The September Yes! list… intended to give you creative and positive ways to respond to some of the big challenges of our time.

What can send us into despair:

• People with low wages struggling to pay off student loans with skyrocketing interest rates… how to ever get out of that cycle?
• Homelessness affects million of people, devastates the lives of individuals and families
• Neighborhoods racked with violence and desperation

 

But wait! There is reason for hope.

The Rolling Jubilee Fund announced this week that it bought nearly $4 million of student loan debt (for just $107,000 – that’s standard practice among financial institutions) and then sent letters to 2,761 debtors, notifying them of complete forgiveness. The Fund is an initiative connected to the Occupy movement. While it no longer is accepting donations, it provides this super-helpful list of how you can respond to this issue.

 

For many people on limited incomes, “affordable housing” is a pipe dream – a great concept but very hard to find. In East Austin, Texas, the Community First! Project is changing that. This 27-acre project, when finished, will provide 100 lots for affordable and sustainable housing for Central Texans who have been chronically homeless. Resident will be able to rent “micro-homes” for $210 per month. The community will feature a vegetable garden, bee hives and chicken coops, and a workshop equipped with tools for woodworking and other micro-enterprises. Way to go, Community First!

 

Drawing inspiration as diverse as St Francis and Joanna Macy, Canticle Farm is an intentional community in the middle of Oakland, California’s gritty Fruitvale District. In their words, “We’ve removed the fences between the houses and grow much of our own food there as well as participate in community service in the larger neighborhood.” They practice “receptive silence” twice daily; freely give fresh, organic fruits and vegetables from their gardens to their neighbors; and support young people to learn construction skills.

The folks at Canticle see it as an experiment in horizontal and emergent decision-making, and encourage you to try it in your own neighborhood. You can also visit them if you happen to be in the Bay Area.

 

By the way…. when I wrote the September “Yes” list it didn’t cross my mind that I was using the same name as a fantastic magazine. But now that I get that, I’m sending a big nod of recognition and thanks to the original YES! magazine, which has long been one of my very favorite publications. Any resemblance between this list and the magazine is coincidental, but I highly encourage you to check them out.

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Got ideas to add to this list? Leave a comment below! 

And if you’re looking for something amazing to do with your one wild and precious life, consider signing up for my “Fall in Love with Your Work” course. It’s a great opportunity to transform your ‘stuck’ patterns around work and livelihood!