Hello all,

It's really been an amazing time lately. After a series of tough false-starts in Jamaica, WPA-2010 is really going well.

Projects we have completed or are working on include:
-Basketball court repairs
-Benches for Bus Shelters
-Benches for Swimming Hole
-Building a Bus Shelter
-Pedestrian Cross Walk
-Sidewalk repairs
-Community message board
-Firehouse sign
-Mural on construction site
-Micro-credit programs in mom and pop shops
-Parent Resource information packets

Also, just had a pretty interesting interview with the Roosevelt center, and got a call from NPR's All Things Considered about the project a few days ago!

http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/07/30/a-diy-modern-day-wpa-program-16284/

It certainly is contagious, with another WPA sprouting up in New Jersey, and some recent interest from Texas, Hawaii, and the Bronx.

You can see more photos here: http://bit.ly/wpa-flickr
P.S. I will be in touch the end of the summer to collect the needed information to send you all your "incentive" gifts. Thanks again for all of your support!

Here's the latest news on Work Projects Administration 2010.

WPA-2010 is now fiscally sponsored as a non-profit, so all future donations will be tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. New visitors can make a Donation to the WPA-2010 now online. Although our initial goal has been reached, we can continue to do more projects if we continue to receive donations.

Thanks to the generous donations of our supporters, work has been going great in Wassaic. So far, local WPA workers have hand-painted a new firehouse sign, built and installed a bench at the river, fixed up the basketball court, and are nearing completion of a beautiful roofed message-board for the town center. I've received tons of maps requesting a pedestrian crosswalk in the hamlet in a zone prone to speeding, so will be hiring WPA workers to paint one.

I am posting photos online at http://bit.ly/wpa-flickr.

Our Jamaica, Queens office will open on July 1. Thank you for making this possible!

And finally (for now), WPA-2010 (as well as my collaborative project Ghana Think Tank) will be part of a show at the Eyebeam Art + Technology Center (540 West 21st New York City) until August 7. The opening is this Thursday, June 10. Curator's talk at 5PM, and Opening Reception 6-8PM.

P.S. A heads up for all our backers, since most of our thank you gifts come out of the process of actually running the WPA (designing postcards, posters in the communities, process documents, making T-shirts, etc), you will receive your thank you gifts for backing this project later this summer. I'll be in touch as soon as we can send them out for your mailing addresses. Thank you!

The funding period is over and WPA-2010 was successfully funded! Thank you so much for your support.These funds allow us to open two WPA offices this summer!

Since most of the 'backer rewards' come out of the process of actually running the WPA (designing postcards, posters in the communities, process documents, making Tshirts, etc), you will receive your 'rewards' for backing this project later this summer.

I'll keep you all updated of the progress of the project here, and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions at all. Thank again, the support has been tremendous, and the project is going great already!

Christopher Robbins

We are 80% to funding for WPA 2010 at just over $1600. Thank you so much to all of you backers!

This week we ran a public test of the WPA construction get-up, were interviewed for the TV show SPEAK UP!, and were featured on the GOOD Magazine website. Log on and mark it GOOD!

In a few days we will move to Wassaic to open that office. We are all incredibly grateful for the support you've shown. Thank you!