Crestone Energy Fair

Here we are in season two of our newly formed Community Firewood Program. The program is sponsored by the Crestone Energy Exchange and this project is a partnership between Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN), Crestone Energy Fair and the Emergency Firewood Project. The purpose is to help provide firewood for our community members in financial or physical crisis.  We have also secured additional bulk wood that will be for sale beginning next summer.   On November 14 we gathered as a community to begin splitting the emergency portion of the inventory. Similar to last year’s event, we hosted education on chainsaw usage,...

Seven San Luis Valley leaders attended “Holding Space for Transformative Experiences”, a Living Facilitation Retreat, led by Adam Brock and Asia Dorsey of Regenerate Change.  This four-day training held at Yellow Barn Farm in Boulder is based on an ecological model of permaculture and looks at living systems regarding how to lead and build resilient, equitable and inclusive communities. La Puente received a grant from Colorado Health to identify and cultivate grassroots leadership and community-led solutions.  As part of this grant, Sherice Shiner, Healthy Food Access Coordinator of the Food Bank Network of the SLV, organized scholarships for Liza...

What an amazing year it was for the Home Tours and Energy Fair. With a dedicated team of people who brought lots of skill to this event, we were able to expand and explore so much. The home tours went amazingly. With more than double the turnout of years past, we were able to share the love of alternative style homes with people from all over Colorado and beyond.  By participating in the tours this year, people were able to get ideas for their own homes and experience what it’s like to walk into a well insulated home in the...

The 32nd Annual Crestone Energy Fair theme, RECONNECT:  Self, Village, Nature led us into deep terrain around permaculture and the social structures that can be created to provide a thriving and abundant ecosystem within each of our lives, communities and for the land.   We kicked off the weekend by honoring the indigenous lands we occupy in Crestone, the families that live here with 3-4 generations and set up a small memorial for community members who have gone before us.  Attendees were encouraged to compost what isn’t serving them from projects to relationships to emotions so that we can...