This Saturday at 2 pm during Festival: Oklahoma State House of Representatives Proclamation Honors OU and Turley Area Partnership with A Third Place

University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Relationship With A Third Place Community Center in Turley Honored by Oklahoma House of Representatives; Ceremony Scheduled For Sat. June 19 2 pm
Date: June 16, 2010
For More Information, contact Dr. Lisa Byers, 814-7562 or Ron Robinson, Executive Director, A Third Place Community Foundation, 918-691-3223 or 794-4637

A public ceremony honoring the accomplishments of the campus-community partnership and relationship between various schools of the University of Oklahoma and the residents of far north Tulsa and the adjacent unincorporated area of Turley will take place Saturday, June 19 at 2 pm at A Third Place Community Center, 6514 N. Peoria Ave., featuring State Rep. Seneca Scott, who serves the area, and OU and A Third Place officials.

An official proclamation from the Oklahoma State House of Representatives will be read and presented to the University of Oklahoma thanking it for its programs, especially in community health, social work, and design, which have created positive change in the lives of residents in the immediate area, one of the lowest income and least serviced areas and with the lowest life expectancy in the Tulsa region. A Third Place Community Foundation's service area is from North 46th to 86th Streets and from Highway 75 to the Osage County Line. Certificates will also be given from OU School of Social Work to local residents who recently participated in all sessions of community project organizing classes sponsored by A Third Place and OU.

For the past three years, OU has worked for community development in the local area in partnership with A Third Place Community Foundation, a grassroots non-profit community renewal organization working in Tulsa North and the adjacent unincorporated neighborhood of Turley, OK. Major accomplishments of the partnership just in these past few years include a Community Health Clinic and medical information in the Center, ongoing community forums for citizens to participate and plan programs, community gardening canvassing, identifying the high rate of abandoned run-down homes and properties in need in the urban unincorporated area especially, nutritional studies and assistance, volunteering at the Community Center, establishing a resource center and practicum site for graduate social work students to help residents, helping to establish a Food Pantry, donating trees after the 2007 ice storm, initiating a free Community Academy of classes in community organizing, and helping to design a current proposed project to turn a city block of abandoned homes in the area into a community kitchen garden park.

The ceremony will be held during the weekend's Fourth Annual Turley and Area Free Festival, a Juneteenth and Local/Whole Foods Week celebration that will run Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19 at the A Third Place Community Center and at O'Brien Park, 6230 N. Birmingham. A panel discussion will take place following the ceremony on "Next Steps For Building Our Healthy Community." The many volunteer opportunities in the area, especially for food and gardening and animal welfare and safety and other issues, will be highlighted, along with the Juneteenth focus on the need for continuing efforts toward reconciliation along race, ethnic and other means by working together for the good of the wider community, according to Ron Robinson, Executive Director of A Third Place, an all volunteer group of local residents celebrating this month the third anniversary of the creation of the Center located on North Peoria.

Free live music, food, games, children's activities, tye-dye art, community information, and programs on the area's past, present, and future will be held from Friday June 18 noon to 9 pm and Saturday June 19 from 10 am to 10 pm. Free swimming will be offered at the Tulsa County O'Brien Park pool for all who bring at least two cans of food for the A Third Place Food Pantry.

For more information, contact Dr. Lisa Byers of OU-Tulsa School of Social Work, or A Third Place Center, 691-3223 or 794-4637.

Food Pantry Expansion Celebration Thurs. June 17 3 pm: More Than 900 Pounds of Food Arriving

Come help us bless, dedicate, and stock our Food Pantry with our first order from the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma; 900 pounds of food to distribute. Come sign up and learn how to be a volunteer. Come take. Spread the Word.

Thank you to our OU Tulsa graduate social work student this past year, Adriane Jaynes, for all her hard work getting us to this point, to all the students with the OU classes who worked with Turley and Area residents on this project in community forums, and to the hard working Board members and volunteers of A Third Place Community Foundation for having the original vision and donating funds and sweat and equipment to set it up and get it ready for the food coming on Thursday. A great beginning and only a small piece of our Food Justice Work, but a big step.

