All Posts Tagged With: "Community"

Recently, we started in earnest to learn all we can about the blogging world, including how to increase our site traffic so we can continue to offer GOforChange to our community and the wider world. Naturally, we enrolled in Upstart Blogger’s 30-Day Blogging Course . We are known mostly within our own networks, where we reliably preach to the converted. But what about people who are just waking up to environmental and economic challenges? With our expertise, wealth of information, online forums, calendar, and marketplace, we are determined to reach a wider audience.

We started GOforChange in early 2008 to help spread the word about the growing sustainability , local food , social justice, and greening movement in the Baltimore area. A blog was the right format to share information about upcoming events, volunteers opportunities, advice, and all the organizations and businesses in our area that are working for a better world. We are always learning about new things — community gardens, energy auditors, local artisans, schools — and the list of topics keeps growing. We continue to believe that reliable information about local resources is valuable to people who want to know how they can make a difference in their daily lives and communities.

As of Day 5 of the course, we have already learned much about social networks, Technorati rankings , Google Analytics, and reaching out to like-minded blogs. We are shifting our posts to offer more advice, musings, and stories from Julie’s work as a green architect and sustainability consultant, and Alyssa’s hands-on artistry in urban gardening, composting, and other DIY projects. Interspersed with posts about Baltimore-area topics, these will have a broad appeal beyond our geographic region. The Upstart Blogger course is something we probably should have taken six months ago, but back then we just didn’t realize how much we don’t know! Stay tuned for updates on our progress.

"VoiCeS , which began in 2004, creates a deeper understanding of the Bay and the efforts to restore it. This professionally-taught, two-part program, meets each week (for eight weeks) and includes field trips and participant-led community projects. You’ll learn about the Bay’s biology, the issues we face, and how you and your community can help its restoration."

Connect to the GOforChange CollectiveX calender to search dates and locations.

Founder and Director Sarah Ittmann teaches Bikram yoga . A series of 26 poses derived from Hatha principles, each one is done twice to help the body open up and come into openness and alignment. Bikram Choudhury designed these poses in his native India after a weightlifting accident to restore his health. Performed in a heated room for 90 minutes, anyone at any age can feel the benefits of this healing art. Julie practiced Bikram Yoga for almost 5 years and was an avid devotee of Sarah’s. This studio is HIGHLY recommended — a beautiful space with great facilities. With an 8,000 square foot studio, the wellness spa also offers hot stone massage, acupuncture, and salon services.

The Perennial Nursery Program is a project created by Civic Works and is located at 600 N Port Street, behind the Amazing Grace Church. Since 2001. "Its mission is to provide annual and perennial flowers, vegetable plants, shrubs and trees free of charge to community groups involved in urban greening initiatives." To date, over 35,000 plants have been distributed. Volunteers are always needed and appreciated! Contact Staff.

Founded in 1986, and the oldest urban outward bound program in the U.S., the Baltimore Outward Bound Center teaches kids how to be community leaders and learn important life skills from our natural environment, whether out in the wilderness or at the heart of an urban center. The programs focus on helping kids cultivate personal and community leadership skills through physical fitness, self-reliance, craftsmanship, and service.

Be The Bay specializes in products from and about the Chesapeake Bay, and they donate 10% of their profits towards bay restoration and education projects. The founders of Be The Bay have long hoped for a clean bay again where you could swim without worrying about bacteria levels and eat seafood without worrying about mercury levels. Be The Bay focuses on educating residents and tourists on how they can positively effect the bay. Their clothes and bay products can be found at numerous local retailers and their on-line store.

The Friends of Druid Hill Park work to "protect and maintain its magnificent woods and arbors, to preserve its historic monuments and buildings, and to reinvigorate the park as a central recreational, cultural and educational institution." Meetings are held monthly, where events like clean-up day and group gardening are coordinated. Contribute today and become a part of this thriving initiative.