The Community House Network has always been and will continue to be a responsive organizations.  It is intended to be attuned to the needs of our community and the world.  As such, it is designed to grow and change as the needs of the community grow and change. 

At the New Year's Day event hosted at the Center for Creative Learning, one of our community members stated that his hearts desire was to help people with their lawns.  He wanted to beautify the neighborhood.  I realized that this was a great opportunity to put my money where my mouth is.  

This is a great addition to our new and revised mission statement.  Helping our community members who are struggling to maintain their lawns, keep in compliance with code enforement.  We also have a problem with stray cats.  One of our neighbors up the street has been taking care of pregnant and nursing mother cats and their kittens, but we need to do more.  I believe the Community House Network is capable of helping the animals in our neighborhood.  

So two new things to add to our revised mission statement.  Let's see what else the New Year calls us to do.

With all of the concern about social justice, equity, priviledge and oppression, you would think that trying to address issues of unfair policies would be burgeoning.  But try to get a lawyer who will take a case against the city, and wow!  I spent the morning calling several law firms describing the issue of code enforcement, how it inordinatly impacts the poor members of the community.

Here is the case:

People on fixed incomes, or with physical and mental disabilities, struggle to even pay someone  to mow their lawns.  
Wealthy people have no problem paying for professional lawn services.

People in our community, if they can find someone to mow the lawn, may find that the job was not considered to be sufficient.  I saw a code enforcement agent take his ruler and bring it to the side of the house, finding that there were patches of grass that exceeded the 10 inch limit, he issued a ticket.  
A professional lawn service would do a detailed job. These services which are simply a part of homeownership for the more affluent neighbors, are out of the price range for our residents.  

People in our neighborhood cannot afford to pay the standard ticket fee of 100$. This price tag would have an unfair negative effect on members of our neighborhood.  It could mean difficulty paying rent, electric, or buying food.
Those in affluent neighborhoods are able to pay this fee without it causing distress.

There are many other ways in which this reflects a social injustice towards those community members on a fixed income.  What I would like to see is the fee reduced to 15$.  This would be a deterrant, to be sure, but it wouldn't be a complete hardship that could take months, if not years to overcome.

Apparently, it is not as easy as I imagined, in this era of Equity, to find lawyers who will stand up to injustice.  Shame on them!

It has been a challenge to re-focus the direction of the energy of the organization.  Clearly there is work to be done in our community and in our world.  We have always sought to encourage people to embrace their gifts and share them with the world.  To do this we believe that people need support and encouragement.

This New Year's day we will be hosting an annual gathering.  Online and in person, our loving community comes together each year to support one another in envisioning a powerful New Year.  We have been meeting this way every year since 2018.  These sessions have shifted from simply setting intentions, to structured goal setting.  The intention this year is on setting a creative goal and working towards it for the entire year.

If you are wanting to live more deeply and share your gifts, join us and connect in loving supportive community.

Find the link here.

www.consciousnessexplorations.com

I have stood up in several instances to bullying, and the typical response is intimidation.  When the person who has power is confronted, the first thing they do is to weild that power against you.  

So I guess I wasn't surprised when I found that my 100$ fine for a few strands of long grass (literally a few foxtails that had sprung up....photo to follow) is now at 200$.  It literally makes me feel physically ill to think of how much money that is.  Especially for those who live in my neighborhood.  To pay 200$ is to not pay heat, electric, phone, food, rent.  These are not insignificant amounts of money.  And for what?  Because there were a few long pieces of grass in the yard?  How is this even a crime?

I had contacted the Department of Community Development and spoke to Deja Jenkins to request a rehearing, she told me there was nothing I could do, and that I would only be meeting with the same person anyway, (John "I have no life" Redlingshafer). Furthermore, had no idea how I could even do this (this shows you how many people even take the time to try to challenge these people). I pointed out that on their very document they sent for me to pay the fine, at the bottom it stated I could petition for a rehearing. I finally went above her head and spoke with the supervisor, Ashley Elias.  To his credit, he did return my call.  He practiced some reflective speech, or whatever it is called when you repeat back what someone says to you.  It actually did make me feel heard, but I don't think he heard me. 

