Join Joe and Holly for a conversation about the organizational audit and optimization process that we went through with our nonprofit consultants, Prospera Partners. We reviewed all of our foundational paperwork before delving into a values conversation, drafting a memorandum of understanding and then designing how we would like our board process and community engagement to turn into real action. If you’re curious about the details of how we plan to create sustainable, healthy AND affordable housing in Grant county and beyond, this podcast is for you.
(Even though this podcast is almost 2 hours long, we saved a large segment of audio for later, for when we publish our business plan. So subscribe and come on back later if you’d like the details on that.)
Thank you to Escher Bowers of Freeman Films for putting together this video on the construction of our Thrival Cabin Prototype! This short film is 11 minutes long and features the audio of when Joe Kennedy and Holly Noonan were interviewed on KURU 89.1 FM community radio.
While we are SO proud to show you what we have been up to, it’s important to point out that this cabin was built for a young woman with extreme environmental sensitivities and therefore we can’t show it to you in person. But not to worry, we will build more!
Thank you for your patience over the last six months while our board focused inwardly to do a thorough audit of our policies, processes and goals. We are almost ready to reveal the fruits of our process with Prospera Partners in an upcoming podcast!
Also, our executive director Holly began her six-month fellowship with the Lincoln Vibrant Communities program in April 2025, and has been delving into this education on Strategic Communication, Leadership and Housing Policy. More about this soon!
Be sure to like and share this video and let us know what you think!
In 2024, we purchased 52 acres in the Mimbres Valley without a bank loan. This will become our Education Campus over the next ten years. We will practice by building our designs on this land, and then move to building for the Grant County community, once a Community Land Trust (CLT) land has been established. CLT housing remains affordable generation after generation, it turns renters into owners and creates a much need safety net for our county’s low-income, elderly and disabled populations.
Our solution to the current housing crisis is to become a Non-Profit Housing Developer, with a Vocational Education component. We will build whole neighborhoods of 400 square foot adobe homes in groups of ten, on shared “RV park” infrastructure. We will use the construction of these ten-house neighborhoods as our classroom, inviting owners, VocEd students and community volunteers to contribute their labor as we complete one home each month.
We have visited our organizational role models, like Community Rebuilds in Moab, Utah and The School of Constructive Arts in Alpine, Texas to learn to develop building and education systems for ourselves that are already successfully working for them. We will make the compressed earth blocks and adobe bricks on our land, from local soil, and begin the process of creating a certified “CTE” program– Career and Technical Education Program– on our 52 acres in the Mimbres Valley.
We will then build up our capacity in order to build our neighborhoods on Community Land Trust (CLT) land, so that when Silver City and each of the surrounding communities eventually earmark acreage to go into a 501c3 Community Land Trust (CLT) entity, we will be ready. CLTs are a proven method of keeping housing affordable in perpetuity and there are currently 308 CLTs operating successfully in the Unites States.
Eventually, we will run two building teams at once; a skilled team of five builders that goes fast with finely tuned procedures, and a training team that runs alongside them on a separate building, learning as they build. As we train skilled builders, we will hire them and expand. We build the same three designs over and over, with refinements, but very little customization, getting faster and more efficient each time. We will collaborate with The Future Forge, the local non-profit makers-space that hosts a Vocational Education program, to create affordable plug-and-play solutions for kitchens and bathrooms, like steel sinks set into steel tables and kitchen islands. In this way, we create functional, beautiful, simple, affordable homes that offer dignity, safety and community.
Our project originates in the acute lack of housing options for people who are chemically sensitive. We have needed these homes ourselves. But our plan is to build homes for all demographics that have experienced economic disenfranchisement, and earmark 25% of them for people who cannot stay healthy in conventionally-built housing.
We need to build small homes out of local, healthy soil, because that simply makes the healthiest possible house. It’s probiotic housing! And since our rafters, windows and doors are all metal, these homes are also fireproof. Adobe homes are the historic building style in this region because they work so well to keep cool in the summertime (with no AC) and absorb the sun’s heat in the wintertime, lowering utility costs dramatically when compared with manufactured housing. This offers financial freedom for low income residents.
It has been understood in the community of chemically-sensitive people for 40 years that adobe homes are the top choice for recovering from environmental hypersensitivity. However, most chemically sensitive people, who are already burdened with enormous costs from health issues, can’t afford to live in an adobe home. Adobes used to be for working people, and now they are almost only for wealthy people. By centering the needs of the chemically-sensitive population within a regenerative economic model, we can create affordable homes that make everyone healthier.
We have been in the process of proposing an intelligent land use regulation update for work-force housing solutions for Grant County that are in line with other New Mexico counties (like Eddy County) which allow for small, permanent structures to be built at RV parks. (Our 400 sq ft homes are the size of the largest RVs, and can use the RV-Park district utility system, but without the need for RV chemicals.) We intend to create shared-infrastructure-neighborhood prototypes on our 52 acre Education Campus.
