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JED first came together as a group of friends, young activists and organizers in the summer of 2001 to set in motion a vision for a cooperative community, organic farm and organizing center. Our mission attempts to bring together the intersecting values of justice, ecology and direct democracy, hence our name. Read about current JED Collective members and what they're up to...
JED’s Mission is:
JED's History Originally, we called ourselves the JED Center, or The Maine Center for Justice, Ecology and Democracy. The intention was to build JED as a mutual aid collective who offered space as a resource and retreat center to Maine based social justice organizations and activist groups. During that first year, our space was used regularly and supported a number of different projects. At that time, we were still a fledgling collective, learning not only how to live collectively and make consensus based decisions, but also how to farm together, organize together and resource share. Organizing the Center on top of all of this internal work posed a formidable challenge for us. Because we only had one house, we quickly became overwhelmed and depleted by the number of people coming in and out of our house. After a year, we came to realize that this particular model for the JED Center simply was not sustainable.
JED's Organizing ProjectsCooperative Community Living collectively is an adventure! And running the show collectively requires much from each of us. Every season brings its own projects and chores and, in order to manage the load, we split up the responsibilities so that each of us is doing a part in maintaining the farm, home, and organization. We’ve learned that collective life runs smoothly when there is a clear and simple framework for JED members to plug into. To make the work of managing our biggest responsibilities more efficient and transparent, we’ve created working groups, or “teams”. These teams organize and coordinate specific projects and tasks for the community. They are one example of how we have organized ourselves at JED. JED’s working groups include:
In addition to our efforts at JED, members of the collective work with many local, statewide and national organizations including Lots to Gardens, the Maine Fair Trade Campaign, Maine People’s Alliance, The Toy Library, Native Forest Network Gulf of Maine, the Northeast Radical Healthcare Network, New Beginnings, Euglena Academy, the Data Commons Cooperative Directory Project, Grassroots Economic Organizing, the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN) and the Maine Migrant Health Program. Each of us are drawn in different directions in our lives, bringing a diversity of interests and passions to JED. We thrive on that diversity, finding that the differences within the collective create a dynamic community full of projects and skills that, if we lived seperately, might not otherwise exist in each of our lives. That, and the ability to share responsibilites are two of the greatest gifts of living in community. Life is full. We are so thankful to all of you who have supported us throughout the years —you have challenged and loved us through this adventure that we call JED! Ecological Agriculture For six years now we've been providing an education in sustainable farming methods and collective or "solidarity based living" to the apprentices who come through every summer. In addition, we host two major annual public events, one called the Solidarity Supper in which we raise money for rotating social justice organizations and the other called The Garlic Gathering where we press apples and plant garlic with a hundred or so people. Along the way, we've also hosted numerous projects and presentations that have worked to connect local farmers with international agriculture and farmland struggles. Since 2001, we have been sinking our roots into this land, working towards our long-term vision of a sustainable intentional community, an organic farm and orchard (Giant's Belly Farm), and an education, retreat and resource center to support work for social change in Maine and beyond. Building Long Term Relationships with Our Wider Community JED, along with supporters in our larger community, is currently in the process of finalizing our long-term organizingl structure, which includes two legally-distinct parts: The JED Collective and Clark Mountain Community Land Trust (CLT). In October of 2008 we created the Clark Mountain CLT. Named after the mountain that JED calls home, the new non-profit organization provides a solid legal framework and structure for community life, community decision making processes and commonly held property. And yet the most exciting aspect to building the CLT is how it allows us to organize well beyond our collective. By creating an open and public membership to those who might be interested in the JED Collective and the CLT stewardship project, we hope to create a base of relationships within the broader community. Within this framework, the JED Collective, a non-profit "mutual benefit corporation", facilitates the community-living aspects of the project while the CLT holds title to the land beneath our community--and someday, hopefully, other parcels--in order to protect it forever as a space for affordable housing, community living and ecologically sound land-use practices. In December of 2008, we were able to purchase the CLT's first parcel of land through an innovative financing project called Community Financing. In all respects, the Community Land Trust is the catalyst for that bigger social justice project that we at JED have been dreaming about. With regard to a larger vision and strategy, the JED Collective has now become a project of the CLT, fulfilling it's exempt purposes, providing "on-the-ground" organizing work, and actively stewarding the CLT's land. Both the JED Collective and Clark Mountain Community Land Trust will continue to work together to move this organizing process forward...holding the intention of one day soon building that center for popular education. Let's hear it for Community Land Trusts! A Popular Education, Retreat and Resource Center Fostering a more strategic, creative and hopeful movement culture is what this project is all about! Through a collaborative organizing process that seeks to engage the wider Maine community, we hope to facilitate the creation of a movement-run and movement-supported retreat and education center right here at Clark Mountain Sanctuary. Our excitement around this long term project is inspired by a tradition of folk schools, citizenship schools and other popular education centers that have helped shape and focus diverse social, ecological and economic justice movements the world over. This project is in its visioning stages, and there are many goals such a center might develop over the years. We envision the center providing research and educational resources for organizations and groups in such areas as strategy development, networking, organizing, movement building, skill sharing and anti-oppression training. We hope the center will create a space for people from diverse communities to come together, share experiences, learn from each other and develop collective solutions. We also hope to encourage organizers and groups to take a step back to stratigize within the bigger picture of social change in Maine as well as to retreat and rejuvenate here on the shores of Berry Pond. JED’s initial contribution will be to share the land itself, to build infrastructure and to facilitate the creation of an organization that will work to develop the project. Clark Mountain Land and Water Stewardship Project All members of JED share a common love and dedication to this land upon which we live and steward-- a total of over 400 acres of forests and fields called Clark Mountain Sanctuary, and the magical waters of Berry Pond. The land surrounding JED's new 30 acres parcel is currently owned by Jim and Naomi Nesbitt, with whom we have been working for the past four years to develop a long-term plan for conservation and community. Jim & Naomi are co-founders of Clark Mountain Sanctuary, a non-profit organization of which JED acts as administrator and manager, caring for a advocating on behalf of this forested land surrounding us. We are currently working with the Androscoggin Land Trust to raise $200,000 to purchase a permanent conservation easement for the 305 acre Berry Pond watershed that surrounds JED's home and farm. This is an opportunity that would allow this beautiful land to grow without interruption. It is an opportunity that we cannot pass up.
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