Community Service Saturday!

This past Saturday was all about the Community in Venice. You can feel Summer's approach, and everyone was out and about doing their weekend thing. A few different groups were having events to continue to work on our sense of that community, and maybe grow a bit more empathy for each other while they were at it. The first stop (after coffee at The French Market, of course) was the Venice Community Housing Chalk Art Festival in the parking lot between North and South Venice on Pacific Avenue. I could hear drumming in the distance as I walked down Venice Boulevard, and it made me kick it up a notch, so I was practically race-walking to get there to see what was happening.

What was happening was a fantastic female drumming group called Bloco Obini, who were brightly dressed in African fabrics and banging their hearts out, watched over by the mural of Abbot Kinney - who I'm pretty sure would whole-heartedly approve. They were drumming next to the beautiful chalk mandala that Gary Palmer had created with kids and other members of the community at this event meant to bring awareness to trying to solve the homelessness problem. It also served to spotlight the fact that Venice is meant to be about ART (stay tuned for another awesome art situation Gary and I have in the works!) - at every level.

There was a giant chalk message spelling out "We Are All Venice" - Truth! - and that was also the message on the buttons that the VCH Arts Collective were handing out. Taylor Barnes was also there, creating a chalk Goddess of Venice, and it was all just lovely, and exactly what you want to see going down in Venice on the weekend ... Art plus FUN!

Next stop was the Ladies Jam contest at the Venice Skatepark, where big crowds surrounded the Skatepark to watch the girls have the place all to themselves - and they RIPPED.

It's mesmerizing and inspiring (and makes you super jealous) to watch the strong, talented ladies tear it up just as hard as the boys ... and more gracefully. Skater girls are the best, and it was a joy to see them all get their moment in the sun (and the clouds, but still!). The Skatepark is another gem that means the world to so many of the youth (and grownups too), that gives them their own sense of community, and keeps them out of real trouble. What a treasure!

I could have stayed all day to watch the female skaters, but spots on the railing were at a premium, and I had to get over to The Brig parking lot before their event for S.P.Y. (Safe Place For Youth) was over. The parking lot was packed with people there to support the work of S.P.Y. and meet, greet, and congratulate the youth who have been through their program and come out the other side. We have worked with S.P.Y. on our documentary 90291: VENICE UNZIPPED, and I can tell you that I have seen first-hand the special place that this is. I honestly don't know what so many young people would do without them. They provide food, showers, clothes, check-ups, computer training, job outreach, and so much more they really deserve the accolades being presented to them at this event.

I again couldn't stay that long as I had even more things to get to (not in Venice and off the record), but was encouraged to see such a large crowd there yes, to enjoy the day drinking at the outside bar (tended by former S.P.Y. attendees), but also to applaud and hold up the great work being done by S.P.Y. for all to see.

Thank you to David Paris for hosting the event, and for letting me know about it!

As I was taking off, I thought it was appropriate to see that the homeless Abbot Kinney had been painted on to the side of The Brig, needing money for the now outrageous Venice rents - like many of the S.P.Y. kids, like the people that the VCH serves, and like myself. We're all doing our best to stay in the place that we love, and there isn't enough thanks for the people and organizations that still care about their community being housed. Hopefully events like these will serve to kick the ones in the pants that still need to get it. That we're all in this together, and that we know the problems all day - yet some strive for solutions, and do their best to implement them the best that they can. They're doing SOMETHING ... which is a lot more than a lot of people can say.

I felt pretty good about our Community as I went off to start my evening, because there are clearly still so many good people doing so many good things. That's the way I want to be, and that's what the world needs the very most right now. No more bad news. Let's concentrate on how good we CAN be. Please join us, won't you?

Happy Monday - and the opportunity to do more good this week!

