[break] On March 23rd, 2013, Breakthrough Communities (a project of Earth House Center, Oakland) was delighted to partner with the City of El Cerrito’s Environmental Quality Committee and the WCCC League of Women Voters to host a film premiere and community dialogue event centered on Andrea Torrice’s documentary film, Rising Waters: Global Warming and the Fate of the Pacific Islands, which tells the personal stories of communities that have already begun to feel the effects of global climate change and included new footage from Super Storm Sandy. The event, which took place at the historic Rialto Cinemas Cerrito Theatre in El Cerrito, drew an enthusiastic audience of over 150 attendees. Breakthrough Communities’ Paloma Pavel was the MC and weaver of the day’s program, which included a welcome performance by local artist and Green-For-All Fellow Jennifer Johns and a blue-ribbon panel of public and elected officials including Janet Abelson, former Mayor and current council member of the City of El Cerrito and Chair of the West Contra Costa County Transportation Advisory Committee. The keynote speaker was Contra Costa County District 1 Supervisor and Chair of the Bay Area Joint Policy Committee John Gioia, who set a regional context for the issues raised in the film by discussing the Bay Area’s Climate Adaptation Effort as an opportunity to rebuild communities with a new visions for the Three E’s: Economic viability, Environmental sustainability and social Equity. Following the film they were joined for a Q & A session by Carl Anthony of Breakthrough Communities, Maria Sanders of the City of El Cerrito Environmental Services Division, and filmmaker Andrea Torrice. Breakthrough Communities focused on linking the film screening to regional issues caused by climate change and energized eight dialogue groups to discuss issues related to water, food, energy, transportation, inter-generational, health, education & art, and community resilience. Will Travis, consultant on climate change and former Director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission led off the activity by presenting Our Bay Area Climate Change Story, which spoke to emerging challenges and opportunities in our region resulting from SB 375: The Sustainable Communities Strategies and Climate Protection Act. The inspired dialogue groups then shared ideas and visions for opportunities in the Bay Area to transform policies and create more healthy, just, and sustainable communities.

The film screening and community dialogue event was a huge success that built on the series of community engagements around these pertinent issues. This event was made possible by the City of El Cerrito Environmental Quality Committee, the League of Women Voters, The San Francisco Foundation, the Lia Fund and the California Endowment.

[break] March 2013 community dialogue in El Cerrito, CA. [break]

Breakthrough Communities Invites You to

Communities & Opportunities for All

Saturday, May 21, 2011  —  9am-2pm Jacobs Center  —  404 Euclid Avenue — San Diego, CA 92114

For more information please click here for announcement and contact Kendell at 619.677.7330

Please share this reminder widely with your networks!

---

  [ca_audio url_mp3=”https://www.breakthroughcommunities.info/videoaudio/mit_interview_with_c_anthony_and_m_pavel.mp3″ width=”400″ height=”50″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player” autoplay=”false” download=”true” html5=”true” skin=”regular” align=”none”]    

Keynote Presentation delivered April 1, 2006, in New York City at the Annual Meeting of the American Tielhard Association.

(Approximately one hour)

         

National Alliance to Restore Opportunity

an invitation to

a National Day of Prayer and Call to Action

February 22, 2006

Dear Community of Faith:

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina forced the waters of Lake Pontchartrain over and through the levees protecting New Orleans. Three weeks later, President Bush promised a national television audience that his administration would “do what it takes…to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.” Six months later, the disaster continues to unfold. Today, New Orleans has one-third the number of residents it had pre-Katrina, the vast majority of the city’s public schools remain closed, and only half of its traffic lights work. Many needy communities throughout the Gulf Coast still have not seen a FEMA truck. On behalf of the people of the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, the city of New Orleans, the region, and the many other communities that have borne the brunt of this tragedy, we must do better.

We are inviting you to join The National Alliance to Restore Opportunity for aNational Day of Prayer and Call to Action during the weekend of March 3-5, 2006, six months after the breach of the levees in New Orleans. We will share our thoughts, prayers, concern and support for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma and for all those whose lives have been affected by these combined tragedies. We are asking that you and your church, synagogue, mosque, or other spiritual or religious group engage in public prayer, reflection and dialogue on March 3^rd, 4^th or 5^th, as your spiritual practices allow, to acknowledge the continued suffering of countless people throughout the Gulf Coast and beyond. This day will give us a renewed opportunity to embrace our mutual dependence, responsibility for one another’s well-being and the role we need the government to play to help us care for each other.

We are also asking you to mark March 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th as a time to renew our call for more thoughtful, vigorous action from the federal government. The outpouring of generosity and concern from spiritual and religious communities, private organizations, and individuals around the country and the world has been inspiring. At the same time, we recognize that the federal government has a unique and indispensable role to play in responding to a disaster of this magnitude and complexity. We must demand that the federal government provide the resources and leadership necessary to achieve the following four goals:

• Rebuild the Gulf Region and ensure that the people of New Orleans never again face the devastation wrought by failed levees.
• Improve the lives and the destinies of Gulf Coast residents bysignificantly improving the conditions found in many neighborhoods prior to Katrina. Rebuilding efforts must create real communities of opportunity that are healthy, stable, sustainable, and economically viable.
• Provide sustainable opportunities and adequate life support for displaced Gulf Coast residents and for the communities that have so generously received them.
• Bring federal resources to the Region without siphoning funds from programs that already serve people in need.

We encourage you to contact others to participate in the weekend of prayer and call to action and to consider other steps you deem appropriate to bring renewed attention to the crisis in the Gulf Coast and the plight of the people who have been impacted by the hurricanes. We encourage you to consider proactive initiatives that will hold the federal government accountable and ensure that the plight of those devastated by this disaster will not become yesterday’s news. For those interested in participating, a day of action is being planned for the end of March, on which we will present a list of specific actions we believe will be required to achieve the general goals outlined above. In the coming weeks, we will circulate information about the day of action.

We will support interested organizations with information about the rebuilding effort in the Gulf Region, data about the magnitude of the devastation, contact information for other organizations that are participating in this effort and information to facilitate engagement with public officials to make your voices heard.  We will assist in the coordination of media contacts to help inform the general public about the National Day of Prayer and Call to Action, and we will assist other organizations who want to publicize other events and activities in the coming weeks. A web site has been established for these purposes. Please go to www.linkedfate.org or contact us at (614) 247-6329.

Thank you.

The National Alliance to Restore Opportunity

May 23-25, 2005:  Advancing Regional Equity: The Second National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was co-convened by PolicyLinkand the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.  Summit participants included leaders and advocates from the non-profit, public policy, philanthropy, business, and academic arenas that share a commitment to full economic and racial inclusion based on the belief that everyone should have the opportunity to participate and prosper in society.

The  Race & Regionalism Conference 2005 took place in downtown Minneapolis May 6-7, 2005. The conference was a full two-day event. The conference, supported by the Ford Foundation and the University of Minnesota Law School, was an opportunity to explore new legal and empirical scholarship about race and the regions and frankly discuss the possibility of coalitions for regional reform among people of all races. Blacks, whites, Latinos and others met to discuss the growing policy and legal framework that shapes our understanding of racial dynamics in regional affairs.