We met with the Georgia Street Community Garden (GSCG) today - we'd met a couple who volunteers there at MSU Spring Goat Day. They explained that they're interested in having goats in Detroit in addition to their current vegetable and chicken projects.
As we discussed our plans, all of us got more excited - we have resources and contacts that could be very beneficial for Georgia Street, but more importantly, they have already begun work in a neighborhood and have developed rapport with the people there. Given that Rebecca and I are starting med school and grad school soon, we're excited to be able to implement our engineers' plans in the relatively near future. We plan to keep a partnership with them in order to increase their capacity and get them access to new resources.
Given that Georgia Street already has several lots available, this allows us to bypass the work of finding a suitable location - GSCG will be a great home for urban goats.
Showing posts with label partnerships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label partnerships. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Shrine of the Black Madonna
From the very beginning of the goat project, we've realized that faith-based organizations in Detroit would likely be some of our strongest partners. Yesterday Rebecca and I visited the Shrine of the Black Madonna on Detroit's west side, part of the Pan-African Orthodox Church. Despite being the only White people present, we felt welcomed and comfortable in their warm, uplifting sanctuary. The service encouraged both individual and community growth, subjects that I suspect are regular themes for this church body. Our purpose statement seemed to align closely with many of the church's priorities.
Visiting Shrine was a reminder of not only why we want to start the goat farm, but for whom we're starting it. This community clearly gave of themselves regularly to help people in need, even though I'm sure most of them didn't have lots of disposable income sitting around. I believe that given the opportunity to nourish, care for, and further empower each other, they would jump at it.
Rebecca has spoken with one church member about the goat farm, and we intend to keep in touch, perhaps visiting again when possible. If you know of a faith-based group that might be interested in having us present a workshop, please let us know.
Visiting Shrine was a reminder of not only why we want to start the goat farm, but for whom we're starting it. This community clearly gave of themselves regularly to help people in need, even though I'm sure most of them didn't have lots of disposable income sitting around. I believe that given the opportunity to nourish, care for, and further empower each other, they would jump at it.
Rebecca has spoken with one church member about the goat farm, and we intend to keep in touch, perhaps visiting again when possible. If you know of a faith-based group that might be interested in having us present a workshop, please let us know.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Exciting News!
Detroit Goat Farm has been busy of late! Last Thursday morning, we met with Denise Maybank, the MSU Vice President for Student Affairs, who gave us some great ideas for partnerships.
Thursday evening we had a chance to talk to our engineering team - they've come up with a plan to manage waste. It involves composting with use of biofilters that will bind sulfur to manage odor. Because of the dryness of goat manure, we'll likely use microbes to help break everything down. A bonus to this system? One of the byproducts is heat, which we'll be able to use to reduce our heating bill for the goat barn during the winter. Depending how much heat is produced, our head goat engineer, Rebecca Busk, would also like to add a greenhouse to the facility.
Then on Friday, we presented our workshop again to an MSU Honors seminar on sustainability. The students, mostly freshman, gave feedback that the format of the workshop was new for them, and they demonstrated great enthusiasm for the problem solving scenarios we asked them to consider. The professor, who has been around many of these ideas for quite some time, also complimented the format as a real-world setup for discussions.
One last announcement: Detroit Goat Farm will be presenting at Spring Goat Day in Anthony Hall at MSU through the Michigan Dairy Goat Society. We're looking forward to meeting lots of other goat enthusiasts!
Thursday evening we had a chance to talk to our engineering team - they've come up with a plan to manage waste. It involves composting with use of biofilters that will bind sulfur to manage odor. Because of the dryness of goat manure, we'll likely use microbes to help break everything down. A bonus to this system? One of the byproducts is heat, which we'll be able to use to reduce our heating bill for the goat barn during the winter. Depending how much heat is produced, our head goat engineer, Rebecca Busk, would also like to add a greenhouse to the facility.
Then on Friday, we presented our workshop again to an MSU Honors seminar on sustainability. The students, mostly freshman, gave feedback that the format of the workshop was new for them, and they demonstrated great enthusiasm for the problem solving scenarios we asked them to consider. The professor, who has been around many of these ideas for quite some time, also complimented the format as a real-world setup for discussions.
One last announcement: Detroit Goat Farm will be presenting at Spring Goat Day in Anthony Hall at MSU through the Michigan Dairy Goat Society. We're looking forward to meeting lots of other goat enthusiasts!
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