Just a Bit Of What Our Children Will See On Way To School on N. Peoria: See below for helping us change this.

Pass this post on to others. Children shouldn't be walking through these or past these, and these don't cover all the areas near us. Just a few of the photos of trash or abandoned houses with overgrown weeds creating risky unsafe environments. It is why we are doing the community gardening and beautification at the school itself, and why we are raising funds for the Miracle Among The Ruins project. Come to Cherokee 6001 N. Peoria on Saturdays Aug. 14 and 28 in the mornings to help beautify; pass on to others, church and youth and service groups; also help us give the children something different to walk past; help us give them the Miracle Among the Ruins; we are $3,000 short of our goal and our deadline is Aug. 31. Donate safely and easily at the button above.

See the plans and the links to all the links about the property and what it looks like now for kids at http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/06/channel-six-news-story-on-our-miracle.html.

The Channel Six news story is at http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=12642450

For the OU social work students moving video about the place and the need for the project and for your donations, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhgFKD6_i_w .

For the OU Design Studio on what it will look like go to http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/miracle-among-ruins-welcome-table.html

For the background on why we are doing this community transformation project here go to http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/see-vision-miracle-among-ruins.html and to http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/04/consider-thischange-this.html

For the bigger connect the dots link on how we have plans for all of our Four Directions area of Tulsa North and Turley go to http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/05/four-directions-initiative-tnt-vision.html

And after you donate share it with someone who will donate. Don't wait. Every little bit goes a long way here. Surprise yourself and the world. Just as our Miracle Among the Ruin will surprise the children who will see it rise where ruins were before, all around them.

Party Among The Ruins Wednesday July 28 7 pm at Community Garden Site 6025 N. Johnstown

Your Invitation, and Please Invite Others

What: "Party Among The Ruins"
Make real the Miracle Among the Ruins project to turn a block of abandoned properties here in TulsaNorth/Turley into The Welcome Table Community Kitchen Garden Park. Come tour the proposed site and area and discuss the plans; even consider ways you might replicate such a project in your own part of town if you live elsewhere. See the video produced by the OU Graduate Design Studio of what it can look like and be even as we are partying amid what it is now. Beverages and ice cream social and watermelon and refreshments provided for freewill donations. Beat the heat with a water balloon fight. Listen to music. Meet others committed to community renewal, health, food justice, one block at a time.

When: Wednesday, July 28, 7 to 9 pm. We have a July 30 deadline to finish raising the funds to buy the property. Come celebrate and let us say thanks for all your donations. Bring friends who haven't donated yet, or take this opportunity to have fun and bring your own donation, or in the spirit of generosity and abundance give again if you have donated already. Surprise yourself as we surprise our community, so often seen as powerless and struggling and stereotyped, with this venture so needed here, and now.

Where: 6025 N. Johnstown Ave., between Peoria and Cincinnati, due west up the hill from Cherokee School. Enter the property off Johnstown. Park along the street or in the parking lot across the street at the nearby Methodist Church. This hilltop neighborhood has outstanding views of downtown Tulsa and out east toward the horizon of the Bird Creek bottomland; to the north rises Turley Hill. The party will take place in the center of the property on abandoned foundations between run down buildings. You will also get a chance to see the infamous resident-made walking trail people use going to school and stores on foot, some of the area we have raised a few experimental gardens already, and walk the paths in a native grass and plant area. Also tour our A Third Place Community Center at 6514 N. Peoria Ave. while you are in the area.

How: Just come, or if you can help by donating beverages or refreshments such as ice cream for an ice cream social part of the event; or come help fill up water balloons for those who want to "stay cool",. We are a grassroots group and we like our events to grow from the grassroots as well.

RSVP and also pass this invitation on by email, in announcements at church, synagogue, mosque, temple, or your civic group this weekend, pass it through social networking sites, to family, friends, colleagues and coworkers.

In case of rain, say a prayer of thanks and a halleluia and come drive by the area and stop for the Party at A Third Place Center, 6514 N. Peoria where we will move the event. If you haven't seen our unique approach to community renewal, this is a great time to visit, and to bring others who might not have been here yet. In fact, this past few weeks talking with medical students, we found out again that many of them have grown up in Tulsa but never been to the northside or been this far into the northside. If you know of anyone like that, use this opportunity to expand their horizons.

And be one of the folks who push us over our fundraising goal to purchase this property. We can't do it with just you alone (unless of course you can donate or arrange for a donation of $7,000), but we also can't do it without you. And we mean that. True, we have a ways to go still and a short amount of time to do it in, but we wouldn't call it a "miracle among the ruins" if it had been easy to do. We do have a commitment from Tulsa County to remove and clear the property for us once we purchase it, and we have volunteers ready to transform it; all we need is to own the land. Find out all the wonderful plans and donate now at http://turleyok.blogspot.com/2010/06/channel-six-news-story-on-our-miracle.html or send checks made out to A Third Place Community Foundation at 6514 N. Peoria Ave, Turley, OK 74126.

