Once the sale of the Tivoli Housing Co-op was complete in 2014, the Common Fire Foundation shifted its focus dramatically, limiting itself to providing basic support for the Beacon Co-Housing community. The Foundation previously had a much more expansive vision of helping to support the creation of numerous intentional communities nationwide that shared our values related to communities as a foundation for personal and collective transformation. The information on this page represents our PREVIOUS more expansive vision and is provided here in the hopes that it may help to support or inspire other people’s efforts in this field.
Sunday, February 26
9:00am – 6:00pm
Tivoli, NY
2 hrs north of NYC
www.commonfire.org/directions
Cost: Sliding Scale $70-$120
Scholarships and work-trade available
Space is strictly limited. To register or for more information:
(845) 554-3406 certificate@commonfire.org
The Common Fire Foundation is delighted to announce this inaugural training for its Certificate Program in Sustainable Community Living (www.commonfire.org/certificate). Individual trainings are open to the public, though most have limited capacity and priority is given to program participants, so please register as soon as you decide you would like to join us.
One of the four essential characteristics of any Common Fire community is a commitment to ongoing personal growth and interpersonal dialogue.
In our personal journeys to realizing our full selves, it’s essential that we have practices that effectively support personal growth and communication with others. But those practices take on another level of importance when we’re living and working in very close-knit communities, whether that’s an intentional community, a workplace, in the context of planning campaigns or actions, and so on.
There are many models and traditions that support these practices, but Common Fire has found the Be Present Empowerment Model® to be particularly effective and transformational in our intentional community settings, particularly as we strive to keep our communities accessible and rewarding for a broad diversity of people. In this training we’ll share some of our rich history with the BPE Model and give people a chance to learn about and experience the model.
In the words of Be Present, Inc.:
The Be Present Empowerment Model® is a personal and organizational model that begins on the individual level, exploring the impact of diversity. The model acknowledges that in order for change to be sustainable, we must understand who we are and find and value our true voices. The emergence of true voice is a process through which one learns and appreciates all of who s/he is and is validated for her/his thinking, intelligence, and ability to live life, not just survive. As we feel our own personal power, we begin to comprehend our interconnectedness with others and the focus moves from individual empowerment to community action and grassroots level change.
The Be Present Empowerment Model® guides people through three distinct stages of development, which result in their being able to interact with others beyond and outside of the barriers imposed by race, class, gender, age, etc., and from a position of wholeness. It is a process that teaches people how to be conscious and present in each moment so that they can deal positively with difficult issues and work beyond them to form lasting and active partnerships across barriers. It models how to build strong alliances that promote change in our lives and in our communities.
Be Present's History
Be Present, Inc. is a partner organization of Common Fire and we are deeply grateful to the more than 35 years of work Be Present has been developing and practicing this model, and to the dedicated support they have lent to Common Fire and our communities. This training is being offered by Common Fire with Be Present's knowledge and support, but not their direct involvement.
Be Present, Inc.’s roots are traced to nationally recognized trainer and social change activist Lillie P. Allen’s groundbreaking Black & Female: What is the Reality?® Workshop at the First National Conference on Black Women’s Health Issues held in 1983 in Atlanta, GA. In 1988, a group of African-American women trained by Ms. Allen as self-help group facilitators invited white women and other women of color activists to participate in Sisters & Allies®, an 18-month leadership training project. This initiative formed the foundation for Be Present, Inc., which incorporated as a non-profit in 1992. Men and boys began participating in trainings in 1996; and as of November 2008 are part of Be Present Inc.'s organizing and governance structures - our Regional Organizing Core Groups and National Board of Directors. This decision completes Be Present Inc.'s vision to include all people in all aspects of the organization.
The Trainers
We currently have four trainers scheduled to lead this one-day introduction: Monica Day, Kavitha Rao, Jeff Golden, and Sean Ritchey. They each have anywhere from several years to more than two decades of experience practicing and training people in the Be Present Empowerment Model, and three of the four are involved in ongoing Be Present Support Groups.
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