SOUP Sonoma County—a grassroots event that uses community dinners to raise money for local projects—held its second micro-crowdfunding dinner at the Grange last week on Thursday night.
Here’s how it works: four local folks, each with their own interesting project for the community, get four minutes to pitch their idea to the crowd of people who’ve paid roughly $50 to attend the event. (Some pay more, some pay less.) After their pitches, the presenters answer four questions from the audience about their ideas. Then the audience has about a half an hour to have some soup, bread and salad. (Last week’s soup was vegan dal made by a volunteer named Miro and sweet potato soup from Westminster Woods.) At their tables, people chat with their friends and table mates and try to figure out which project to vote for. After the voting, the ballots are tallied, the money from the door is totaled, and SOUP founder Hunter Franks and his team announce the winner and hand over the wad of bills from the cash entrance fees paid at the door. Last Thursday, that amounted to $1,515.
Thursday night’s winner was Ashley Radzat, a former Waldorf teacher and coach for teens and parents, who said she guides families “…to understand behavior, change conversations, and build stronger relationships with their teens.” She is currently running the “EmpowHER” program for teenage girls at Analy High School — and that was the project she pitched on Thursday.
Radzat’s inspirational speech ignited palpable passion in the attendees. She will use the $1,505 from the crowd to further her curriculum development and give her more time to spend with the girls in EmpowHER, all of whom are referred to the group by school counselors.
Describing her work with EmpowHER, she said, “I am a big believer that we have to start with understanding who we are first, and so I help by giving the girls the basic neurobiology—helping them understand what is happening in their brain at this stage of development. I help them normalize the huge changes that are happening within them. Because of those huge changes…a lot of the time, we’re very impulsive and reactive and not necessarily responsive. So, some of the skills that I help them with are, like, ‘Because your brain has a gas pedal and not a brake pedal. I want to help teach you emotional regulation.”
Radzat said she isn’t doing therapy — she’s not a therapist. A veteran teacher with 20 years’ experience, Radzat holds a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, is a California-credentialed multi-subject teacher, a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator, and a Master Certified Life Coach. She also holds advanced certifications in Restorative Justice and Waldorf Education.
She said she is teaching life skills, not doing therapy.
“I teach effective communication and active listening, and I break that down step by step,” she said, noting how many teens go from zero to 60 in a matter of seconds when they’re upset about something. “I teach them, ‘Can I stop myself from doing that? Can I take a deep breath? Can I learn active listening skills and then effective communication to respond in a way that ultimately gets me what I need?’”
Radzat’s girls group at Analy was funded last year by the Gravenstein Health Action Coalition. This year her work at Analy will be paid for by the $1,515 she got from SOUP.
Radzat said she was deeply touched by her experience at SOUP. “I’m just so grateful to the community that came out. All of these passionate people coming out to say, ‘Yes, I’m behind that!’”
In her private practice, Radzat runs groups for teens and for parents with teens. Find out more about her work at Radzatconsulting.com.
The second runner-up was Deana Dennard of Community Bodywork, who shared her idea of providing free bodywork to folks experiencing trauma. Next came Animist West County, which brings people together around ancestral stories, food, songs, crafts and nature-based holidays. According to their pitch, they collectively weave “traditional folk wisdom with modern solidarity for these times, with people who are coming from traditional cultures.” And last but not least was MindScape, a natural sculpture garden built from reclaimed wood. The Mindscape speakers asked guests to not vote for them or give them any money. Instead, they urged people to sign up to volunteer for their Winter Solstice celebration, where they plan to burn their giant wooden art sculptures—à la Burning Man.
Participants at Thursday’s SOUP also heard some good news from the winner of the first SOUP event that happened this spring.
“We heard a report back from last SOUP's winner, Martin Reed and the Sonoma County Tool Library that they are putting their funds toward opening a Sebastopol location,” Franks said.
Radzat said she will return to the next SOUP event in January to report results from her semester’s work at Analy High School.
Last week’s SOUP, which drew 71 attendees, was smaller than the first one in May, but interestingly, the take at the door was about the same, roughly $1,500.
The slightly smaller turnout hasn’t dimmed Franks’ enthusiasm for the project.
“Our fall edition of SOUP was just as great as the first time around,” he told the Sebastopol Times. “It’s so wonderful to see so many community members come out in support of homegrown ideas to make Sonoma County better, meet their neighbors, and enjoy an evening of good food and inspiring connection.”
“We will be doing another SOUP likely in mid-January,” he wrote attendees after the event. “We are also looking for more folks to join our small but mighty organizing committee, so reach out if that sparks something in you.”
You can reach out to the organization at socosoup@gmail.com.
So grateful for Hunter and the SOUP event and community for believing in these girls and this project!