1. Organization - Joe K.
-December meeting report (on web)
-Joe K. wrote various documents as a result of Dec. Mtg. (on web)
-Created Organization/ Business Plan (on web)
-Have bank account, thru NetWorks (501c3)
-Have Web page www.builderswithoutborders.org
-email: mail@builderswithoutborders.org
-List Serve www.onelist.com/subscribe/bwob
-Contacted various groups/ individuals
-Have several Grant Proposals out
-Ed. materials - Graham Foundation & Ed. Foundation of America
-Pilot Projects - HUD Grant proposal (decided against) & Cottonwood Foundation
-Other options can be considered

2. Design and Technology - Alfred
-Gathering components from existing material

3. Education Materials - Catherine
-Have materials on website - downloadable
-Assembling materials that BWB may use as part of Ed. materials
-Videotaped Canelo Project in January 2000
-Planning Belarusian trip (May 2000)
-Planning trip to Mongolia

Projects

Tierra Madre - Alfred
-Border area, near El Paso (in New Mexico), remote.
-Nuns have gotten project to point where building can start
-They would like our help, energy
-Probable target - middle lower class (??? unsure....)
-Need to do "discovering" to see how we might help
-Nuns have done some family selection already
-Committed to strawbale!!!

Nat’l Indian Youth Leadership Program - Catherine
-Mac Hall, pres & founder of project - (Ranch owned by non-profit)
-Have 12,000 acres - 9mo. ago / leased land
-Want to train 30-35 youth in June/July
-Near Laguna Pueblo, west of Albuquerque
-Looking at various options - we can get in on ground floor!
-Interested in straw-bale hogans, outhouses
-Now-building adobe/ stone amphitheater, built by youth
-Mostly summer programs for the youth

Navajo Greenhouse - Catherine
-Rich & Yvonne Garcia - teaching in Winslow AZ, Charter School (K-8)
-Year-long project - build Greenhouse - grow plants - sell
-Rich is willing to write for grants for greenhouse materials, etc.
-Start Fall 2000

Picuris Pueblo - Alfred
-N. of Espanola, E. of Taos
-Have put together wonderful 100 year vision for themselves
-Have building in center of town that could be renovated for Greenhouse-like application
-Affordable Building Alliance has started talking with tribe

Project structure
During the late morning Alfred and Janice proposed for discussion a structure for project organization. We agreed to brainstorm on the different components (these were a slight reorganization and expansion upon the "action group" items delineated at the December meeting)

Saturday afternoon
1. Large group discussion of project stucture elements:
*Common understanding
*Put names to criteria
*Prioritize
2. Large group discussion of
*NIYLP
*Tierra Madre
3. TBD - Small Group Breakouts

Project Elements
The "Mother Ship" (overall organizational coordination)
-Board of directors (Hold "elections" over the internet)
-Mission stmt.
-Central office ops
-Systems manual for all groups
-Membership/elections
-Library/ communications
-Web/ pr/ outreach
-Assess board composition/ needs
-Legal
-Accounting
-Organizational Funding
-Links to each project - review progress, etc.
-Partners/ members/ advisors

Joe K, Catherine, Alfred, Jeff Ruppert, Steve MacDonald, Sarah Francis (Expressed interest)

Project Organization

Cordination and Project Management
-Central group for each project
-Legal issues, copyright
-Includes representatives from each group below
-Overall coord.
-Manage critical path
-Link to central BWB board
-Quality Control

Janice will work with group coordinators to make sure criteria work continues

Project Selection
-Establish goals/priority criteria
-Assess compatibility w/ partners & groups
-I.D. areas w/ need for what we can offer
-Partner resources
-Consider communities we serve (income level)

Derek, Joe K., Janice, Alfred, Jeff R., Steve MacDonald

Local Interface
-Education (both ways)
-Advocate/ change
-Partnering Org/ mirror team
-Clearly define roles/ expectations
-Politics/ decision process
-Culture/ mores
-Translators
-inc homeowners