I wound up getting an email back from Deja Jenkins saying that if I wanted to go through with the rehearing I had to send a 60$ rehearing fee, and sign a certain document.  I didn't do any of these things.  I was too tired.  I had made the decision I would try to fight the situation in another way.  So it was interesting that I received the letter that I was now to pay $200. That letter came quick!  They don't mess around when it comes to intimidation, which is what this is really all about.

John Redlingshafer and his buddy Matt Hayes must have horrible lives. I am pretty sure to get a job in code enforcement your training involves drowning kittens, or tripping old ladies as they cross the street. Who else would have the stomach to fine poor people hundreds of dollars for tall grass?  

When I had my first encounter with this dynamic dream team, fighting the high crimes taking place in the lawns of Peorians, I first noticed they were trolling my document that outlined my grievances. 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW DOC
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y1llh7A4P9O5e9mpC23_EodAttrc7hhLJ98vy3YyTvk/edit?usp=sharing

Just looking at it again brings up all of the emotions. 

Back to the story...when I was preparing the document and what I would say during my hearing in Aug of 2022, I saw that there was someone watching, "Anonymous Raccoon" and so when we started the hearing, I could tell these boys had done their homework. I was cut off before I could show any of my images, and John "I have no life" Redlingshafer said, "Let me just ask you one thing," and being naive, not thinking I was getting set up, I allowed him to say his one thing, that was, "Did you have tall weeds outside in the alleyway?"  I answered that yes I did, and then he was like elated! It was his shining moment.  Now he concluded that I was in the wrong because of these tall weeds in the alleyway, and none of my evidence was relevant.  I was guilty, but because he was such a nice guy he would only charge me $50. I was so confused, I was cut off and did not have a chance to say anything in my defense.

But, hey wait, if that is his case, that all they were really concerned about were the weeds outside the gate, then why did he mow down my entire backyard?  Why mow down the blueberry bushes, why cut down our apple tree, our cucumber plants, tomatoes, herbs galore... and why even come in the yard at all?  No, they had done their homework and didn't want me to show how wrong and dishonest they had been.

I believe we are in the era of exposing corruption, and as much as I would like to just leave it all alone and move on with my life, I am compelled to act.  I can advocate where others cannot.  I actually have had multiple scenarios where I was pushed to expose injustice, and in those cases major changes happened.  So I guess I can feel a sense of hope in taking these action.  I do not need to fear.  I know this is the right thing to do.  I know I am doing this, not for myself, but with the hope of impacting the way things are done.  My hope is that these fines can be reduced to something manageable for our residents.  I would like to see them come down to something more like `15$ instead of 100$.

I don't believe that people should be allowed to be completely negligent about their properties, but what constitutes a weed, and what constitutes beauty is a matter of opinion.  Should the government be allowed to call edible foragable plants weeds, fine people, poison people's yards, and cut down their plants?  Absolutely NOT!  Our yards and all of the plants therein should be considered our personal property.  What I have to say is, Joe Dulin, stay off my property!

I am a big believer in the Law of Attraction.  I have seen it impact my life and the lives of those around me.  I know that my thoughts are powerful contributors to the way my intentions are manifested.  How then after all of the challenges and negative experiences can I stay in the positive stream?  Perhaps this is the primary lesson I am meant to learn through all of this?

I have been working on the new vision and mission with little spurts and jumps.  The haltingness of the process has been frustrating, and there have been periods of deep lows.  Moments when I just sit and stare and wonder.  However, because of my own awareness of the important to both validate the present state of feeling, and the critical importance of not spinning out in the mental story telling of the negativity, I have allowed myself those days of staring out the window.  I believe this made all the difference.  I finally believe I have a clear vision to move forward.  One that is exciting and taps into all those areas I feel competent in and desire to share with the world.  Just to share the process on how these arrived, I will map out my evolution here.

The Evolution.

My first start at reorienting had two primary areas of focus. These two areas were chosen by first and foremost eliminating what was not working.  I had to realize my serious limitations.  The First Apprentice program, as powerful and meaningful I felt it was, had to go.  I did not have the skill set to fulfill this vision, and my ability to connect with the larger community was lackluster to say the least.  Secondly, and probably most importantly, I had to relinquish all attempts to work with the addicts in the community.  This had drained me both physically, financially and spiritually.  I gave and gave and gave and in return was slandered throughout the recovery community.  This did great harm to the project and my own reputation.  This had to be cut off completely.  Luckily, the CoDA community is separate and small, so I will be able to partiipate in this amazing 12 step community.  This won't be a part of the project, but might touch back in at somepoint.

