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Looking for a grassroots strategy for achieving your campaign objectives? Sway your target audience by giving them the information that they need to make an informed decision and a leader to follow. We work inside the community to build their trust and support.
Influencing Community Decisions. VPS writes and distributes educational articles that feature testimonials by community members who promote your desired outcome. We weave together contextual information to provide readers with an unbiased description of the situation addressed by your campaign. Our researchers interview members of your target audience to discover the reasoning behind their stance so that you can dissolve roadblocks to their support. We strive to use internal networks to inexpensively, yet effectively disseminate your article to residents.
Work Together.
Online Forum for Livable Communities Advocates and Educators. Why reinvent the wheel? Use our free online forum to exchange strategies and share your accomplishments and challenges with other livable communities advocates and educators. We provide groups with private discussion space and access to the public forum. VPS can provide you with discussion topics to engage your community or group members in continuing conversation.
Influencing Individuals’ Transportation Decisions. Enhance your website and newsletters with articles that discuss the realities of using alternative modes of transportation for commuting, running errands and traveling from the perspective of an average person. VPS writers can incorporate into each article an interview with one of your community members to encourage readers to follow suit.Follow this Leader Articles
Include in your online and print publications Follow this Leader Articles that feature members of your organization or audience who demonstrate their commitment to livable communities.
“(Bicycling) during winter is the right thing to do to reduce pollution and my demands on the environment. But beyond that, I still get to work happier than if I had driven my car. Feeling that cold air and rain hitting my face really makes me come alive.”
Meet Scott Verhoeff. He is a Sacramento bicyclist who has rode an average of 5 days and 30 miles per week for errands and commuting during this winter. Read on to learn his strategies for staying warm and dry, transporting cargo, maintaining his bike, finding a cheap bike and riding safely in cold and wet conditions.
Scott’s winter cycling wardrobe consists of a few basic items. He relies on a good hat, like the turtle fur hat that his mom gave him, and gloves as well as a lightweight coat and pants to stay comfortable in the rainy season. Scott is especially impressed with his nylon pants because their versatile nature allows him plenty of room to move.
After big-ticket items designed to be waterproof and breathable didn’t perform as promised, Scott started shopping at thrift stores for his winter cycling gear. While many of his picks are made of cotton, tweed or burlap, he isn’t a fabric snob. His only requirements are that garments keep out the wind, trap his body heat and remain breathable when wet.
Scott uses a school backpack to carry cargo throughout the year. In the winter, his pack is transformed into a dry bag with the help of a garbage bag lining. While he tries to keep a plastic bag full of warm clothes in his pack during the wet weather, sometimes he gets caught in the rain without reinforcements. In these cases, Scott powers home as fast as he can.
Scott considers bicycle fenders, especially the rear fender, essential for winter cycling because they keep his clothes, pack and bike from being covered with the grit sprayed up from riding. He has found that covering his rear bike rack with a plastic bag can also serve as an effective fender.
Experience has taught Scott that his bike can easily become trashed during the wet season due to all the debris that gets in the chain, gears and derailleurs. Therefore, he is pretty religious about wiping dirt out of his bike’s mechanical parts with a rag and re-lubricating the chain after a rainy ride. Scott isn’t picky about the types of lubricant that he applies to his bike’s chain; he has used 3-in-1 oil, WD40 and motor oil. Regardless of the type, he makes sure to rub the chain down after application to prevent greasy build up from getting everywhere.
Since rainy conditions are bound to result in wear and tear on bicycles, Scott recommends that commuters ride cheap (meaning $350 or less) bikes during the winter months. He knows of three places to look for such bikes. Many shops around town sell used and refurbished bicycles. Garage sales often yield a big payoff in exchange for a little patience. The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen offers low priced, rebuilt bikes.
There are a few final words of wisdom that Scott would like to pass on to other winter cyclists. First, always be aware that people will drive the same in wet weather as in dry. Next, allow cars plenty of room, wear bright colors that make you visible and take your time. Finally, don’t take any unnecessary risks.
Walk Your Talk Photo Gallery
These community members are demonsalternative transportation, regional food and economic systems. Join them by submitting photos to the Walk Your Talk Photo Gallery. Please Contact Us with your photos.
Moving via bicycle
Toting groceries using a bike trailer
Fund your Plan of Action.
We are continually growing a list of foundations that are interested in alternative transportation, regional food systems and local economics. Allow VPS to help you to refine your program idea, guide you through the application process and write a competitive proposal.
Browse our Foundations Directory to find your next funding source. Add a foundation to the Directory.
| Foundation Name | Geography | Deadlines | Interests |
| C.W. Cowell Foundation | Northern CA | ongoing | youth development programs that offer enrichment, exploration, and skill-building activities |
| Teichert Foundation | Amador, Calveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Mariposa, Merced, Nevada, North Solano, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislau, Sutter, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba Counties | February 29/August 29 | boys and girls clubs, children/youth, community development, education, environment, transportation |
| Foundation for Sustainability and Innovation | National | April 15/October 15 | particularly interested in sustaining agriculture through organic, biodynamic, permacultural and other processes, training young people to be farmers, and linking farms to communities through community supported agriculture. Another area of need would be support for small alternative presses and periodicals that focus on issues and problems and their resolution and desire to impact broadly on society with their creativity and new ideas |
| Wallace Foundation | checking... | ongoing | high-quality out-of-school learning opportunities available to many more children |