UofO 2020 Fund

2020 has revealed the necessity of addressing racial oppression, climate change, and the Covid-19 pandemic as interlocking crises. We need platforms that support lifelong learning, connections with our neighbors and grassroots community organizing. Increased participation in UofO programs from people all over the USA since March illustrates this necessity. Support us to continue offering free and vital programs that help us understand the root causes of the challenges we face today and to develop equitable and ecological solutions.  

The University of Orange is a free school of restoration urbanism in Orange, NJ founded in 2008 and building on a 63-year history of organizing in the city. We build collective capacity for our friends, neighbors, and partners to cultivate a just and equitable city. We offer free courses, work in local coalitions to promote education across the lifecycle, and advocate for equity in urban planning. 

We hold at once the recognition that racist and classist policies continue to shape cities everywhere, and that the resources we need to heal already exist within our neighborhoods.  We believe that everyone has something to teach and everyone has something to learn.

Your contribution will support the UofO free school as we carry out the following programs:

Offer free courses, learning resources, and community connection on our Digital Campus.

Support Main Street for All organizing to raise awareness about new developments that put residents and business owners at risk for displacement and to envision the city that serves the needs of all its residents.  

Build our Collective Recovery resource library and workshop offerings with the theme What’s Ours to Do? Collective Recovery is the actions and activities that repair wounds to social systems and teaches us that all organizations can play a role in healing.

Grow Music City, as we offer virtual and social distanced opportunities for education and performance and support local musicians and students. We are planning our annual Music City Festival: Enciende El Amor II for Spring 2021.

Produce year round Restoration Urbanism events including Jan Term with our 2021 Urbanist-in-Residence Andy Merrifield and our 13th annual April Placemaking.

Our programs and audiences are growing. Our teams are working hard to keep up with demand for facts people need and media they can use.  In 2021 we will continue offering high quality, free digital programs and resources. We will also produce socially distanced in-person events when it is safe which bring neighbors together and support our local economy.

We are living in a climate of fear, facing mounting existential threats and a complete lack of trust in our nation’s political leadership, which is stoking and leveraging that fear for political and capital gain. Our job is to create a climate of love. Our Collective Recovery initiative invites organizations to ask the question What is Ours to Do? At UofO, what is ours to do is to share the tools of Restoration Urbanism which allow us to understand how we arrived at this moment and to chart an equitable path forward.