A Small Step Forward In The Venice Homeless Crisis

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Pretty much everyone is bustling about getting ready for the big meal with family and friends, celebrating our gratitude and abundance. Except some people have nothing at all, and you can see that on the streets of Venice every single day. Something must be done about the absolute crisis that homelessness is in this entire country ... this country that claims to be great, but looks the other way when it comes to poverty. There is no good excuse for the squalor that is everywhere that you look in a nation that has so very much.

The Venice Neighborhood Council (VNC) meeting was held last night in the Westminster School auditorium, with the 720 Rose project up for a vote. The supporters of this affordable housing project from Venice Community Housing (VCH) were out in force, clad in black t-shirts and holding red roses to show their solidarity with this plan. As opposed to the completely disgusting mayhem that was last month's Town Hall meeting on the MTA homeless housing project, this one was very civilized and respectful - thank you all for that. There were 77 speaker cards turned in, and almost all of them that we heard were in support of this project, and almost all know that this Rose project for merely 35 homes is just a drop in the bucket, but that we MUST start somewhere. There was hardly anyone there that opposed the project, as I guess they just want to yell and make a scene when news cameras and the Mayor are there. Also, the ones who oppose homeless housing tend not to offer any solutions, they just complain, so it was a relief that they mostly sat this one out. Come with solutions or zip it. Seriously.

I kind of don't get why these projects for NEW buildings keep getting proposed for millions of dollars, when there are plenty of unused large buildings all over Los Angeles that could be repurposed for affordable and low or zero income housing (In fact, it was just approved that the massive County General Hospital in downtown L.A. will be repurposed into housing for the homeless, and that will help massively. That seems to be the main opposition, the spending of big money when housing can be done for so much less (though some VNC board members were all held up on parking spaces - and how many homeless people really need parking? - and height dimensions and stuff, when really, who cares? There are big ugly houses all over Venice that they approved - and those same board members seem to be very much in cahoots with money grab developers. It's gross.). As one speaker said, "Why do you care at all about parking spaces when people are sleeping on the street?" Exactly. C'mon. We need SOLUTIONS, not just complaints, though board member Jim Murez offered up the solution of the decommissioned USS Enterprise battleship to be stationed at the end of the pier for housing, and the flippancy of it was not well-received by the community in attendance. Because it's not at all a joking matter. People are DYING on the streets. On Thanksgiving.

Several speakers had great things to say, and several mentioned that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and why not try some humanity, for goodness sakes! Most were longtime Venice residents, again as opposed to the awful Town Hall that was mostly all NIMBYs behaving badly. Many mentioned that they want to "Keep Venice, Venice" - meaning welcoming, accepting, and diverse. An eclectic community worthy of its legend and history. My friend, Alice Stek, was there and I thought had the best and truest comment of the night when she said that those board members opposed to the project, "Your opposition is actually opposition to poor people in the community." Which is sad, because Venice has never been an enclave for the wealthy. When I first lived in Los Angeles, I lived in Beverly Hills. I couldn't wait to get out of there and live in Venice, where I hung out every weekend. All of my B.H. friends were opposed, saying it was sketchy and dangerous and a dump. Well, times change, but the people that made Venice great in the first place have not. They're here, they're proud, and they have hearts. At least most of them do.

At meeting's end, VNC Board President, Ira Koslow, said, "Well, that was surprisingly pleasant!", and he was right. People who support affordable and supportive housing are generally civil and polite and want what's best for everyone, and not just out for themselves and their property or resale values. The project passed with a 9-4-1 vote, with the expected people voting as expected. It's a tiny step toward solving this terrible crisis, but at least it's doing SOMETHING. I honestly am still not sure if it's a good or bad project in the long run, but time will tell. I mean, your friend CJ STILL needs affordable housing, so this hits close to home. I'm also working on our documentary 90291: VENICE UNZIPPED, and we shot our homeless family the last couple of weeks, and I know how hard life is for them (but it looks like they're getting housing - THANK YOU ST. JOSEPH'S CENTER!), so this whole issue might mean more to me than someone else, but it SHOULD mean something to us all. Because we're a COMMUNITY. Everything that happens here affects us all, and it really could be you someday. I hope it's not, but don't get too comfortable in this crazy world. I don't have all the answers, or any really, for this ENORMOUS issue, but I do know that SOMETHING must be done.

