AARP Award Application April 2020 Barbara Christwitz
Summary Statement:
Citizens Caring for Clearlake is a non-profit, volunteer network created to alleviate litter and blight in the city of Clearlake. Since co-founding this organization in 2014, I have served as its principle administrator, actively organizing cleanups, interacting with city officials, and hosting fundraising events. Our group consists mostly of retired seniors who routinely pick up litter both individually and in groups. In addition, founding partner Vicki Crystal and I enjoy visiting elementary schools in the county to teach the importance of not littering, recycling, and respecting the environment. Our community outreach extends further to include the sponsorship of individuals to volunteer, perform community service requirements or earn $10 gift cards in return for cleanup participation. The gift cards as well as cash subsidization of dump fees provide much needed economic support for low income Clearlake residents.
As an educator, pastoral counselor, and lifelong volunteer, my vision for CC4C goes beyond the preservation of our cityscape and covertly serves as a front for community building in Clearlake, the lowest income town in all of California. We get great exercise, fresh air, and a sense of pride in making the city a cleaner place.
Impact:
The pressing social problem of Clearlake is poverty. With a population of roughly 15,250 people, we bear a distinction of being the lowest income city of all of California. Reluctant to dispose of their household garbage appropriately at the local recycling center, landfill, or green waste terminal, residents sometimes opt for dumping off the road or over cliffs, while others chose to live in squalor. Our town needs a simple and concrete way to make their personal space and public spaces free of litter and debris, and CC4C strives to fulfill that need. We have seen first hand how much better our citizens feel once they have physically cleaned up their dwelling places.
As for the numbers of people we serve, while we clean up in the City of Clearlake, we also have attended town hall meetings in other districts throughout the county plus presented recycling programs in classrooms around the County of Lake. Since everyone travels the main streets and highways I would say we beautify the byways for the whole population of our city which geographical location amounts to about around 4.5 square miles of land.
We can estimate part of our clean up work by both our mattress recycling efforts and dumpster exchanges. For instances, in 2019, we counted 289 discarded mattresses that were properly disposed and partially recycled partially through efforts of Citizens Caring For Clearlake and in 2018 around 27 weighed tons of debris were taken to the landfill from our dumpster. Our dumpster contents are weighed. This evaluation does not include the sizable amount of debris that went into other dumpsters around the city.
At our weekly CC4C meetings, we pass around a work sheet to list clean ups which were performed in the past week. The worksheet has slots for name, date, weight of trash, hours worked, and where picked up where dumped. We also evaluate current problem areas that have either been identified by volunteers, called in by concerned citizens, or reported by the police department's code enforcement division.
Execution:
North Coast Opportunities (NCO), CC4C's umbrella, was established as a nonprofit in 1968 with the mission of developing and providing services that strengthen the community, one person at a time. As the Community Action Agency for Lake and Mendocino Counties in rural Northern California, NCO has a strong history of local leadership community organizing, and collaboration, working with partners to strengthen the safety net through programs that range from food security and food system development to job skill training and employment support, to Head Start programs, volunteer programs, and disaster response. NCO operates several volunteer based programs including RSVP, Foster Grandparents. and a Volunteer Center. In fulfillment of its mission, NCO has developed numerous programs that have subsequently become independent nonprofit organizations, and also provides fiscal sponsorship for smaller non profits and community-based groups. The NCO Board of Directors is a 12-member body that includes representatives from both counties who are members of local government, low income communities, and other key community stakeholders.
Citizens Caring for Clearlake (CC4C), established in December 2014, retains maximum flexibility by operating as a grassroots community group under the fiscal sponsorship of NCO, rather than becoming an independent nonprofit. Members of CC4C all serve on a volunteer basis under the leadership of an informal steering committee. CC4C operates on an annual budget of about $10,000 with funding raised through community donations, discarded mattress pickup reimbursements, garden tour, pizza parties, and other fundraising events. Periodically absentee landowners give donations to CC4C for helping to clean and weed whack their vacant lots.
