Building Solidarity 2019

The HUUB is a public space that brings people together to strengthen democracy, build community, and respect the worth and dignity of every person. Instead of focusing on deficiencies and needs, we search for the wealth of untapped and unrecognized resources in our community and strive to uncover and connect them.

Over the last three years, we have opened our doors for community forums, potlucks, festivals, concerts, classes, and art shows organized and led by our neighbors. Our asset based strategy uncovers, supports, and connects the gifts and passions in our community to improve our city by building positive relationships that strengthen its social fabric.

Our work to lift community assets has been led by the Joe Thomasberger Community Fellows, local young people committed to the vitality of the place they are from. Our third cohort of Thomasberger Fellows will continue to organize events this May and June - come check them out!

This fundraising campaign will let us:

1. continue and grow the Thomasberger Fellows program,

2. expand our relationship building across the city with a focus on anti-displacement projects,

3. invest in our facilities to keep up with the growing diversity of events and activities happening at The HUUB.

With the funds we are raising, we will:

• Recruit and train the fourth cohort of Thomasberger Fellows over the summer. We will start to meet weekly in September 2019.
• Organize the 100-Year-Old House Coalition focused on affordable housing and investement in environmental remediation in the city's existing building stock. This group of anchor institutions will work to organize renters and owners, create policies to promote affordable housing preservation and development, and to champion non-extractive modes of financing to both develop new housing and invest in upgrades and improvements to the existing housing stock.
• Purchase new appliances and equipment to meet demand in our three program spaces, including new appliances, furniture, and A/V equipment to be more sustainable (no more disposable plates, cups, flatware), more comfortable (for major life events, such as weddings, graduations, or memorials), and more technological (to provide better performance and recording opportunities for the many performance artists who use our facilities)

We need to have strong social systems to manage climate change, economic shifts, and racial disconnection. Like many other cities recovering from disinvestment, there is a deep sense of loss from reduced economic opportunities, historical trauma, increased police presence, disjointed communities, and an overall lack of representation in Orange. The loss of social cohesion within the community means that the only forces tying people together is a shared sense of hopelessness.

In response, The HUUB is successfully meeting the need of a public place for people to gather in community and build relationships in Orange. By focusing on what is already here and with guidance from the Thomasberger Fellows, the asset-based activities happening at The HUUB are kindling the flames of hope and possibility in the city.

As an anchor institution in Orange, we believe that finding innovative ways to tangibly leverage our values and our neighbors’ endless bounty of untapped resources to create more just and equitable communities is our social responsibility.