Getting to the primary mission, the Youth Programming did continue to develop over the four years of the project.  We held our Art Garage April to October every year.  We developed the Ambassador's of Kindness program, publishing two books and working to operationalize our level one, so that it could be enacted effectively with youth anywhere.  We published several childrens math books, and held Conceptual Math Wizards Level 1 courses.  These were all successes, and furthermore, it was felt that the drama of working with the addict population had taken away the focus that should have been on the youth all along.  The Community House was an extension of the Art Garage.  It was meant to extend that programming, not diminish it.

Now looking at what other new areas were successful. It was clear that some powerful connections were made with women who were also community organizers.  We helped several people start new endeavors, Ann Oesterle, started her own Yoga Studeo, Anna Prana.  We didn't do much, but helped to flame the fire, and offered her the chance to practice her craft at our own studeo at the Community House.  Still we are so proud of her accomplishments, just amazing.  We helped Ryan and Phil with their business, getting it on Google and setting pu their website.  The tragedy here is that they both succombed to their addictions, and Ryan passed away from an overdose last year.  So tragic, as his talent was undeniable and his business had found some incredible success.  More lasting and meaningful connections have been made.  Ethel Pates, founder of Your Lives Matter Outreach Ministry has become a collaborator in the project, and also the Community House has been able to support her work, by assisting with her website.  Another collaborator, Yolanda Wallace, has been a point of hope.  Her own ability to organize and create powerful event for her non-profit, A Mother's War On Violence. https://www.motherswaronviolence.org/, has been an inspiration.

For this reason, I felt collaboration was a necessary piece to keep.

So this was the first iteration:

Youth Programming
and
Collaboration

The more I thought about who I might collaborate with, and how I might support entrepreneurialism, I just kind of froze.  I reached out to a couple places, but they were all dead ends.  Will this be another drain of my energy.  One thing I came to understand about my goal of creating loving community is that I do not have control over what others do.  I cannot dictate their action, or determine their engagement.  This means that to a certain extent, loving community is not something I can actually create.  God can create this.  It happens under certain circumstances.  I can attempt to create these circumstances, but so far I have not been successful in creating loving community. 

So what can I create, what do I have control over.  I can create websites, and books, and art, and I can create opportunities to engage in art and publish your own work, and host events.

If I do these things, community may develop, or it may not, but I am still doing my part.

Something about the collaboration piece just felt too hard.  I struggle with people stuff, so it is ironic that I would create a Community House.  It is a deep longing I have for something that I have lacked and that doesn't come naturally to me.

OK, second iteration, Youth Programming Only.

This was where I was about 3 weeks ago.  Youth programming only.  I felt I could do this.  I focused on first the Math and AOK programs, but realized the baby chicks were an amazing success, and of course the Art Garage.  So it expanded.  I could continue the Art Garage in my own garage, and offer the other programming at other sites.  These are so prevalent all over Peoria and there was no reason I had to limit my offerings to Peoria only.  

So that was decided.

But something was nagging at my heart.  I felt like I was loosing what I loved so much.  That is to encourage adults to share their gifts as well.  I didn't want to only work with kids, although I love it, kids are just starting to discover themselves.  I wanted to find creative adults who wanted to share their gifts and were looking for creative community to foster their dreams.

That was it.  I realized my second purpose.  It wasn't about entrepreneurs, it was about creative people.  It was about supporting Creators!  Entrepreneurs are creators, but by turning the focus onto the creative aspect of it, it allows all of my passion to be present in the vision.  

So here we are now.

Youth Programming
and 
Creators Programming.

I still need to discover the names, but that feel like what the new program wants to become.

​I feel myself being lifted out of the morass and back into the stream of life.  Praise God and may I serve his mission with this vision. 

One of the most disappointing aspects of closing the Community House Sheridan locations was the loss of our foodbank, and our larger Community Garden.  We will beef up our little garden at the 800 house this Spring, but we are not set up to be a full pantry there.