As for growth plans, we hope to enlist the help even more than we already do, of the people who need food standing outside of grocery stores. We help people whose signs say, "Need Work" and give people work skills if they have supervision. We would like hiring the supervisor and the workers. This may take an an office manager.
Two of us traveled to Sacramento, CA several months ago to investigate Downtown Streets Teams which purpose is to provide food and shelter vouchers to homeless people in exchange for cleaning streets and littered areas. By winning the AARP Purpose award, our group will then be freed up to do what we love to do best: volunteer to go out on a cool morning and pick up litter for an hour or so. We could also increase the gifts we give to people as well as our $30 dump voucher program. Clearlake will then become much cleaner and healthier as the volunteers work for fun while helping people who need work much like the former Work Progress Administration do the paid work. Personally, I will be freed up to pick up litter while someone else will be doing the endless administrative and organizing office and telephone/computer work.
Innovation:
Our approach to solving the social problem of litter and illegal dumpsites in our area is different from other organizations because we realize the solution can be joyful rather than a drag. We are primarily retired individuals and we mean it when we say, "If it isn't fun, we don't want to do it." Since no one gets paid for his/her services, no one can get fired for poor job performance; hence no stress about losing one's job. Ideally, we see our work as playing hard and dirty in the fresh air, doing it at our own pace, and stopping before we get exhausted. There is satisfaction from the appreciation from the the City of Clearlake's Code Enforcement and Public Works departments when we can help with their various clean up situations .
CC4C's welcoming approach attracts participants of all ages, colors and classes to join in the party. Working together on projects builds community and friendships as we go along. Retired and unemployed people want meaningful work in which we can see immediate gratification and cleaning up litter is hands on and instant. Our principle is attraction by offering doable tasks to people so we and they can be appreciated by others as well as being able to give tangible and observable gifts to our community. We want to be relevant to the needs of our town and Citizens Caring For Clearlake offers ways to help make the town the place where we can take pride in its beautification.
Our approach is replicable. Anyone can ask neighbors and friends to help clean up a dumpsite that has been an eyesore. We have done talks around the county and inspired a few others to work with each other in their towns. A man, Thomas, from across the lake has organized his clean up group which they call Clash With Trash. CC4C group has consistently proven that a half dozen people who work for an hour can make a real dent in an area. Step by step, as needs present themselves, people come forth with solutions.
Personal Story:
I decided to begin this work when a destitute young girl came to our door asking me what she could do to earn money. Our very low income neighborhood had a great deal of trash along the streets, so I gave her a plastic grocery bag to fill with street litter, told her to bring it back to me, and I would give her a dollar. She did that, I did that, and it wasn't too long before her mother came by and wanted to do the same thing. Several days later, while attending a vegan potluck party, I related to a man that I wished I had a pot of money from which to pay people who needed work, people who would be willing to clean trash in our very low income town. The man, a local physician, called me and asked if he could give me $10,000 to start such a project. I readily agreed. That was about five years ago, and the idea took off from there.
Personally, this project has evolved into almost full time volunteer work. I often say, "I never worked this hard when I was getting paid." I can also say that I did not predict this work would be so rewarding. I have met people from all walks of life in our small town. I like the racial, inter-generational, socio-economic, and ethnic mix which comes from our work. For instance, I may be trying to load a discarded mattress into our pick up when a homeless person walks by, so I ask him to help which he willingly does. Then we begin conversing and before long he is asking how he can help some more and we've exchanged contact information about how he can earn a $10 gift card for picking up trash in the orchard behind the supermarket mall.
When I was teaching GED classes at the local college, I did not have the luxury of time to devote to cleaning my community. Now retired at age 68, I can choose how to spend my time and others in my age bracket are able to do the same. No one is punching a time clock and we are quite bright, healthy, and alert. We are children of the '60's and still have visions of making this world a better place. One woman goes into the grade school classrooms and inspires students about recycling; an elderly gentleman makes his rounds daily picking up aluminum cans; another woman has planted a thousand daffodils at the Welcome to Clearlake sign. We include people who have been ordered community service as part of their probation requirements at our monthly Adopt A Highway events, and sturdy Americorps volunteers help us elderly with heavy stuff. All are welcome!