Housing can be affordable when homeowners share expenses;
Homeowners can share district water and septic systems,
Homeowners can share a district electical system,
Homeowners can do long-term (99 year) lot leases instead of buying land.
Manufactured Housing Communities and RV Parks provide affordable housing options for New Mexicans– because they share infrastructure expenses– and they must be protected! 26% of housing units in Grant County are “Mobile Homes.” But we can learn from what is working in them and create a long-term solution for affordable housing that is fireproof, locally sourced and made from healthier, more durable building materials.
Crooked Forest Institute is now a member of the Grounded Solutions Network, an agency that helps communities establish Community Land Trusts in order to promote housing solutions that will stay affordable for generations, and to combat systemic inequities.
By teaching adobe building and incorporating regenerative farming methods on our campus, our educational program provides a well-rounded education in localized economic models of sustainable living. There will be an incubator module to encourage students to start their own business for a specialty building trade that is needed by the community, such as plastering, roofing, electrical/solar, agroforestry or plumbing and water catchment. As those businesses develop, we will use our graduates as subcontractors– or hire them– in the process of building new housing on the county CLT.
Whether our graduates get hired by us to build locally or start their own trades business, their experience will position them well as we scale up our model to other communities in New Mexico. Now is the time for innovation that will put home construction back into the hands of communities. 27% of our residential building supplies currently come from China, but they don’t need to. Healthier building materials are right here already, and when we build with earth, we keep our dollars circulating in our own local economy. So let’s build together!
Unfortunately, we won’t be at the Give Grandly Event this year in person! We are so sorry to miss this event, as each year it has been a wonderful opportunity to connect with our community.
But this year, Holly will be in Chicago starting her Lincoln Vibrant Communities Fellowship, while Joe is still in South Africa, developing a sister project in the Regenerative Communities Network.
We look forward to showing you the progress we’ve been making on completing Jade’s Cabin– She’s moving in in May! So Stay tuned…
Our Executive Director, Holly Noonan, just got selected to the Lincoln Institute For Land Policy’s Lincoln Vibrant Communities 2025 Fellowship Cohort 🎉
In this Fellowship, she will learn to:
>>>Address critical and complex challenges facing counties and cities, such as housing, climate readiness, land use and water management, transportation, municipal finance, and social equity
>>>Learn methods to drive change, such as scenario planning, data visualization, building cases and models, storytelling to inspire, and conflict management and mediation
>>>Acquire actionable leadership skills in the form of situational awareness, dialogue and collaboration, change management, resiliency, and deep cultural competency.”
The Board of Directors at Crooked Forest Institute would like to invite you to come for a walk with us on the 52 acres that the nonprofit purchased in October of 2024. Join us for a walk around the property on Saturday, March 22nd at 10am. It is located on the west side of Hwy 35. (on the left going north) and the entrance is an orange gate approximately across the road from the Frost Brothers billboard. (Just south of the transfer station.)
Looking at the current challenges that are facing our community, everyone can see that we need more housing, better health and more economic stability.
Crooked Forest Institute has been envisioning win-win solutions that contribute to all of these.
In a nutshell, we are working on creating a local-economy hub that will include:
→ A co-operative adobe brickyard– to make a locally sourced, healthy building commodity. Members can get bricks for cost.
→ A Vocational Education program where teens 15-19 can learn to make adobe bricks, and to build and repair fireproof adobe homes.
→ A drylands food innovation hub, where we experiment with how to grow the most amount of food with the least amount of water.
→ A native species propagation nursery for bioregional ecological restoration.
→ Some short term rentals so that people can experience our small home designs first hand.
→ A small subdivision of 12 homes on 8 acres (on our 52) in our Community Land Trust pilot program.
→ An education building that can double as an event center.
We want to support our local economy to provide more of our housing and food. When local independent businesses receive $100 from you, they put most of it back into the local economy and it multiplies. When you spend $100 at chain restaurants or big box stores, it mostly leaves town for good.
As a nonprofit housing developer, we are working to provide housing solutions for those who need it most– low-income, elderly and disabled local residents. Creating a Community Land Trust is a proven strategy for protecting land in perpetuity for the benefit of the community. It creates a safety net for the most vulnerable among us and it is designed by you, to become what you want.
Please Note: We are planning on eventually building homes on a Community Land Trust in or near Silver City that does not actually exist yet.
We are not planning on building housing in the Mimbres Valley. (If the Mimbres Valley eventually creates its own Community Land Trust, we would reconsider this.)
The 52 acres that our nonprofit purchased is to be used as an Education Campus, not as a housing development. There will be some housing on it, so we can practice building our designs, but it will not be high density. We would like this Education Campus to become a community resource for the whole valley.
Ultimately, we aim to prove that it is possible to design and build human settlements that improve the surrounding ecosystem, not injure it.