So, tomorrow we all take a break from that crazy world to gather and give thanks for all of the good stuff in our lives ... but that also means DOING good. Gratitude is the Glory.

Happy Thanksgiving, Venice! Thank you.

The Venice Design Series - Beautifying And Benefiting Venice

The Venice Design Series is a wonderfully unique way for one to both experience the best of our local architecture and design, and also to support the extremely important efforts of Venice Community Housing. In a time when affordable housing is increasingly rare in Venice, the good works of the VCH are more necessary than ever.

A series of events that blend art, architecture, design, cuisine, and performance make up the Venice Design Series, showcasing the artistic talents of our community from Malibu to Playa Vista. Participants get a glimpse into some of the most spectacular homes and buildings of Los Angeles, while learning and enjoying fine food and entertainment.

I was invited to this past Saturday's events by Linda Lucks, VDS Co-Founder. It included a Malibu Art and Architecture tour in the daytime that I did not make, and a tour of the gardens at Beyond Baroque and SPARC led by its designer, VDS Co-Founder, Jay Griffith. Anyone driving down Venice Boulevard over the last few months can see the wonderful progress of these beautiful free gardens being made outside of these two Venice historical institutions. Indeed, there is such an abundance of flowers and plants reaching for the skies there on Venice and Shell that, as Griffith said, "We're gonna make people get it at 40 miles per hour." You can't miss it.

The garden is maintained by the Kiss The Ground organization and countless volunteers are working out there for free to create something great. The produce is donated to the volunteers from St. Joseph Center's homeless/low-income culinary students, who also take classes on gardening at the site. SPY (Safe Place for Youth) brings homeless kids for a 12 week gardening job training program, so everything about this program is for the good of all in our Community.

Garden Manager, Matt Finkelstein told us that soil sequesters carbon, and that "the most efficient way to combat climate change is to regenerate agriculture." Basically, everyone needs to get gardening!

The gardens are open to the public, and there is plenty to do and learn about in there.

The garden beds radiate out from a central point/stage area, where tall trees have been painted turquoise as a beacon of welcome to this "Venice Arts Plaza".

There is a big compost area, and a bin for the worms that do all of the work. There is a green house, and a tool shed, and the whole area is dedicated to bringing us back to a healthy relationship with the soil that sustains us.

Volunteers work every Saturday from 9 am to 1 pm at 681 North Venice Boulevard, and any questions can be directed to garden@kisstheground.com.

After the lovely garden tour and talk, it was time to take our prosecco and stroll down the walk streets over to the spectacular home of Tiffany Rochelle and Paul Hibler (of Superba and Pitfire Pizza) for a cocktail hour and dinner, again to benefit Venice Community Housing. Hibler has a legit pizza oven out on his patio, and they were serving up their delicious creations as we sipped on some great tequila drinks.

The Hibler home is worthy of its own design tour, and it was fun to see how diverse the homes of Venice really still are, as their very modern, wide open plan home (designed by Kulapat Yantrasast) was right next door to a beautiful purple Craftsman.

The friendly faces of Venice mingled about discussing the homes and the gardens seen that day, and everyone got to know each other a little better, another perk of these intimate gatherings designed to both promote and support the citizens of Venice.

There is a great opportunity to do both coming up this weekend, when the Venice Design Series hosts THE Party at 72 And Sunny in Playa Vista. The former Howard Hughes headquarters will be the venue for "Mid Century Flight", the gala finale of the 2017 Venice Design Series. A tour of the facility, drinks, food, and dancing under the stars will all take place at this fundraiser for our Community's affordable housing, an endeavor that is more important now than ever before. Tickets are still available for this Saturday's mid-century shindig, and it's all for the most basic of human needs - our homes.

Thank you in advance for your support of Venice Community Housing and the Venice Design Series.