: Archive

month

June 2012

31 posts

Habitat House Painting Completed

This weekend Jack, Maria, Ashley (Intern#1), Erica (Intern #2), Adam (Intern #3), and Wes (Epicenter Alumnus) painted the Habitat for Humanity House! It took about 12.5 hours to paint two coats on the entire house. (Secret: Ok, one wall of the house already had one coat, BUT STILL. We painted a lot of walls, soffit, and fascia this weekend.) Thank you to our volunteers!!! It would have taken...

Housing Assistance Council's Rural Housing Data... →

HAC’s Rural Housing Data Portal is a great research tool covering median income, house values, education, and more.

2nd Annual River Rampage Triathlon →

Next Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Green River, Utah The word is out: The River Rampage has the fastest triathlon mile swim anywhere and feedback from last year’s race was tremendous! Last year’s river flow? 6MPH! For 2012 we’re offering a sprint distance bike and run in addition to the Olympic distance bike/run. The River Rampage Triathlon is closer than Burley, ID, within minutes of Moab and...

Prototype USDA $70,000 House

Behind the scenes, a project is being developed to create an affordable housing prototype that is highly efficient. The tangible goal is a $70,000 house (full cost inc. land, contractor profit, and fees) that is built in Green River under the 502 guidelines. It will serve as a model for future rural homes. Another conference call is happening today between Epicenter, U of U School of Architecture...

Happy First Day of Summer! Video by Nick Zdon, Former Frontier Fellow.

Immediate fulfillment of open AmeriCorps VISTA...

Due to the resignation of Max (see previous post), we have a VISTA position open. Regular VISTA terms apply, including education award ($5550)/cash award ($1500) at successful completion of service, living stipend, and health insurance benefit. Required pre-service training begins August 14. Position runs for one year. Due to the timing, we must replace rather quickly. Notify us by 5pm on Tuesday...

There are days that we are reminded that Green River is a tough place to be for a young adult. This environment takes a specific type of person… living, working, playing with the same people day-in and day-out. We know it’s not for everyone. With that, we regret to report that against our hopes our newest VISTA, Max McNamara, has quit his position and left Green River. With him goes a...

The Art of the Rural: A New Definition Of... →

The Art of the Rural offers this Readings selection from John Brinckerhoff Jackson’s seminal text Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. The New York Times called Jackson “America’s greatest living writer on the forces that have shaped the land this nation occupies.” His work has influenced generations of artists, designers, and writers. Read the article here.

Rural And Proud on MSN →

Our Rural And Proud tote bags were featured on MSN’s website!

Today in Salt Lake City

Association for Community Design Annual Conference Community Design in Utah Time: 1:00 - 2:30 pm Venue: Salt Lake City Public Library Moderator: Dave Conine (State Director, USDA Rural Development) Panel: Dijana Alickovic (CommonIStudio), Emily Niehaus (Community Rebuilds), Peter Stempel (Form Tomorrow), and Maria Sykes (Epicenter) Featuring a range of community-based practices from...

ACD Conference in Salt Lake City

Today, Maria & Chris are headed to Salt Lake City for the annual Association for Community Design Conference. Below are some frequently asked questions about “community design” and ACD’s answers: What is community design? Community design is a movement focused on the creation and management of environments for people. This process promotes change to the built environment...

Saturday is National Get Outdoors Day! →

Participants from federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and the recreation industry are again teaming up to host the 5th annual National Get Outdoors Day to encourage healthy, active outdoor fun at sites across the nation. On Saturday, June 9, these diverse partners will offer opportunities for American families to experience traditional and non-traditional types of outdoor activities. Prime...

Bike & Build grant submitted

Today we submitted a grant to Bike & Build. (Bike & Build creates an opportunity for young adults to bike across the country raising money and awareness for affordable housing.) We’ve requested funding each year since 2009 for operational funds for the Epicenter (serving as matching non-federal funds for our USDA grant; to-date we’ve received $15,508.55 from Bike & Build...