Channel Six News Story on our Miracle Among The Ruins project for The Welcome Table Community Kitchen Garden Park

http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=12642450

Thanks Channel 6. One correction as folks will see in the blog posts below is that we are seeking to purchase one acre with 12 city lots, a full city block, for the gardens, kitchen, play area and community space. You can donate easily and safely through the button above. You don't have to have paypal. We just need in all of Tulsa area, or from elsewhere as we would love this to have a global connection, 90 people to give $100 each and we will have it, but of course any amount donated is dearly appreciated. Or pass the story on to a few other friends and go together to jointly raise the $100 or more donation. Or you can mail a check to A Third Place at 6514 N. Peoria Ave. Turley, OK 74126 or drop it by the community center. Don't wait, Donate. Be an owner of the park. Donate in honor or memory of someone who loved community, justice, gardens; or for the future, give in the name of your children or grandchildren; all donors will be recognized at the site with a sign.

http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/see-vision-miracle-among-ruins.html
This takes you to a full description of the project, and its unique need, and links to videos.

http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/06/ou-tulsa-graduate-design-studio-and-our.html
This links to the full OU Graduate Design Studio proposal documents

http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/miracle-among-ruins-welcome-table.html
This link goes direct to the video of the project prepared by the Design students.

http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/four-directions-initiative-tnt-vision.html
This link gives you the bigger picture of our community renewal and development vision, and puts this garden park project into our total perspective for our full two mile service area from 46th to 86th St. N. and from Highway 75 to the Osage County Line.

http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/06/experience-miracle-catch-spirit.html
And this link will take you to some of the ever evolving news of our Fourth Annual Turley and Area Free Festival For Juneteenth and LocalFoods Week this coming weekend. A great way to come see for yourself hope growing, and find a way to be a part of it.

Thanks OU Tulsa Graduate Social Work students also for helping our local residents dream the dream from our community forums the past two years where we heard stories of hunger and nutrition and no access to healthy food, along with abandoned properties in our area that never get cleaned up, and in general the sense that people didn't have community spirit and proud.

Come see our many many projects of hope going on, all by volunteers here grassroots; see other posts here for our coming events and happenings this week, this month, this summer.

Experience The Miracle! Catch The Spirit! Adventures in Living! Fourth Annual Turley & Area Free Festival For Juneteenth/Local Food Week June 18-19

4th Annual Turley & Area Free Festival
June 18-19, 2010
A Third Place Community Center
6514 N. Peoria
Celebrate our Past, Present & Future as a Healthy Community
http://www.turleyok.blogspot.com/
Everyone Is Welcome!
Be a Part of Local Foods Week

Friday June 18
Free Lunch & Kickoff noon-1
Band & Games 1-2
History Presentation-Turley Tour 2-4
Free Supper and Band : Turley and Area Jammers 4:30-6:30
Hands on History Project 7-8
Band and Games 8-9
Juneteenth Display

Schedule of Events June 19
10-noon Tye Dye Tshirt Making
10-noon Turley Community Renewal Projects
Noon-2 Free Lunch & Band Johnny and the Oklahomans
2-4 Tye Dye Tshirt Making
2-4 Community Presentations by State Rep. Seneca Scott and University of Oklahoma followed by Panel Presentation: Our Healthy Community Future: Plans & Visions
4:30-6:30 Free Dinner & Band
7-10 Your Voice for “Tulsa North Turley” Map of the Future: Four Directions Initiative
8-10 Closing Celebration and Band DNR classic rock and blues

Free Swimming at O'Brien Park, 6230 N. Birmingham near 61st and N. Lewis, with two cans of food for the A Third Place Food Pantry

Children’s Activities!Wii Games
Giant Book & Clothing Giveaway
& More!

Celebrate Whole Foods Week and Juneteenth.

We are all volunteers. We pay for this together. Freewill Donations on site or online at http://www.turleyok.blogspot.com/ to make it happen.

Email: thirdplaceturley@aol.com or revronrobinson@aol.com
Call: 794-4637, 430-1150, 691-3223
Find A Way To Help. Pass The Word.

OU Tulsa Graduate Design Studio and our TulsaNorthTurley Transformational Garden Park

http://tulsagrad.ou.edu/studio/turley/A%20Third%20Place%20Community%20Foundation%20Community%20Garden%20Park.pdf

Click on the above link to go to the full presentation on the plans for our Garden Park project in our area. Pass this on to others. Catch the hope. Make it real. Donate easily and simply at the button above; you don't have to have paypal to use it, or send a check to us at A Third Place 6514 N. Peoria Ave. Turley OK 74126.