Home Together creative challenge
The Boulder County Regional Housing Partnership, the group behind the Home Wanted website, is calling on community members to participate in the Home Together project, a community-wide creativity contest during the stay-at-home time of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s another way to look at the intersection of housing and community in Boulder County.
I first found out about the Home Wanted initiative in Boulder County at the Squeezed Out conference last fall. Home Wanted says that communities are healthier when people can live where they work, and that affordable housing helps businesses attract and retain workers. Individuals, organizations, and businesses who want to help adopt new strategies, implement policies, and secure funding for sustainable affordable housing are encouraged to sign up at homewanted.org.
The message of this spring’s “Home Together” project is, “We are all at home, but we are still a community.”
The Home Together projects asks that you share what being home together means to you, your family, your neighbors, your community. The project is hoping to get a lot of submissions, of all types, in both English and Spanish, from residents, families, and youth of all ages. Submissions will come from across Boulder County, and the Lyons community in particular is invited to participate. Submissions are due May 30, and there will be a community Facebook Live unveiling ceremony in June.
You don’t have to be an artist to submit. The format can be visual art, storytelling, photography, songwriting, video, multimedia, or any means of expression.
Some ideas on the Home Together page include:
– Draw a picture of the space you call home.
– Write a story about the view outside your kitchen window.
– Submit a photograph capturing the feeling of being “Home Together.”
– Interview elders in your community about how “home” has changed during their lifetime.
– Submit your best “homemade” recipe.
– Write a song of togetherness or hope.
The website explains, “The collected submissions will be published as a digital community storybook, documenting our shared experience of being Home Together during this uncertain time.”
With all we have been through in Lyons since the destruction of the September 2013 flood, there are many fascinating stories of resilience here. Despite the challenges, we have good news, like the Final Habitat for Humanity building completed on Park Street. And Lyons has a creative and talented community. I can’t wait to see all the contributions from Lyons!
