Phoenix Commotion in a small operation with a small budget. We do not currently have any available jobs, long-term volunteer positions or finished homes for sale. We created the Phoenix Fund earlier this year in order to assist future homesteaders with interim financing for their homes. You can donate to the Phoenix Fund by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
If you are interested in getting involved with or starting a project in your area and would like to network with others, you can post a message in The Commotion forum.
Here are some other ways to get involved:
Contribute Materials:
A big part of what makes this initiative work is collaboration. When we all share a little bit of our excess resources in a concentrated way, houses get built. Every one of us has something lying around that we don't use. Here are some specific things you could send our way or collect to use in your own build:
Metal bottle caps
Wine corks (Synthetic is OK)
Bones! Cattle, pig, ?? (no fowl). You want to help us in a strange and thrilling way? Talk to your rancher friends and find us some bones. If you're feeling really adventurous find us some unusual bones with the proper paperwork - The first Bone House we built contained a properly documented (ie. legal) whale rib. We're running low, so you would be a hero. They need to be cleaned and bleached. . .
Broken solar cells or other salvaged PV bits.
Fireman's pole (brass)
Camcorder (Flash or hard drive memory). We would like to document the builds better, create instructional videos, and post more updates on our blog for you.
Flash memory (1Gb+ usb or SD)
Copper sheeting (any condition)
Air hose, garden hose (working condition)
Drill bits (any size/type for a 3/8" chuck), Dremel bits
Chisels, Sandpaper
Cordless drill (18v+) with a decent battery
Safety glasses/goggles
Tool belts, Work gloves
Tarps, Shop Vac
Band Saw (less than 300lbs)
Contact us for our mailing address or questions about other materials not on this list that you have to donate. Thank you!
Fund The Purchase Of New Supplies:
Framing studs, Tyvek house wrap, nails, screws, pvc piping (reclaimed pipe can be UV damaged or compromised in other ways), concrete, caulk, grout, tools, etc.
You can spend as little as $10 and save Dan a trip the the hardware store. Set him up with some supplies here. McCoy's Building Supply has been very supportive of Phoenix Commotion projects over the years.
Tax Deductible Giving:
Although Phoenix Commotion is a for profit enterprise (Dan can afford to buy his own lunch at least once a week, though I can't remember the man actually taking the time to eat during the day), we are partnered with a certified non-profit in Houston called Living Paradigm. Living Paradigm president Amanda Tullos is a LEED AP architect who was inspired by the work of Dan Phillips and spent the last two and a half years contributing to the addendum to the City of Houston building codes for reuse materials. Living Paradigm also targets the under served and covers both Walker and Harris counties in its mission statement. Here in Huntsville, Phoenix Commotion has developed a relationship of trust with city building officials that has resulted in the creation of 12 structurally sound homes, but we need many more.
Living Paradigm houses The Phoenix Fund, which is a seed money account that goes directly to homesteaders to start building their homes by serving as interim financing for land, building permits, construction materials that must be purchased new, such as structural lumber, plumbing and electrical supplies. Once the house is complete, and the home owner secures a mortgage this money is returned to the fund for the next project. Each dollar you donate will be used to start building a house many times over, hopefully forever! You can donate directly to the fund below.