Citizens Caring for Clearlake is a non-profit, volunteer network created to alleviate litter and blight in the city of Clearlake. Since co-founding this organization in 2014, I have served as its principle administrator, actively organizing cleanups, interacting with city officials, and hosting fundraising events. Our group consists mostly of retired seniors who routinely pick up litter both individually and in groups. In addition, founding partner Vicki Crystal and I enjoy visiting elementary schools in the county to teach the importance of not littering, recycling, and respecting the environment. Our community outreach extends further to include the sponsorship of individuals to volunteer, perform community service requirements or earn $10 gift cards in return for cleanup participation. The gift cards as well as cash subsidization of dump fees provide much needed economic support for low income Clearlake residents.
As an educator, pastoral counselor, and lifelong volunteer, my vision for CC4C goes beyond the preservation of our cityscape and covertly serves as a front for community building in Clearlake, the lowest income town in all of California. We get great exercise, fresh air, and a sense of pride in making the city a cleaner place.
Impact:
The pressing social problem of Clearlake is poverty. With a population of roughly 15,250 people, we bear a distinction of being the lowest income city of all of California. Reluctant to dispose of their household garbage appropriately at the local recycling center, landfill, or green waste terminal, residents sometimes opt for dumping off the road or over cliffs, while others chose to live in squalor. Our town needs a simple and concrete way to make their personal space and public spaces free of litter and debris, and CC4C strives to fulfill that need. We have seen first hand how much better our citizens feel once they have physically cleaned up their dwelling places.
As for the numbers of people we serve, while we clean up in the City of Clearlake, we also have attended town hall meetings in other districts throughout the county plus presented recycling programs in classrooms around the County of Lake. Since everyone travels the main streets and highways I would say we beautify the byways for the whole population of our city which geographical location amounts to about around 4.5 square miles of land.
We can estimate part of our clean up work by both our mattress recycling efforts and dumpster exchanges. For instances, in 2019, we counted 289 discarded mattresses that were properly disposed and partially recycled partially through efforts of Citizens Caring For Clearlake and in 2018 around 27 weighed tons of debris were taken to the landfill from our dumpster. Our dumpster contents are weighed. This evaluation does not include the sizable amount of debris that went into other dumpsters around the city.
At our weekly CC4C meetings, we pass around a work sheet to list clean ups which were performed in the past week. The worksheet has slots for name, date, weight of trash, hours worked, and where picked up where dumped. We also evaluate current problem areas that have either been identified by volunteers, called in by concerned citizens, or reported by the police department's code enforcement division.
Execution:
North Coast Opportunities (NCO), CC4C's umbrella, was established as a nonprofit in 1968 with the mission of developing and providing services that strengthen the community, one person at a time. As the Community Action Agency for Lake and Mendocino Counties in rural Northern California, NCO has a strong history of local leadership community organizing, and collaboration, working with partners to strengthen the safety net through programs that range from food security and food system development to job skill training and employment support, to Head Start programs, volunteer programs, and disaster response. NCO operates several volunteer based programs including RSVP, Foster Grandparents. and a Volunteer Center. In fulfillment of its mission, NCO has developed numerous programs that have subsequently become independent nonprofit organizations, and also provides fiscal sponsorship for smaller non profits and community-based groups. The NCO Board of Directors is a 12-member body that includes representatives from both counties who are members of local government, low income communities, and other key community stakeholders.
Citizens Caring for Clearlake (CC4C), established in December 2014, retains maximum flexibility by operating as a grassroots community group under the fiscal sponsorship of NCO, rather than becoming an independent nonprofit. Members of CC4C all serve on a volunteer basis under the leadership of an informal steering committee. CC4C operates on an annual budget of about $10,000 with funding raised through community donations, discarded mattress pickup reimbursements, garden tour, pizza parties, and other fundraising events. Periodically absentee landowners give donations to CC4C for helping to clean and weed whack their vacant lots.
As for growth plans, we hope to enlist the help even more than we already do, of the people who need food standing outside of grocery stores. We help people whose signs say, "Need Work" and give people work skills if they have supervision. We would like hiring the supervisor and the workers. This may take an an office manager.
