All Posts Tagged With: "Community"

Major Sheila Dixon is joined by Councilman James Kraft to sign City Council Bill 05-0034, which establishes the standards and procedures for community alley gating. This will help safeguard and prevent illegal dumping and other illicit activities. The the gating is also part of a larger initiative to implement alleys as green spaces to foster a greater sense of community in a cleaner greener space. To see press release: click here. Take a tour of the alleys with Community Greens, more info.

Nana Projects is a non-profit parade school that offers advanced training in organizing and the artistic development of community-based events. They’re based out of the Molly Ross & Co. studio in Baltimore. They feature numerous lanterneers and visual alchemists devoted to art for the purpose of drawing people together and strengthening community identity through shared cultural experience. Check out their parade school, workshops or stop by to see their art located in the old Baltimore Electric Light Company Building.

Maryland Master Gardeners aims to educate the community on sustainable gardening practices that enhance local landscapes and communities. Begun in 1978 and affiliated with the University of Maryland, the Master Gardeners Program utilizes University of Maryland professionals expertise in teaching students sustainable gardening. These students agree to then go on and teach local residents how to cultivate beautiful and productive garden spaces and manage local landscapes. Learn how to cultivate more useful soil and eradicate pesticides from your local landscapes by learning about local Master Gardener programs.

Tree-Mendous Maryland lanting Trees for Healthy Communities and a Cleaner Chesapeake Bay. Whether you’re a home-owner, a county or municipal government, school or environmental group you can help donate, plant or dedicate a non-invasive tree to an organization of your choice. Buy a native tree for yourself, Tree-Mendous will give you great tips on planting, mulching and watering. Although it’s not mentioned they advocate non-toxic fertilizer we as consumers can offer a remedy. Mention it the next time you buy any tree or plant.

Living Classrooms Foundation is a non-profit organization, operated for the benefit of the community at large, providing hands-on education and job skills training for students from diverse backgrounds, with a special emphasis on serving at-risk youth. The foundation uses maritime settings, community revitalization projects, and other challenging learning environments, along with a low staff-to-student ratio, to promote career development, community service, self-esteem, and multicultural exchange.

Charm City Yoga is owned and operated by Kim Manfredi. She teaches with an emphasizes on the eight limbs of Patanjali Yoga . Offering two locations in Fells Point and Mt Vernon with a branch opening soon in Towson has allowed the Center to invite more then 20 instructors, "from a variety of traditions to begin to share their teachings. Some of those traditions have included astanga, sivananda, Iyengar, and more. Kim feels strongly that there really is a yoga for everyone, and she feels an important part of her own growth as a yogini is her increasing awareness of the infinite number of paths to enlightenment."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELa5CHsUepo[/youtube]

Greg Cantori, Executive Director of the Knott Foundation, and an avid bicyclist, discovered “Ciclovia” while visiting Bogota, Colombia. Every Sunday, they close 70 miles of streets from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Up to 2 million residents bike, rollerblade, walk, do group exercise classes, and generally enjoy themselves.

Greg immediately set about importing this community-wide exercise program to Baltimore. Here is what he envisions that Sunday Streets will mean for Baltimore:

• Increased activity -physical activity, economic activity and tourism.

• Youth engagement and employment opportunities

• Clean air and some quiet for a day

• Free exercise classes – Frankly few people can access health clubs, and what’s so fun about being stuck indoors when our whole city is available and waiting for us? Let’s get out and spin, dance, stretch, twirl, run and jump!

• Social re-engagement – This is our physical INTERNET. We provide the network (routing) and our entrepreneurs and communities go from there. Imagine the possibilities…..

• Putting Baltimore on the map nationally for something extremely positive that fosters real Happiness.

Already thousands of people know about it – let’s make it 10,000, 100,000 and then a million. Isn’t this a perfect, visible program to help promote Mayor Dixon’s “cleaner, greener” Baltimore? Tell everyone you know about this, and if you have any questions, contact Greg Cantori (gcantori(at)knottfoundation.org) or Carol Silldorff (carolsilldorff(at)comcast.net).