The greening of a city

Minneapolis is slated to receive $31.8 Million from the ARRA funds to further innovative housing projects according to Mayor Raymond "R.T." Rybak, a fiscal bulldog who is poised to win re-election to a third term.

In north Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) is partnering with an array of community organizations to create a brand new senior community center that will provide a variety of medical, recreational and social services to the senior population.

Near that proposed community center, the ARRA funds will also be used to develop a new 48-unit cutting edge "green" senior housing development incorporating technologies such as solar and geothermal to provide a supportive home to the frail and elderly, particularly those who have severe memory issues.  The innovative structure, built from green materials, will reduce energy costs and consumption to reduce the structure’s carbon footprint.

Green economic initiatives go beyond environmental awareness; it starts with construction jobs that help get money flowing in the area, while the community benefits long-term -- in this case from the new facility to take care of senior citizens while having a low impact on critical resources.

Rybak says that improvements on 733 already existing MPHA properties will also be undertaken using ARRA funds.  Properties have severely outdated energy and water systems will be enhanced to be more efficient and to save energy.   Even in the land of 10,000 lakes, water is one of our most precious resources, and obviously energy efficiency goes beyond economic and environmental concerns to actually enhance national security by reducing our dependence on supplies from those who have historically opposed American success.

Such investments in a community give a boost to the local economy while ultimately reducing burdens on tax-payers as well.  Rybak's Minneapolis continues to be a strong competitor for recovery funds and innovative, beneficial projects like this illustrate what a strong, effective leader skilled at advocating on behalf of their community can do.

Reminder:
Recovery.gov is online to see projections -- based on language in the legislation -- of where ARRA money will go, broken down state-by-state.

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Do you volunteer? One person can make a difference.

"Learn to lead in a nourishing manner.
Learn to lead without being possessive.
Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.
Learn to lead without coercion."

Lao Tzu

Lao Tzu sounds more like a modern mayor or community organizer than an ancient philosopher. As you've heard, "Those who can, do." However, those who can do more, volunteer. They know the reward of giving with no expectation of "taking the credit" (or even a tax deduction) for their effort. Nationally, about one in three people who volunteer in a given year do not do so the following year. In Miami, the metro area with the lowest ranking of the cities cited in the study, the drop-out rate is six in 10.

"There's interest in volunteering in a lot of people but they're just not staying with it," according to Robert Grimm, director of research for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS).

Rapid turnover is a problem across the country, but the report concluded that "volunteer intensity" is increasing, with one-third of volunteers contributing more than 100 hours of service in a year - the highest rate for that category since 2002. However the overall national participation rate dropped again in 2007 after reaching 28.8% in 2005.

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

Antoine de Saint Exupery

The CNCS, an independent federal agency, used Census Bureau data to determine its state and city rankings, which are based on three-year averages for 2005 through 2007. In all, the study found that 60.8 million Americans (aged 16 and older) performed roughly 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service in 2007.

"We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service relationship to humanity."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

By region, the Midwest had the highest volunteer rate at 31.1% in the recent CNCS study, followed by the West at 26.1, the South with 24.7 and the Northeast at 23.4 -- the number one metro area of the top 50 ranked? That honor goes to the twin cities, Minneapolis/Saint Paul with an impressive 39.3% participation rate, possibly due in part to the efforts of their Corporate Volunteerism Council, the CVC. It's difficult to tease apart cause and effect: but maybe there really is something to that so-called "Minnesota nice" since even the sometimes contentious 2008 presidential campaign has spawned volunteerism in Minnesota.

Then, too, it was Mayor Raymond Thomas "R.T." Rybak of Minneapolis who declared July 9, 2007 as “Volunteer Day” in his city, to celebrate the important role that volunteers play in the life of any community. Since being elected he's been tirelessly leading by example, enlisting his community in reweaving what he calls the urban fabric while laying the groundwork for the future of his city.

So obviously there are many things coming together in Minnesota, (maybe R.T. has studied Lao Tzu) but the lessons can be applied anywhere in the world.
Act to help others, no matter if you're 7 or 77:

Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.