March/April 1984 RAIN Page 23 made appeals to local unions, to community-college construction classes, to vocational schools, and to the court system's community-service "volunteer" program. With the exception of the court program, these efforts were largely unsuccessful. It was the commitment of a relatively small core of RUNT volunteers who came week after week to finish what had begun over three years ago that finally brought the house to completion. The project's emphasis on process, however, began to break down in the final months of construction. Loans from members and the staving off of creditors allowed the organization to meet the construction cost demands, but everything else was sacrificed. The office coordinator was laid off, the newsletter terminated indefinitely, no further workshops were planned, and the organization went deeper into debt. It was an extremely stressful time for both board members and volunteers. When the house finally received the long-awaited certificate of occupancy in summer 1983, everyone was too tired, too worn out, to celebrate. What were the results of these years of hard work? Well, at least two marriages and a dozen romances are directly attributable to those people's involvement in the organization. A few members have opened their own energy-related businesses, and many have taken jobs in both the public and private sectors where they are using the skills and knowledge they learned through RUNT to impact public policy, to offer energy-saving products, and to coordinate conservation programs. Members have made changes in their lifestyles, added solar greenhouses to their homes, caulked around their windows, and planted herb gardens. Jane Peters, one of the early RUNT organizers, says, "It's an incredible education process. Look at the people who volunteered at RUNT and where they are now. It's been a training ground for people to learn all kinds of skills." Chicvara notes, "The group of people who benefited the most from the Eliot Energy House were some of the court-appointed volunteers, who put in thousands of hours. They might have come as court volunteers, but they left as Eliot Energy House volunteers. It was a beautiful thing to watch this kind of metamorphosis and to see someone's community spirit catch fire." And, of course, there is the house itself, which is no small accomplishment. The house includes an attic solar greenhouse (so placed because of the lack of property on the south side of the house), a wood stove, front and rear airlocks, a variety of window treatments, extensive insulation and weatherization, a library of renewable energy books, water-saving fixtures, and a recycling area. A caretaker resides in the house to maintain the systems and to give tours. The Eliot Energy House has been the largest undertaking of RUNT, but there is more to this organization that just the house. RUNT is actually a nonprofit corporation that serves as a governing "umbrella" for the Eliot Energy House, the Neighborhood Garden and the Community Energy Project (CEP). Other projects of RUNT have included the Eliot Food Buying Club, which has since spun off to become an independent organization, and, more recently, the Farmer's Market, which is a city-funded cooperative project of several Portland groups (including RAIN). Almost a full year before any construction began on the house, the garden had begun to swing into operation. A local tavern owner donated use of a vacant lot across the street from the house in spring 1979. The community garden offered plots to neighborhood residents and to members of RUNT and encouraged the use of organic, raised-bed gardening techniques. Although some of the participants from the neighborhood resisted the all-organic techniques, the garden did have high neighborhood participation and well-attended workshops. Much more than the house, the garden appealed to neighborhood residents; participating in the garden were blacks, Indochinese, and senior citizens as well as the predominantly young, white members of RUNT. The garden provided a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere 'The project has changed the block it's on. When we started, you used to see only blackberry bushes in people's yards; now you see many gardens. There used to be more abandoned houses; now there are houses being renovated or improved.' within which to share techniques, exchange seeds, and commiserate over slug attacks with a diverse mixture of people. The Community Energy Project (CEP), a VISTA- initiated project, was initially funded in 1981 to provide low-cost/no-cost weatherization workshops to low- income city residents. The CEP has reached hundreds of low-income people and has distributed free weatheriza- , tion materials through its workshops. It continues to be one of RUNT's more tangible services to low-income people living in inner northeast Portland. Although neighborhood participation was an important goal for RUNT, the CEP and the garden are the only continuing efforts that have reached out to the neighborhood. The construction of the Eliot Energy House had little neighborhood support. Chicvara comments, "A lot of people in this neighborhood are renters or low- income, and most of these workshops just weren't relevant to them. The more basic workshops, such as building plastic storm windows or gardening, were better attended by area residents because they had a direct relevance to their situation." Phil Conti, another early RUNT organizer, is now a homeowner in the Eliot neighborhood and has a broader
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