Dear friends,
A few years ago, friend and Plum Village Dharma Teacher Dr. Marisela Gomez envisioned and launched a radical project in East Baltimore – Village of Love and Resistance (VOLAR). I, along with several other friends and sanghas in the Plum Village community, have chosen to support this amazing project in small and large ways because the vision and reality of VOLAR are so in alignment with the equally radical work of resistance that Thay, Sister Chan Khong and the students of the School of Youth for Social Service dedicated themselves to during the American war in Vietnam.
It brings me a lot of joy to share with you more about VOLAR – how it has evolved and where it is going – in the hope that you and your Sangha friends may also feel inspired to be a part of this incredible initiative.
The mission of VOLAR is to co-create a cooperative community in East Baltimore owned by Black and Brown people … built through the reclamation of land, healing, reconnecting and building a base of community power.
“We recently had the opportunity to visit VOLAR and witness the community that is unfolding there with such care and attention. It was inspiring to see Thay's vision of engaged practice manifesting in this Baltimore neighborhood. The work of VOLAR in rebuilding low income neighborhoods in Baltimore by offering education, land stewardship, food mutual aid, health care, and non-violent communication is reminiscent of Thay’s and Sister Chan Khong’s work during the Vietnam war with the Youth for Social Service. We see how Thay's legacy continues beautifully in the loving service offered by those building the Village of Love and Resistance.”
— Plum Village Monastics Brother Phap Huu, Sister Trai Nghiêm, Brother Phap Linh, Brother Thiên Y, Sister Hiêu Duc, and Sister Hien Nghiêm (Sister True Dedication) while visiting VOLAR on their recent tour
** Proceeds from the monastic concert in Baltimore were dedicated to the VOLAR Community hub project.
“Our dear Thay and Sr. Chan Kong practiced mindfulness with the villages in the midst of war. A war that devastated villages and retraumatized people, leaving new scars for healing. The practice in the field was tending to rebuilding communities through education, cultivation of land, and rebuilding bombed out homes and structures. Our [U.S.] cities have been similarly devastated by the war of class and racially-motivated uneven development that has marginalized Black and low income communities, leaving them behind while the rest of the country marched forward. VOLAR is contributing to rebuilding these neighborhoods in East Baltimore through popular education, land stewarding and food mutual aid, and the rebuilding of buildings [abandoned structures?] into affordable cooperative housing and a community hub.”
— Dr. Marisela Gomez, Founder of VOLAR
And as VOLAR continues to pursue its objectives, it offers a model for empowerment for other communities.
We invite you and your Sangha to:
Share these talks offered by Marisela this year as part of the Making-Visible program -- Mindful Resistance of Uneven Development in Black and Brown Communities in Baltimore and Mindful Resistance of Uneven Development in Black and Brown Communities in Baltimore, part 2. We hope these talks will open an important conversation in your Sangha and among your friends about inequitable development past and present in our country.
Visit the VOLAR website and learn more about VOLAR’s current and future projects.
Enjoy and share these images.
Reach out to us with any questions you have about how you might be part of the efforts to support VOLAR
We hope that gaining a deeper understanding of the ground-breaking work of VOLAR may inspire you and your Sangha to consider ways to be a part of this visionary project. Currently, VOLAR needs to raise $3.5-$4 million to renovate their healing community hub and their affordable housing units. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our Plum Village Sanghas could join this effort, perhaps raising as much as $500,000 to $1 million!
As Thay reminds us, the giver and the receiver are one. In keeping with VOLAR’s vision of mutual aid, those of us outside of East Baltimore are invited to seize this opportunity for direct action, cooperation, mutual understanding, and solidarity. Practicing interbeing, we can be part of and benefit from the building and continuing of new social relations where people give what they can and get what they need, outside of unjust systems of power.
Here are just a few examples of ways you and your Sangha might seize this opportunity:
Engage your Sangha in viewing the resources offered above and in conversation about this work. How and in what ways does this work touch your heart? How does learning about inequitable development make you curious about development where you live? What questions do you have?
Pass this information along to others who might wish to learn and be inspired.
Invite Marisela to speak at your sangha (you can let me know if you want to do that)
Consider providing financial support dedicated the VOLAR Community hub project, by
Dedicating one month’s dana collected in Sangha to VOLAR
Inviting individual donations from those who may have sufficient resources
Plan a Sangha potluck to share about VOLAR and welcome donations
Reflect on whether you have connections to a grant-making agency or other funder (individual or organizational) with sufficient resources to make a meaningful donation
Presenting this information to potentially interested folks outside of our Plum Village community
Reminding everyone that no donation is too small, and growing awareness of inequitable development is huge!
Thank you for taking the time to “listen” to what is offered here. Our small group helping with this effort welcomes your questions and suggestions – our contact information is below.
With gratitude, and the joy of sharing this wonderful practice,
Annie
Core committee:
Abbie Chessler, True Precious Eye, abbie.chessler@gmail.com
Annie Mahon, True Blue Lake, annielakemahon@gmail.com
Anne Woods, True Collective Spring, mindfulyogi76@gmail.com