Steve, Carol, Susan, Alfred, Jim & Tyra

Design Team
-Site assessment
-Impacts to implementation
-Design building
-Codes/ rules
-Input to budget
-Connect to local infrastructure
-Produce documents for construction

Alfred, Derek, Janice, Steve, Bob Bolles?, Sarah Francis, Jeff Ruppert, Owen Geiger

Project Implementation
-I.D. logistics on-site
-Skills
-Timeline
-People
-Coordination
-Materials
-Support & Systems (like housing of workers)

Alfred, Steve K., Janice, Bob Bolles?, Jeff Ruppert, Steve McD, Matts

Education and Training
-Create training materials
-Create NGO trng
-Teacher trng
-Builder trng
-Use various methods of dissemination & media

Joe K., Derek, Steve K., Carol E., Steve McD, Marley P., Judy Knox, L & Luciano

Followup
-Evaluate project
-I.D. indicators of success
-Ops manual for building
-Follow up support w/ owners
-Maintenance

Susan, Alfred

Documentation
-Organizational history
-Project process
-Use in PR/ present to document accomplishments
-Report back to $ source
-Lessons learned
-Use in education & further materials
-Contribute to Systems Manual

Janice, Carol, Catherine, Alfred, Jim &Tyra, Lucia &Luciano, Marley Porter

Funding
-Define various types of funding
-Prepare list of questions/criteria for partnering org to include us in their grant proposal
-Project $
-Org (long-term) $
-Community Assist
-Collaboration
-Leveraging
-Financing for homes

Joe K., Catherine, Susan, Steve MacDonald

NIYLP Project
(after the above brainstorming session, Alejandro Lopez of NIYLP presented his project. The group discussed it and agreed upon, together with Alejandro, the following next steps. We also analysed some of the above project groupings in relationship to this project)

NIYLP next steps
1. Write up provisional plan w/ priorities - Rob? Janice, Derek, Alfred
2. Find out available funding
3. Make site visit ASAP - Friday April 7 - meet at 9:00am
4. What is objective of site visit?
5. What is project?
6. Materials? - BWB get list to Alejandro
6.5 BWB - select someone to work Education interface - Carol & Steve
7. Logistics?
7.5 Fundraising committee will work on getting $
8. How does the format for 10 days really work?
9. Alejandro also look at longer plan. - Board present wish list
10. BWB come up w/ questions

Project Selection
-Appear to have similar goals
-Feasibility/ Timeframe?
-Alignment of funds with timing
-Alejandro has teachers that we teach
-NIYLP gives $7K, how do we prioritize design?
-Alejandro work w/ home organization?
-Maybe complete 2 outhouses, begin foundation of next bldg. this year
-Perhaps include Education / Training and design in part of youth work.
-Consider "emergency" type structure for workers
-Consider integration of youth perspective in what works, what doesn’t

Fundraising
-Fundraise w/ large plan in mind, but include phases
-Funding pkg that looks longterm
-kitchen
-living structure
-Teachers, curriculum/ education, document experience

Local Interface
-Rodents/ safety issues - IMPORTANT
-Need early get - together - NEEDS
-Need early site assessment
-Need to discuss $ and priorities
-How does this project fit into long-term
-We’ll get materials list to Alejandro, so he can start collecting recyclable materials
-How do we find a portion of the project that logically works for the youth,but won’t interfere w/ overall plan?
-Map out 10 days, plan curriculum

Sunday
1. Announcements & Agenda
2. Tierra Madre Project
3. Breakout Sessions - Criteria
-Project selection (Janice)
-Funding (Joe)
4. Breakout Report (10:30)

