Our Friends here at 115 The Commons

The Worker’s Center is located above Autumn Leaves Used Bookstore on The Commons in downtown Ithaca. Books inhabit the main floor, Angry Mom Records — also home to League of Women Rollers merch — is downstairs, The Owl Cafe and the Comics Inferno hold court on the mezzanine and a crew of nonprofits are nestled into our space at the top of the building.

Who are the groups? and what fabulous work do they do?

Silent City Distro sells local and national zines and helps people produce zines locally. They also sponsor some interesting activities, speakers and music. Some Distro collective members also are involved in the Ithaca Freeskool.

Shaleshock Action Alliance is a movement that works toward protecting our communities and environment from exploitative gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale region. Shaleshock is an alliance of Working Groups which include people who have signed leases, not signed leases, who have been compulsorily integrated, and people who don’t own land.

Books Thru Bars receives piles of letters each week from prisoners throughout the country requesting books. They do their best to fill those orders.

The Veteran’s Sanctuary is creating a residential space for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Veterans For Peace shares office space with The Veteran’s Sanctuary. This Memorial Day, Monday May 31, they are sponsoring a gathering at Dewitt Park that “will use music, words and poetry to remember the loss of war. Poetry from veterans of WWII through to the Iraq War. We will remember the dead and wounded civilians of our wars as we remember our troops….. the wounds, the loss of futures and the effects on families.” Civilian casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq will also be memorialized. DeWitt Park is in downtown Ithaca at the corner of North Cayuga and East Buffalo Streets; the program is from 7:30 to 9:30.

The office of Ithaca Hours, home of the local currency movement, is next door to the Veteran’s Sanctuary. If a Japanese television film crew is wandering around our building, they most likely are looking for Ithaca Hours. Korean, Ukrainian and other international journalists have sought out this tiny office in 115.

The national publication Positive News also has an office here. 
You can pick up their quarterly newspaper around the area at local shops and libraries.

And of course, there’s always our Peace and Justice gift shop. We carry an assortment of cards, publications, bumper stickers and t-shirts. Come on down sometime and visit the groups that do such phenomenal community organizing!