We are focused on innovating a new system of building, but it’s actually just recreating the traditional, historical way of building. It’s common sense to make bricks out of local soil and teach our kids to build safe, healthy, fireproof homes. We want them to start trades businesses to keep our dollars local!
Tune in for this 27 minute segment on the January 24th “Local Flavor” show, when Joe and Holly talk about the origin story of Crooked Forest Institute, and what they see coming for 2025.
Join us for this deep-dive interview with Coakee William Wildcat, an Ecorestoration and Syntropic Agroforestry educator who originally hails from the Oklahoma Seminole Nation. He celebrates having two lenses to navigate the modern world; He integrates the western science studies of soil biology, botany, ecology, Miyawaki reforestation and ecology/climate physics–including the Biotic Pump Theory– with a deep historical and personal understanding of indigenous agroecology traditions, and weaves them into a coherent picture of what human relationship with Earth looks like when we act as a steward species. When studies show that biodiversity is highest on indigenous-managed land around the world, how do we empower indigenous knowledge-holders during this global climate crisis?
Crooked Forest Institute is throwing a Potluck Dance Party on Saturday, November 9th, 2024 from 5pm to 8pm.
Enjoy the sound stylings of DJ Curtis Pink and the Desert Eclipse Sound System.
The community has come together to donate dozens of items for the Silent Auction, including Gift Cards from Roxy’s, the Silver City Food Co-op, Foxworth Galbraith, Birdwell’s, The Tranquil Buzz, JBR Smoothie Shop and many more! Jade is a healer and SIX of her friends have donated healing sessions for the auction. Acupuncture, shamanic healing, sound healing, massage or reiki are all on offer! In addition many local businesses and individuals have donated art, collectibles, coffee, cake, ice cream, sculpture and jewelry! The Palace Hotel donated a one night stay and Wolfhorse Outfitters donated a half day horseback ride for two! Scroll down for a complete list.
Some items will be gathered into baskets for a raffle in addition to the silent auction.
No entry fee, although donations are welcome. Potluck Dinner, bring an autumn dish to share. Drinks, dishes and cutlery will be provided.
Where: The Hearth (formerly the Presbyterian Church) 1915 N. Swan Street in Silver City, NM.
Crooked Forest Institute is a 501c3. All donations are tax deductible.
If you’d like to donate something for the auction or raffle, text or call Jade at (575) 590-890-three. If you’d like to volunteer on the build, email Holly here.
Check out these Auction Items!!
Gift Certificates
Foxworth Galbraith
$300 Gift Certificate
Silver City Food Co-op
$150 Gift Certificate
Javalina Coffee Shop
$40 Gift Certificate
The Tranquil Buzz
$25 Gift Certificate
Jalisco’s Restaurant
$20 Gift Certificate
Birdwell’s Coffee and Gifts
$25 Gift Certificate
Roxy’s Bistro
$20 Gift Certificate
Mint Chip Creamery
TWO $20 Gift Certificates
JBR Smoothie Shop
$25 Gift Certificate
Experiences
Wolfhorse Outfitters
$180 half-day horseback trip for 2
Palace Hotel
One night stay at $149 Suite
Ryan at Blue Azalea Salon
Haircut
The Silco Theatre
4 movie tickets
Libations Roastery
Two pounds of coffee and a weekly coffee at the Gila or Silver City Farmer’s Market for a year!
Healings
Aileen Shepard, DOM
Acupuncture session
Lisa Jimenez
Shamanic Healing or Reiki
Jesse Davisson
Massage with herbal hot/cold wrap
Wendy Biondo
Energy Session
Tarot Reading
Norma Guadelupe Santos
Shamanic Limpia Clearing
Mulcogi Shop
Sound Healing Session
Collectibles
Mary-Louise Talbot
3 sets of earrings
Woven pillow case
Japanese Wall Hanging
Therese’s Hidden Treasures
Large Agate mortar and pestle
3 shirts and a purse
Maureen Glasheen
Lotus Flower Sculpture
Grateful Living Cannibis Co.
Copper wrapped Labradorite necklace
Jade Sawyer
Sacred Geometry Earrings
Marketplace Store
Hemp Backpack
Tractor Supply
Set of Solar Lights
Country Girls’ Nursery
Solar Garden Light
Sean Cannon
Three prints of original artworks
Juniper Bowers
A set of 2 myofascial release balls
Shelly Barnett
Love Shack Sculpture and poetry book
Artisan Bakery
One medium cake
Martha Blacklock
Two Spiritual Statues
Pamela Morgan
Floating Vase
Twin Sisters Bike Shop
Skateboard with Helmet and Pads set
Cholla Cholla
Large Slab of Juniper Wood
Ziryabs
Basket of Body Care Products
Silver City Gallery
Silver and Turquoise Necklace
Power and Light Press
Basket of Awesome Original Print products
This is how far we have gotten with the Thrival Cabin Build. It’s underway!
Crooked Forest Institute 