I have always promised myself that I would have food available.  This came from my early experiences with the neighborhood kids.  One of them told me once during the summer months when school was out, "We eat when there is school."  

The food insecurity of our kiddos is very real.  This experience itself is traumaic.  

I continue to commit to having food available at our original location.  This is a cost I am happy to expend.

Julie Eliathambie is very aware of the problem of food insecurity in Peoria.  She is the founder of the non-profit Peoria Grown and Market 309.  She provided a beautiful fruit stand to our community and our kids  loved it.  She came by this past Saturday and picked up the stand.  We got to talking about her program, politics and ignorance (and corruption).  

She has received a 50K grant, and she is grateful for it, but it was not unanimously passed.  She was very critical of the new for-profit grocery store that will be on the South End of the city, where we have grocery store deserts.  Our neighborhood is also a fresh food desert.  The gas station and convenince store is where our neighbors get food.  Many have to vehicles, and some are homebound.

Her issue was that the city has paid 2 million dollars to set up this grocery store that is for profit.  Given to someone with a track record of failure.  

I mirrored her frustration at the incompetence of our leaders.  What is going on here?

I feel more and more driven to participate in the political arena.  It is not OK to allow our city dollars to be misused while the community members struggle and suffer.  It is not OK for the department claiming to want to "develop" community and collecting a paycheck over six figures, to simply harrass the people with tickets, collecting money from those who already struggle with purchasing food and paying their electric bill.  

Many of my community members cannot advocate for themselves.  It is truly a responsibility of those who are able to speak out, to do so.  As much as I prefer working with the kids, making art and teaching, I have been pushed onto this path of community development, and I accept my charge.

I have, throughout my life, avoided certain areas. I avoided formal training in the fine arts.  This was because I thought it was impractical.  I thought there was no way to make a living in this. I now realize I was wrong.

In college, I avoided any business classes.  I considered creating and running a business a selfish affair.  I thought that it was a capitalist endeavor.  I don't think this way any more.

Also, I avoided politics.  I thought it was basically corrupt, that it was divisive and most importantly, that there was no way that I personally could withstand the scrutiny of being in the public eye.  This doesn't mean that I didn't participate on the sidelines.  In fact, at one point, after 9-11 I started an activist group in Montreal called "Americans in Montreal"  We got on the news a couple times, but it wasn't very effective.  It was a good way for me personally to see the inside workings of some of the other activist groups, how they operate and the general dysfunction.  It made me more determined to just do my own thing.

This was another reason I avoided politics.  I did not want to deal with the dysfunctional bureaucracy.  I felt like instead of support, most of these departments actually just slowed down the process, and tried to take over or control or tell you why your idea wouldn't work.  

During this project, I didn't include government.  I did my paperwork, like I was required to do.  I kept records and stayed in integrity, but I avoided going through government channels for other aspects of the program.  I can't say whether this served me or not.  I know that I was 100% focused on building our major programming and didn't have time for much else.  I know that I reached out to other local programs, some of which I still collaborate with today, and some of which I realized we have very different missions.

I have always been a bit of an anarchist (or at least libertarian).  I don't really want the government telling me what to do, and I don't think the goverment officials know what is best for me.  I think people inherently know what is best for them, when they are taught how to tune in, they can start to direct their own lives. The beautiful work of Deci and Ryan on Self-Determination demonstrate that the most self-actualized people are ones who are able to direct their own lives.  These principles of autonomy, relatedness, competency and purpose are the foundation of the programming at the Community House, and drive the general structure of the organization as well.

All of nature is self-organizing, why can't we be the same? Anyway, most of the government officials, sitting far off in their offices, have little awareness of what the local neighborhoods really need.  To understand, one must live, and participate in that local community.  

One thing is for certain, our neighborhood doesn't need to go into fear about weeds in their lawn every couple months when the city decides to do their rounds.  

We are in the era of corruption coming to the light.  This is an act of courage.  The biggest fear in confronting injustice is retaliation.  Indeed, several employees of the Office of Refugee Resettlement sent off alarm bells, and were subsequently fired.  I don't risk being fired, but I do risk being fined, over and over, by the city.

