Who is GreenTown Joplin? It has always been GreenTown’s mission to share what we’re learning as we work on the Green Initiative in Greensburg. We have visited with many people from around the world about sustainable disaster recovery and how they can help craft a vision for their particular situations and locales. GreenTown staff met with community leaders from Joplin, Missouri in 2011 when they were in a town for a 2-day Recovery Summit hosted by the City. Joplin was devastated by an EF-5 tornado on May 22, 2011, resulting in a catastrophic loss of life and the destruction of nearly 8,000 housing units and hundreds of businesses. As a result of that recovery meeting in Greensburg, we began working in Joplin in August, meeting with sustainability-minded people, convening meetings to see how we could help, and ultimately organizing a GreenTown Joplin affiliate there. We now have a full-time presence in that community, and have a number of projects launched. Our first priority is getting information on sustainable home rebuilding/repairing/retrofitting to as many homeowners and building contractors as possible. GreenTown Joplin organizes free workshops, meets individually with builders and residents, and participates in community events, distributing pertinent printed materials. We maintain an active website, www.greentownjoplin.org and have a Facebook page where we communicate regularly with folks. Check us out for the latest on our activities including our eco-homes and other demonstration projects. There are plans for a number of demonstration homes, similar in concept to our projects in Greensburg. We have been meeting with potential partners and sponsors toward that end. If you are interested in becoming involved, consider becoming a part of our Resident Greenius (“green genius”) program, which connects people who need information on a particular subject with experts from throughout the country, including Greensburg residents. As the community moves into the next phase of its recovery, GreenTown Joplin aims to continue to be an active partner and assist wherever we can with information related to sustainable building and green living.
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