Tierra Madre Project
-Get people who want to work on T. Madre pro. - Alfred / Catherine/ Rob
-Possibly have Tierre Madre lead getting the HUD Grant, with us as partners.
-We’ll help put the grant together
-Joe/ Catherine will talk w/ nuns to discuss Funding & Grant
(see addendum below)
-Rob is going to investigate info w/ nuns (see addendum below
-# houses
-Constraints/ restrictions - cultural, etc.
-How are residents selected /how large the family
-Rob - take pictures, see if they already have a site assess, including permaculture
-How many already selected
-Income level of resident - criteria
-Joe get HUD list to Rob
-Budget - cost of house
-Is there ability for community to employ families
-Are plans established, can we influence
-Will residents participate in building
-Timing
-Are there public areas near by - parks etc.
-Materials expectation/ technical & appearance
-Affiliation - other partners
-Means of financing
-What kind of help do they want
-Are there youth initiatives?
-What resources do they already have
-What infrastructure exists, opportunity for modification
-Legal/ org/ ownership questions

Fundraising Report
-Educational Foundation of Americas
*50-75K - Ed., planning, design, building
*for NIYLP
*incorp.- Youth preparedness for Disaster Relief
*Perhaps include other Disaster Orgs - aid participant, advisor, etc.
connect w/ Sarah Francis who is associated with Red Cross

-HUD Grant
*for Tierre Madre
*Joe, Susan, Rob, & Catherine will work further

-Foundation For Innovation and Sustainability
*April 1 deadline
*Maybe $1-5K
*Maybe ask for funding for educational materials

-Graham Foundation
*10K
*will find out in about a month

-Other Possibility - Susan connect w/ friend in Utah who is interested in Native American projects

Project Selection Criteria
-Consistent w/ mission statement & goals
-Partners/ roles/ organization compatibility
-Immediacy of need
-Replicable model
-Self sustainable (community development)
-Integrated ecological systems (holistically sustainable)
-Regional involvement
-Appropriate technology etc. to resources & location
-Appropriate available human resources
-Least amount of work for greatest value
-Balance of emergency & permanence durability
-Community building - local - people directly receiving services
-Integration of permaculture
-Cultural sensitivity & acceptance
-Fun & exciting
-Broader range community involvement (regional & global)
-Existing projects & financing - (if no, is it Fund-able?)
-Range of "profiality" (image management)
-Education & possibilities
-Intuition/ gut feeling

Meeting Adjourned

The lists below are notes taken throughout the weekend

Groups and individuals that BWB should contact:
-Shelter Unlimited (Susan)
-UNM architecture program/ students
-ASU Architecture program to link to Winslow project
-Red Feather (overall operations consultation)
-Permaculture Institute
-Affordable Building Alliance
-U.N. Center for Human Settlements (Susan)
-Interaction (Joe)
-Swan Group - Simone Swan (Rob)
-Red Cross
-CHF - Cooperative Housing Foundation
-BASIN - Building Advisory Service Info. Ntw’k
-FORUM
-Rooftops Canada (similar mission to BWB in Canada)
-USAID
-UNHCR -not so much eco emphasis

A "Good Read" to share
-Pattern Language, Timeless Way of Bldg., Prod. of Houses, Christopher Alexander
-Borderlines- Interhemisphere Resource Center newletter
-Architecture For the Poor, Hassan Fathy, Univ. Chicago Press
-Ancient Futures - Learning from Ladakh - www.ecovillage.org/ladakh/index.html www.ecobooks.com/ar??future.html
-Video - At Home With Mother Earth - (Nezar Alysad ??? - Berkeley)
-Look to the Mountain (Dr. Grougly Cajate???)
-Solviva - How to make $500,000 on 1 acre & Peace on Earth

Good Web sites
-Humanitarian Times (Joe K. will email info)
-brooksdata.net/adobesim (Simone Swan)

Addendum
Report from Rob Crowley who visited Tierra Madre March 26

"The meeting with Tierra Madre went well. They are dialed in to the nth degree. They have worked hard for years and are on the verge of seeing their work come to fruition. I'll submit a full report soon. The only real help they need is

They want to do workshops for fundraising for the houses they will build next and could use some help from a straw-bale expert. I told them BWB is not really about that sort of thing, but some members might be available for hire (Catherine's suggestion (e.g. Steve K.)).

They are looking to hire a construction supervisor.