As a newcomer to D.C., I am eager to explore all this city has to offer. Despite the sprawling National Mall and the throngs of tourists, D.C. is also a network of communities. This blog explores the ways that D.C. residents are banding together to strengthen communities, and building an inclusive green economy from the bottom-up.

This week, I am visiting my parents at my childhood home in California.

I grew up in a very small town, right next door to the commune that my parents lived on until I was born.  The apple orchard that my mother planted 30 years ago is laden with tiny apples, just weeks away from a bountiful harvest, and the garden that my parents have been cultivating for years is overflowing with squash, lettuce, berries, beets, carrots, cherries…you name it.

I consider myself exceptionally lucky to have been raised in a way that so strongly emphasized community.  In addition to the network of friends and neighbors that my parents created living on the Salmon Creek Farm commune, I had an opportunity to create my own network.  My 65-person high school, The Mendocino Community High School, was based on principles of mutual respect and collaboration and echoed the values that I was taught as a child.  My experience is that communities are organic, supportive, creative, and empowering.

Now, coming here for a week, I still feel very connected to the people and the familiar landscapes that I grew up with.  And yet I know that, right now, the communities that I feel most involved with are thousands of miles away in D.C.

Coming back to California has been a reaffirmation of my belief in the power of community.  My parents and their neighbors moved to this rural area 30 and 40 years ago to create a society that reflects their values and beliefs.

Seeing their success makes me encouraged and eager to get back to D.C.  I am excited to continue building upon shared values and harnessing the power of community to create a society that reflects our values and beliefs: a society fueled by a clean energy economy that promotes responsibility and environmental justice.