFN.

95% of the grant funds the design and construction costs for the primary and secondary park trails, bridges, portal entries, landscaping, interprestive signage, parking areas, restrooms, the kiosk, shade structures, tables and benches, lighting and pet stations.

As Norbert indicated -- and as our local paper printed on the front page last week:

"More funding is needed. Only one of three portals is covered by the grant, 20 percent of the parking area, one of four shade structures and 20 percent each of electrical costs, irrigation and restroom construction."

The grant does NOT cover cultural elements (Medicine Wheel, Labrynth, Peace Wheel, Rock Wall, Native Plant Gardens, Waterfall, and Statues).

And, as usual the grant does NOT cover community organizing costs. One of the long-term aims is develop the Peace Park Center as a social venture that will sustain costs for local organizers to work with local residents to take action around what's valued, needed and wanted. We are currently "proving" ourselves as a good community stewart.

Since most community organizers are "bought" by a local agenda (education, health care, hospice) their work only represents a small subset of the community needs. And, often doesn't have the resoures to do network weaving, organizing across missions (doing together what we can not do alone).

5% goes to administration, which includes accounting, grant management between the city and Friends of Elko Peace Park (dba EFN). We need to meet with the city and state lands office to understand the extent of grant management. This is a reimbursement grant. The city is looking at "loaning" the funds from the city recreation budget to FEPP to deliver the construction and then the state reimburses us (or repays the city). We have also talked about securing a line of credit from the local bank.

More and more to come.

Thanks Luke for the great question.

By the way, if anyone is interested in the community organizing process or philosophy we've been using I'd be happy to share. I know that Omidyar Network, Stephen DeBerry has emailed me in the past inquiring what I learned during the Annie E Casey foundation work I did between 1999-2002.

As I didn't have a paper to send him, it's been difficult to communicate what I learned to ON or O.NET for that matter.

Friends of Elko Peace Park, Elko Peace Center, Emerging Futures Network (and now forming EFN Network Weaving network, guild and business) all tie into that learning.

Now that we have a tangible project to discuss, I'd be happy to take questions.

Hooray Julie!! You have done a great job to get this park alive and breathing.

We are driving through Elko this week and I am looking forward to seeing you and the Peace Park.

love, Patricia

Patricia,

How wonderful!!! Do you need a place to stay? We have extra bedrooms and you would be very comfortable. I'd love to show you the park. Please PM me with your travel information. How wonderful!!! It will be great to see you again.

Met with the mayor's youth council last night. They want to make peace flags as their first project. This is a perfect lead in to doing peace tiles (which I'm hoping to attract interest for the 2007/2008 school year).

One of the youth will be setting up the meeting with one of the school district art teachers. Another youth will be engaging the H.S. art club.

The peace flags is a perfect place to start because we can easily engage youth and maket the flags visiable in the community. The peace tiles are a bit more complex, especially if we swap tiles between local schools -- and even more so if we look to create a state wide, national or global swap.

I'm going to set up a new thread in the Peace Tiles group to discuss ideas for using Peace Tiles with the Elko Peace Park.

In you are interested in working on this idea, please join the discussion here: http://www.omidyar.net/group/pea cetiles/news/49/

The youth (and the adults who work with the youth council) really liked the idea of holding a series of town hall discussions to ask students to share a story when they felt most at peace in their lives. And, then to invite them to share their concerns and wishes for Elko and the world they want!

I suggested that the youth council might start small with the park (what do youth want in the park) and then grow the conversation to be about the entire community. This was well received as it would give youth an immediate place to see the impact of their voice.

This makes me very happy as this has been part of my vision since I began this journey. Remember, I have 18 years of youth development experience. My personal mission is how to engage the voices of 3 billion young people on the planet between the age of 13-33!

Ofcourse, to uplift sustainable community engagement, it must come from the local resident voices. This is different from coming from locally established leaders or organizations. It takes time and on-going commitment!

julie, cool idea with the flags. couple of quick thoughts off the top of my head:

• might be neat to internationalize the effort: stimulate exchanges of flags so that the park becomes a reference point for elko's peace-building connections to the world
• will these flags be out door? what kind of elements-proof materials and media are available to you if so?
• a group in south africa ran peace prayers, something similar if you'd like to connect.

I like the idea of internationalizing the effort and connecting with the south africa group. Yes, the flags will be outdoors. Haven't identified the materials yet. Do you have some ideas?

I don't yet -- my concern would be to minimize the effects of sun (bleaching) etc while maintaining that light, gauzy feel of the Tibetan prayer flags. I'll keep thinking! Meanwhile will dig up the info on the SA group for you.