We are dedicated to sharing what we have learned with others by teaching the skills that create resilience and sustainability in our community.  To assist our community’s shift from the passive and disconnected life of the Consumer and activate the need to become Producers of the products and services of a sustainable lifestyle, we offer opportunities throughout the year to gain new knowledge with hands on projects.  It’s about a paradigm shift!
We aim to train anyone to see themselves as a teacher, to become more effective in their outreach by sharing teaching skills, organizing schedules and finding locations for classes.

HandsOn Skills Fair

The Hands On! Skills Fair is an annual event that brings together the community to share and learn skills. Presented in partnership with Meadowbrook Community Center, we call this Fair “Hands On” because it is based on actually doing skills to learn them. Folks from our neighborhoods step up to share skills such as food preservation and preparation, basic plumbing and electrical, seed saving, soap making, tool repair, carpentry, pruning, gardening, simple bike maintenance, and making lotions, just to name a few. Through the Skills Fair, we share the joy, satisfaction and security of being able to provide for our own needs, shifting from dependence on giant corporations to a healthy interdependence with our local community.

Each year we have this event in February as a way of kicking off the new year. It requires many volunteer hours in teaching, organizing and day-of helpers, so if you are interested in being involved contact susnesteering@gmail.com, Subject: HandsOn

Skills Mobs

The Skills Mob is an idea that came out of our 2016 Annual Membership Meeting, and arose out of a robust conversation about interests and goals. The idea of the Skills Mob is that we will gather on a regular basis to learn together about specific skills and to work together on specific projects, using those skills for the betterment of our community. Each Skills Mob will end with a discussion of next projects. Skills we share may include carpentry, masonry, gardening, home repair, and various forms of community-building, self sufficiency, making, sharing, creating, and repairing.

We hope everyone will find skills to share and learn, projects to get excited about, and neighbors to engage with through this ongoing program. Come join us as we remake community barn-raising for our local, NE Seattle, context! If you have a project idea and can help organize a Skills Mob, contact susnesteering@gmail.com, Subject: Skills Mob