Taylorvoss.com » Community

Food Deserts

Taylor — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 01:35:42 +0000

Living in Grand Rapids has opened my eyes to a national problem that plagues inner cities that have been forgotten and left behind. Big box stores have taken over the mom & pop shops that used to thrive in these old neighborhoods that used to be filled with fresh produce. They are now filled with beer and twinkies. That does not sound like a good dinner to me. Check out this video about the Let’s Move campaign.

Adoption

Taylor — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:45:31 +0000

I have been reflecting on adoption the last few weeks. It seems that so many people talk about adoption but never actually participate in it. There are two groups of people that I have found who talk about adoption. First are the group of people that think it is a noble idea especially in the light of overpopulation, and second are the people that hate abortion so much that they hope people would but their babies up for adoption instead. Now, I also hate the idea of abortion but with adoption as one of the only outlets I do not agree that we can easily rule it out. Here are some statistics that formed this dichotomy.

Adoption remains rare in the United States. Among all women aged 18–44 in 2002, only 1.1% had adopted a child and 1.6% were currently seeking to adopt. [1]

Relinquishment of infants at birth is extremely rare. Only 1% of children born in the United States in 1996–2002 to women 18–44 years of age as of 2002 were relinquished for adoption within their first month of life [1]

The Administration for Children and Families estimated that 748,000 were in the public foster care system in 2008 and only 55, 000 children were adopted in that same year. Children waiting to be adopted were 42% Black, 13% Hispanic, 36% White, and 9% other. [2]

Because the characteristics of children that women and couples seek to adopt, as shown in this report, may not correspond to the characteristics of children in the foster care system, women and couples may seek children from outside the foster care system to adopt. [2]

1. Adoption Experiences of Women and Men and Demand for Children to Adopt

2. Trends in Foster Care and Adoption—FY 2002-FY 2008

Big Rapids Apple Cider Pressing

Taylor — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:37:27 +0000

Every fall in Big Rapids Michigan the Waldron family comes together to make apple cider from the apples between their fields and orchards in and around town. I have been privileged enough to be invited to this wonderful event for the past three years. This is a memoir of making apple cider with the Waldrons.

neighborly networking: the common

Taylor — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:21:53 +0000

TheCommon.org – in book form. Created by Paradox Media Group.

TheCommon.org – In Book Form

TheCommon.org helps people in communities help each other by connecting people with abilities to people with matching needs inside their community.

I found this tool after looking into some concept web start-up companies. It is a great idea and a wonderful resource if used correctly. I have been using it for a while and have found that most people are having a hard time integrating it into their normal volunteer work flow. As the video suggests it lines up needs and abilites. I am not sure it is as simple as this presentation suggests. It could be that the ‘communities’ that I have joined are not using this tool yet but i have not seen any activity.

Let me know if you have had any experience with this tool.

Community Police Officers

Taylor — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 15:58:33 +0000

Last month our neighborhood lost a valuable resource. Grand Rapids Police Officer Jeremy Huffman served our neighborhood for the past eleven years forming relationships with the people that lived in and did business in the eastown neighborhood. He took a preventative approach to curbing crime. Instead of responding to problems when they happened, he looked for ways to prevent crime.

Community policing or neighborhood policing is a policing strategy and philosophy based on the notion that community interaction and support can help control crime and reduce fear, with community members helping to identify suspects, detain vandals and bring problems to the attention of police.^[1]

I have only lived in the neighborhood for a few years now but an elderly lady that came to show support for Jeremy in a peaceful protest last month told the story for us. She has lived in the neighborhood almost all her life and witnessed the transformation that this approach to policing had on the community. This was a valuable learning experience for me and I will never think of a police department of only being capable of reactions again.

Members of the Eastown community gathered in the cold outside of the Kava House Coffee Shop. They were standing to celebrate the service of Grand Rapids Police Officer Jeremy Huffman who has been the community officer in Eastown for eleven years. Budget cuts are forcing Huffman back out onto general patrol duties.[1]

Here are a few new stations that showed up at the gathering…

Gracie and Grandpa

Taylor — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:51:34 +0000

There comes a time for most folk to be introduced to nieces and nephews. That time has not come for me yet, but something close and just as wonderful has arrived. I give you Gracie, my almost niece.

Connecting Cancer and the Environment

Taylor — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:05:03 +0000

The conversation is happening all too often, families and friends sitting around talking about how they have been affected by cancer. Advances in cancer treatment have come a long way in recent years but we are still talking about treatment and not cures. The general public believes that apart from smoking and asbestos, cancer causes are out of our control. This is baffling to me, we have a long list of known carcinogens that large in part seem to get ignored but yet are closely linked to the cause. Many people are challenging this notion today including a large number of scientists and people pursuing answers.

If a chemist could sample your body’s chemistry, she would find scores of toxic chemicals picked up throughout your life, as early as in your mother’s womb.”

January Series guest Sandra Steingraber is an ecologist, writer, and cancer survivor who promotes this method of cure.

Musical Markets

Taylor — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:49:37 +0000

Not only can you find wonderful food at the market, there is music and sunshine. I have seen a number of different musitions at the Fulton Street Farmers Market here in Grand Rapids. Check it out some time and bring a few bucks so they keep coming back.

Founders to Blandford

Taylor — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:17:10 +0000

A few weeks ago one of the many semi-organized bike rides in grand rapids banded together and visited Blanford Nature Center. We were followed by a local “digital storyteller”, Andy Dragt.

Social Networking

Taylor — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:25:32 +0000

If you have used a social networking site such as facebook, you have most likely accumulated a cohort of friends that are connected to you is some way. Usually we see this as a number representing the total number of connections you have. This is quite a number that is difficult to understand what it means. I have taken my cohort and plotted it out visually to represent the connections that i have.

Facebook Cloud

You can notice in this web of connections that there is a cluster of two groups. It turns out that these clouds can be used to represent geography even though the placement of dots and lines have no geographic input. The cloud on the right contains people from Michigan/College and the cloud on the right contain connections from Arizona/High School.The dots in-between are the friends that came to Michigan with me or family that know people in both groups.