Two of us traveled to Sacramento, CA several months ago to investigate Downtown Streets Teams which purpose is to provide food and shelter vouchers to homeless people in exchange for cleaning streets and littered areas. By winning the AARP Purpose award, our group will then be freed up to do what we love to do best: volunteer to go out on a cool morning and pick up litter for an hour or so. We could also increase the gifts we give to people as well as our $30 dump voucher program. Clearlake will then become much cleaner and healthier as the volunteers work for fun while helping people who need work much like the former Work Progress Administration do the paid work. Personally, I will be freed up to pick up litter while someone else will be doing the endless administrative and organizing office and telephone/computer work.
Innovation:
Our approach to solving the social problem of litter and illegal dumpsites in our area is different from other organizations because we realize the solution can be joyful rather than a drag. We are primarily retired individuals and we mean it when we say, "If it isn't fun, we don't want to do it." Since no one gets paid for his/her services, no one can get fired for poor job performance; hence no stress about losing one's job. Ideally, we see our work as playing hard and dirty in the fresh air, doing it at our own pace, and stopping before we get exhausted. There is satisfaction from the appreciation from the the City of Clearlake's Code Enforcement and Public Works departments when we can help with their various clean up situations .
CC4C's welcoming approach attracts participants of all ages, colors and classes to join in the party. Working together on projects builds community and friendships as we go along. Retired and unemployed people want meaningful work in which we can see immediate gratification and cleaning up litter is hands on and instant. Our principle is attraction by offering doable tasks to people so we and they can be appreciated by others as well as being able to give tangible and observable gifts to our community. We want to be relevant to the needs of our town and Citizens Caring For Clearlake offers ways to help make the town the place where we can take pride in its beautification.
Our approach is replicable. Anyone can ask neighbors and friends to help clean up a dumpsite that has been an eyesore. We have done talks around the county and inspired a few others to work with each other in their towns. A man, Thomas, from across the lake has organized his clean up group which they call Clash With Trash. CC4C group has consistently proven that a half dozen people who work for an hour can make a real dent in an area. Step by step, as needs present themselves, people come forth with solutions.
Personal Story:
I decided to begin this work when a destitute young girl came to our door asking me what she could do to earn money. Our very low income neighborhood had a great deal of trash along the streets, so I gave her a plastic grocery bag to fill with street litter, told her to bring it back to me, and I would give her a dollar. She did that, I did that, and it wasn't too long before her mother came by and wanted to do the same thing. Several days later, while attending a vegan potluck party, I related to a man that I wished I had a pot of money from which to pay people who needed work, people who would be willing to clean trash in our very low income town. The man, a local physician, called me and asked if he could give me $10,000 to start such a project. I readily agreed. That was about five years ago, and the idea took off from there.
Personally, this project has evolved into almost full time volunteer work. I often say, "I never worked this hard when I was getting paid." I can also say that I did not predict this work would be so rewarding. I have met people from all walks of life in our small town. I like the racial, inter-generational, socio-economic, and ethnic mix which comes from our work. For instance, I may be trying to load a discarded mattress into our pick up when a homeless person walks by, so I ask him to help which he willingly does. Then we begin conversing and before long he is asking how he can help some more and we've exchanged contact information about how he can earn a $10 gift card for picking up trash in the orchard behind the supermarket mall.
When I was teaching GED classes at the local college, I did not have the luxury of time to devote to cleaning my community. Now retired at age 68, I can choose how to spend my time and others in my age bracket are able to do the same. No one is punching a time clock and we are quite bright, healthy, and alert. We are children of the '60's and still have visions of making this world a better place. One woman goes into the grade school classrooms and inspires students about recycling; an elderly gentleman makes his rounds daily picking up aluminum cans; another woman has planted a thousand daffodils at the Welcome to Clearlake sign. We include people who have been ordered community service as part of their probation requirements at our monthly Adopt A Highway events, and sturdy Americorps volunteers help us elderly with heavy stuff. All are welcome!