I was trying to figure out how to appeal the hearing findings on the ticket, and boy it is not easy.  I was told by the main supervisor I needed to get legal council.  This is so bizarre given that on their own paperwork they say I have the right to appeal the finding.  You would think there would be an avenue outlined on how to do this.

Everyone discouraged me from appealing, stating I would be in front of the same hearing officer.  This is besides the point.  If I have a right to appeal, I should have an easy path to do so.  I was also searching for how I could make a formal complaint against Matt Hayes.  It was easy to find links to pages to make complaints about your neighbors so that the Dept of Community Harassment, oh sorry I mean Development, could go and fine your neighbor.

What is going on here?  Why do we live in a society that is so cruel, cold and uncaring.  Get our your measuring stick and see if you can measure your soul.  I guess you won't ever get a ticket because it is non-existant!

I finally found a way to submit a complaint, it is a complaint against a civilian, not a city employee, which their should be special options for that, but there are not at the moment.  Here is what I submitted:

This is a formal complaint of harassment demonstrated against myself by Matt Hayes, an employee of the Department of Communituy Development. In July of 2022 Mr Hayes was responsible for th destruction of my property at 800 W. Thrush Ave. I did not pursue legal grievances at that time, but was featured on the news. The hearing stated that I was guilty of having tall weeds outside the gated area. In this case, I would beg the question, why then did the city come into my back yard and mow down the blueberry bushes, apple tree, rose bushes, cucumber plants and more. I paid the fine, but immediately following the hearing, Mr Hayes repeatedly parked his vehicle outside of my house for several days in a row. I contacted the city councilman to complain and following this, Mr Hayes desisted.

On October 10th of 2024 I found a notice in my door at 2225 Sheridan Rd. citing a code violation of tall weeds. There were a small number of fox tales that had sprung up. I immediately addressed them, however, the date I received the notice (the 10th of October) was also the final date. The citation had already been issued.
There was no 5 day notice.

I believe this was intentional and reflects harassment. First, Matt Hayes is not assigned to this area, and so it is strange to me that he would be issuing a violation for my property at all. I believe that he saw the for sale sign, and was taking the opportunity to harass me, causing me grief and expense.

During the hearing, it was stated that he was told to do a sweep down Sheridan. This should be verified. Regardless, the fact that the notice was not put into the door until AFTER the citation was already issued.

How bad does it have to get before people speak out.  It is a moral obligation to shine light on things that are not right.  It is not right to create fear in a neighborhood and fine poor people for tall grass. I have had many cases in my life where I saw corruption.  

When I was in gradschool, I took a year off and worked at the Veterans Hospital in Dallas TX.  I love lab work, and I had so much freedom as the head technician there.  However, there were some strange things right from the start.  The place was so dirty, and to do microdialysis requires that you have a completely sterile environment.  I spent my first month cleaning.

Second, we used restricted drugs for our anastesia.  You must log all use of these drugs, and when I asked about this, I was shown a drawer full of empty bottles.  The manager said, "Here is our log."

But the real issue didn't become apparent until some time later.  I had cleaned up the system and was getting good data when the lab manager switched out the liquid mobile phase I was using and put in his own.  At first I liked it because it generated HUGE data peaks.  Something was odd though.  My data started to change.  Instead of having a rise and fall in serotonin levels, now they just rose and stayed elevated.  

After several weeks of trying to understand the issue, I finally gave up.  Because we were collecting so much data I was given an assistant.  The new guy didn't understand how to mix the mobile phase properly and so we wound up having two different formula.  This is not really an issue since each experiment is tuned, so to speak.  But it revealed the fact that the large data peak was NOT serotonin at all.  I believe the initial formulation was probably a desperate attempt to get viable data, but after it was discovered, they should have been willing to report the discrepancy.  

I had the opportunity to report them, and I didn't.  I feel like that was a mistake.  Today, I have made a decision that I will expose corruption.  The goal is to do it in the most elegant way.  What will cause the most positive outcome?  What will most likely result in positive change?  This is my charge, this is God's will for my life.  Believe me, I am not overjoyed at the prospect.  Nonetheless, I feel compelled by something greater than myself to step onto this path.  I wonder where it will lead me?