At the website for A Third Place Community you will also see the multitude of other ways we are giving back to our neighborhoods in our area between 46th St. N. and 86th St. N. and Highway 75 and Osage County Line. All of these need support. The Miracle Among The Ruins project is a vital one for us here in the zipcode of Tulsa with the lowest life expectancy and a fourteen year gap between us and mid town just a few miles away, but the kitchengarden project is part of a bigger picture connecting the dots in what we call "The Four Directions Initiative" for TulsaNorth/Turley; a true "TNT" vision explosion for renewal.

Thanks and blessings and see you for a "party among the ruins." Don't forget to share this with all others.

Ron Robinson
430-1150 home; 6913223 cell, 7944637 office
A Third Place Community, a 501c3 grassroots, 100 percent into mission, neighborhood movement
"Small acts of justice done with great love change the world."

Tulsa World Article On Our Partnership with OU

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20100620_11_A18_TheRev414018&archive=yes

Read the article linked above in the Tulsa World about A Third Place Center and our growing partnership with the University of Oklahoma, the community health, the social work, and the design studio. We hope to increase and spread our partnership with OU into other departments, and also to partner with other universities in the Tulsa area especially.

Thanks to Dr. Lisa Byers of our A Third Place Community who helped bring others at OU into partnership with us back in 2007 when we had just opened our doors. From the first days with the mobile health van to our health clinic indoors here now, from the first community forums with OU social work students to our recently completed first Community Academy, to the work by the Design Studio on our radical transforming Miracle Among The Ruins project to create The Welcome Table Kitchen Garden Park where a city block of abandoned houses and weeds now reigns at one of the most beautiful spots in our area overlooking both downtown and much of the Bird Creek bottomland area, the campus and community working together are, in small ways, changing the world here.

Come be a part of it. Spread the news.

Our Summer Lunch For All Those 18 and Under Continues

We sponsor and pay staff for the summer lunch feeding program for anyone 18 years or under, from any place, no ID required, at Cherokee Elementary School, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm Monday through Friday, at 6001 N. Peoria. We have been up to some 80 children lately. Part of that is that we are continuing the program all summer long and some of the schools in our area, who have to rely on school staff, must close their program when their summer classes are done. Since we are community based we are paying for it all summer long and we are getting children from many areas, including day cares and church groups, who are bringing their children to us.

This is a great community service. If you can help donate for it, or for any of our programs and services you read about here on this site, please do so easily and safely through the Donate button at the top of the webpage.

Heat Alert in our Area Continues: We are a Cooling Station

All this past week we have been open with water and a cool place to relax for those especially journeying by foot, bus, or bicycle. We will continue it as this next week looks like the heat alert will continue. We have also gone out to deliver cold bottles of water to those waiting at bus stops, on foot, or on bicycles in our area. If you know someone who has no electric power especially to run air conditioners or fans, tell them to come by. And we encourage you, if you are able to, to also take water around with you to distribute to those who find themselves outside and in need of it. We have supplies for you at the Center.

Take Your Community Life Survey at the Center

As part of one of the partnerships between A Third Place Community and the Graduate Social Work School at OU, we are taking surveys of how people feel about their neighborhoods and their community health. These surveys are available at the Center and take some 20 minutes on average to fill out. They are done anonymously. The data will help us shape future grant requests and programs to help meet the real needs of our residents. An OU student or Community Center volunteer will help you with any questions about the survey. Come add your voice to those of your neighbors.

This is the latest of the surveys and community forums we have partnered with OU to do over the past two years. The results have been real. We have community gardens, and we have abandoned properties scheduled to be removed, and we have a new and expanded Food Pantry, and projects underway as a result of the Springtime Community Academy program.

So your voice is being heard and is being turned into better life in the neighborhoods. There is still so much to do, so every bit helps. Thanks.

OU and A Third Place Tulsa North/Turley Poverty Education Workshop Friday July 23 Helpers Needed

We still need a few more folks to sign up to help us in the poverty education workshop Friday July 23 at O'Brien Park, 6147 N. Lewis, with OU Graduate Social Work students. Helpers will get free lunch at noon during an hour of easy training for the workshop which then take place from 1 to 4 pm in the gym. Pass it on to those you know who might be interested in the program. RSVP to Ron Robinson 691-3223 or 430-1150.

Helpers, community residents and activists, will take on roles of staff from health clinic, law, social services, school, bank, etc. as the incoming graduate students take on different roles of residents and try to access necessities. Play money is used but it is not a game; it is a way to begin raising understanding.

Come be a community educator.

Community Health Discussion for TulsaNorthTurley on Friday July 16 1 pm at A Third Place Center

Hi come listen to a great discussion of community health issues and needs and community life stories for our area this Friday, July 16 at 1 pm at A Third Place Center as we complete our conversations with Univ. of Okla. premed and medical students as they seek to learn about various communities and their health needs. The joys and struggles of living here and living here and growing healthy families, the changes in medical care, and more. Rev. Ron Robinson and Dr. Bonnie J. Ashing, M.D., will lead the conversation.

Free Movie and Meal and Discussion Tuesday July 13 6:30 pm

Come hear about the community garden plans and activities and ways you can help; and everyone can help...come have a free meal on us...come watch the acclaimed movie directed by Robert Redford, "The Milagro Beanfield War" about community, justice, land, water, farming, and risk. Tuesday, July 13, 6:30 pm at A Third Place Center.

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.