Roots

 
 
 
With support from Nike, Brita Climate Ride, Youth Noise and the Embassy of Denmark, Focus the Nation has awarded two projects $10,000 each and continues to provide operational support as the recipients implement their programs this fall and winter.  In the category of SPORT the fellowship recipient is Jeremy Smith from Spearfish, South Dakota and his Spearfish Bike Collective project. In the category of ART / CULTURE, the fellowship recipients are Amanda Hass, Erin Coffey and their Project Desert Rock. In late September, the winners will participate in the 2009 Brita Climate Ride from New York City to Washington, D.C. Focus the Nation is also set to bring the winners to Copenhagen in December for the COP15 climate treaty negotiations, as part of the accredited Focus the Nation delegation.
 
More information: Press Release(PDF), About Roots.  
 

Sports	Art / Culture
Spearfish Bike Cooperative and Community Workspace - Jeremy Smith   This project will establish a bike cooperative in the small town of Spearfish, South Dakota—directly east of one of the largest coal and natural gas producing regions in the country. In a town that is only 6.1 square miles and powered almost entirely by coal, Smith will create a community hub for its 8,000 residents centered on the sport of bicycling as a clean energy solution in small town, coal-dependant America. The program will develop and encourage bicycles as an effective and clean mode of transport, while at the same time serve as an educational community resource for alternative energy for low-income residents in the area. The cooperative will also host a 600-watt demonstration solar system to power the facility.   “By launching this bike co-op in Spearfish we will be able to provide a space for the community to connect and learn both about bikes and other choices to power their lives with clean solutions,” -- Jeremy Smith.	Project Desert Rock - Erin Coffey & Amanda Hass   This program will provide organizing support, resources, and training for the young Navajo leaders in NW New Mexico currently fighting the construction of the Desert Rock Coal Plant on Navajo land. Amanda and Erin will work directly with Elouise Brown, President of the indigenous group Dooda Desert Rock (Dooda means “absolutely no!” in Dine, the local Navajo language) to use organizing and indigenous art and heritage to building the public will to stop construction of the proposed coal plant, and bring green job opportunities to the region.   "In order to see real change in the way we use our environment, work can't strictly be done on a top-centric, legislative level, but must engage and empower all communities to make this shift,” -- Amanda Hass when speaking on the importance of working with Elouise Brown in Navajo Nation. "Our planet is currently facing some the greatest problems it has ever faced, at this point we need bold actions and innovative solutions to transcend not only clean, renewable energy into our power grids, but awaken and empower the sustainable human energy that lays within each community."-- Erin Coffey   “Mother Earth is full of dreamers, but there aren't enough who will move forward and initiate to take substantial steps to actualize their vision. I'm very excited and looking forward to working with Focus the Nation,” -- Elouise Brown.
See his full project here	See their full project here.
For interviews with Erin, Amanda and Jeremy please call Mark Kimbrell at 407-765-5945 or send him an email.

 
About the Focus Roots Fellowship
 

This summer, with support from Nike, Climate Ride, Youth Noise and the Danish Embassy, Focus the Nation selected two Fellowship programs in each of the following community action categories and awarded them with a $10,000 grant: Sport and Art.

They will receive financial and operational support from Focus the Nation to launch and implement their idea between the months of August and December 2009.

In addition, from September 26th through 30th, recipients will participate in a bicycle ride from NYC to DC called Climate Ride to workshop their progress with 200 other riders. Then in December, with support from the Danish Embassy, the recipients will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to present their projects to the international communities participating in the COP15 Climate Treaty negotiations. This will be an unprecedented opportunity for young climate leaders to bring the story of their community and their passion for climate creativity and innovation to the local, national and international stage.

Why Sport and Art?

The Climate Movement has mountains to learn from the efficiency of athletes and teams, the power and focus of individual sports and the timeless cultural expressions of art.

Check out the Focus Roots Fellowships 2009 Announcement Press Release Here!(PDF)