Help Needed: Community Project
Home workers Intentional Community
Aug 12, 2024
I am working on my inquiry proposal for The Graham Grant For Individuals.
I have gotten through the easiest part that I can do on my own and now I have questions to deal with that are impacted by whether or not I can gather a team to participate in a project. Since this is a community project, the parameters of what can be achieved are limited to advocating for the idea if I am working alone since community, by definition, involves more than one person.
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However, the institutionalized organized community in Maine excludes individuals, which engages another dynamic. An individual means one person and I am applying for A Grant for Individuals because I would like there to be a supportive community for Individuals and grassroots entrepreneurialism in Maine.
The Grant for Individuals provides space for collaborators, I interpret this as recognition by the Graham Foundation that organizations often override individual participation. I know I am not the only one to have experienced this. The way the Grant for Individuals is structured it allows the individual to break off and start their own organization, which is the hopeful outcome of a project that begins with one individual.
Fifth Question on the Grant Form
Project Impact 200 word maximum. What contribution does this project make to contemporary architecture discourse?
Architectural spaces define human possibilities, so architects must address the possibilities that spaces open or close for the inhabitants.
With HP 1489, the state has imposed uniformity across Maine. The Priority zones are suited for service-industry and corporate employees needed by the state and its private partners. The public educational system is repurposed as workforce training for the State & Co. The state incorporates nonprofit sources of concentrated wealth into its fold and excludes individuals and grassroots entrepreneurs from the community development dialog. The nonprofit foundations prohibit individuals and free enterprises from submitting proposals for grants.
Creativity is a human need that requires its own space. The remote workers movement is growing resulting in corporate headquarters closing and requiring working space in the home, but the state solution to the housing shortage is to squeeze the people into smaller spaces, treating the need for creativity as a luxury only available to the few or that can only be pursued in institutional spaces, calling the downsizing of space allocated to year-round residences a “density bonus”. For whom?
There is currently no network of support for grassroots entrepreneurialism in Maine. Conceptualizing intentional communities accommodating working and living environments can fill the void
The first Four Questions Follow. The deadline is September 15:
This is of course a work in progress,
#1 Project Title
Work at Home Housing Intentional Community
#2 One Sentence Project Description
The sentence should be a concise summary of the project, written in present tense, describing the final form the project will take. It should not discuss how and when grant funds will be used. The project title should not be used in the sentence, e.g. “This exhibition investigates…” instead of “The exhibition, ‘Architecture without Architects’ investigates.” If awarded a grant, the one sentence project description will be published in a press release announcing the new grantees and may also be included in other Graham Foundation materials.
In response to new Maine law HP 1489, calling for affordable housing priority zones in every municipality, this project seeks to bring about a coalition to develop a concept for collaborative work at home intentional community
#3 Project Abstract150 word maximum. The abstract should be a concise summary of the project, written in present tense, that communicates to a broad public the significance of the project to the field of architecture. It should not discuss how and when grant funds will be used. If awarded a grant, the project abstract will be published on the website and may also be included in other Graham Foundation materials.
Maine has enacted a new law mandating affordable housing priority zones in every municipality. HP 1489 does not require overcrowding but it prohibits municipalities from regulating density or referencing community character. By another name, priority zones are intentional communities, necessary when short-term rentals are unregulated. The emerging priority zones feature tightly packed housing depriving the inhabitants of the traditional rural lifestyle characterized by ample living and working space and individual lawns. The priority zones encouraged by state law translate as intentional communities for workers who work at corporate headquarters and do not consider the working space needs of remote workers, and other home workers.
This project targets the need for priority zones (intentional communities) that accommodate home working lifestyles and will build an advocacy coalition to communicate the need and conceptualize the design of a home business and small business community in a spacious setting.
#4 Biography
150 word maximum (per person), written in the third person, for all applicants. The biography should identify current professional position(s), related academic or professional training, other relevant background and qualifications, and role in the proposed project. When referencing a publication, list titles in quotation marks, and cite the publisher’s name and year of publication in parentheses after the title, e.g. “Title” (Publisher, 2020). If awarded a grant, the biography will be published on the website and may also be included in other Graham Foundation materials.
Mackenzie Andersen’s elementary education involved growing up in a creative business in a home. Andersen Design began in an Ohio housing development that would not permit a business in a home so the Andersens moved to Maine.
Mackenzie graduated from Pratt Institute where she resonated with NYC’s diversity.
In the early 1990’s she returned to work in the family business,
Home businesses are not included in housing or economic development discussions motivating Mackenzie to spend years independently researching Maine economic policy,
She incorporates her research into a Substack newsletter, ”The Individual vs The Empire”. It has enabled her to develop an unconventional supportive network.
Mackenzie’s fiscal sponsor is the Field.
Mackenzie is a peer reviewer for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications.
Mackenzie is the custodian of Andersen Design’s productivity assets and is dedicated to placing them for the benefit of future makers, consistent with Andersen Design’s founding philosophy.
Project Website Address(es)
Include any websites related to the project, separated by commas.
https://mackenzieandersen.substack.com/, https://www.mackenzieandersen.com/mackenzie-andersen-s-blog
Now I have to provide planning stage information and references.
This is where I need a team to provide feedback and with skills to complement my own. I see the first task as creating a database of people who are interested in forming a coalition of people interested in having and developing such a community. I have ideas of how to go about this but I am a novice. Someone with experience in developing databases and other coalition skills is a plus.
These are the next questions:
Project Start Date
Any work funded by the Graham Foundation must start after the designated earliest project start date for this grantmaking cycle. Refer to the grant cycle calendar for the for specific date. While the project may have started before the application period, indicate the start date of the activities for which Graham Foundation support is sought.
Project End Date
Research and Development grants must be completed in one year. If funded, applicants should allow sufficient time to meet the grant requirements and acknowledge Graham Foundation support in all published media.
Work Plan and Project Timeline
200 word maximum. List key project dates.
Project Budget Summary
All figures must be submitted as United States dollar (USD $) equivalents.
Project Budget
Budget for the entire project, not just the Graham Foundation grant request. Enter whole numbers. Do not enter dollar signs, commas, or decimal points.
Request Amount
The amount of grant support sought from the Graham Foundation for this project. Enter whole numbers. Do not enter dollar signs, commas, or decimal points.
Project Expenses
In list format, outline the project’s major expenses. Indicate which expenses Graham Foundation grant funds will go toward. No more than 30% of total project request amount may be directed to compensation of the applicant(s).
(Here I am initially thinking of database expenses and that someone with database expertise is on the team, they could advise on what these expenses should be)
Project Income, Additional Funding Sources
In list format, provide information on additional funding for this project. Include funding source, amount, and status. Any additional funding listed here, plus the amount requested from the Graham Foundation, should equal the total project budget.
Proposed Use of Graham Foundation Grant Funds
One sentence maximum. If the project is awarded a grant, what will Graham Foundation funds support?
References
References should have expertise in the field and can speak to the importance of the proposed project but should not be directly involved. Members of the Graham Foundation Board of Trustees are not eligible to serve as references. If advanced to the second stage of review, the Graham Foundation will seek input from at least one reference to answer a few short questions related to the project
Reference Contact Information
List two potential references including name, title, institutional affiliation, and contact information.
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Obviously, whether I am working alone or with a team impacts the answers to the above questions and the shape and form of the project. One person in the building industry has expressed an interest so that’s a start.
