About Membership

Your Membership is Vital to Our Work!

Thank you for your interest in membership in the Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center.  For over 30 years, the EAC has reached out to educate, motivate and inspire. This local, grass roots organization has a big mission: to promote sustainable relationships with the natural world and with each other. It has truly honored the ecological principal of “doing more with less”. But now, the immediacy and magnitude of environmental challenges are prompting us to expand our efforts and resources, and we need the support of concerned people, like you, to make that happen.

We would like to invite you to join this important initiative by becoming a member of the EAC during this annual membership campaign. But first, let us tell you a bit about the EAC’s history, accomplishments and direction:

In the fall of 1973, the five teachers of Upland Hills School met to discuss ways to engage students in solving ecological problems. The discussion resulted in a radical idea: we would purchase a wind turbine and model the behavior we wanted to inspire, although it would require 90% of that year’s teaching materials budget.  Not long after the system was installed, the Arab Oil Embargo unfolded. UPI wire service took note and ran the line “Small School in Oakland County Foresees the Arab Oil Embargo and is Prepared” and the national and local media descended on the school. The response was so great that the teachers decided to hold workshops and form the “Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center”. The effort resulted in a fair share of failed experiments but also in the building of the EAC facility near the school – a beautiful wind-powered, solar-heated, earth-insulated learning center that continues to offer a unique example of thoughtful ecological design to this day. The workshops did inspire many participants. Some choose careers that led directly to profound changes in our community including the co-founder of a leading sustainable architecture firm, Ann Arbor’s energy “czar”, and the president of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development. ~ based on “Our Story” by Phil Moore, EAC co-founder

The EAC has since provided energy tours and outreach programs to thousands of students and adults, introducing many for the first time to the concepts of renewable energy and ecology. It has offered hundreds of public workshops on a wide variety of energy, wellness and wisdom topics from biodiesel to yoga.  The center has hosted many special gatherings including round tables, conferences, benefits and sweat lodges. And, it has brought many world teachers to our area including Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D., Joanna Macy, Ph.D.,  Ram Dass, Thomas Moore, Robert Bly, Amory Lovins, and R. Buckminster Fuller to name a few.

More recently, the EAC has reached out to the broader community by producing major events including an annual state-wide energy conference, which presents leading energy educators to hundreds of attendees, and the Earth Day Expo, which offers earth-friendly food, fun and education as well as the products and services of over 100 “green” businesses to many thousands each April. This year, the EAC has formed the Oakland County coalition of ReBuild Michigan, a program of the state energy office to promote energy savings in commercial and public buildings. Recently, the center established a “Green Business Network” and is offering Business Memberships to promote the local economy and the green products and services of local businesses.

We have extolled these accomplishments not to boast but to encourage you to consider what the EAC can do with your support. We would like to offer you the opportunity to join our efforts to address locally the most pressing issues confronting the world – no less than insuring the sustainability of our community, economy and environment. This is the only time of the year that we ask for membership, so we hope you will take action today.

Most of the EAC’s operational funding has come from its programs but an essential part has been played by individual contributors. Without this support, the EAC would not have been able to do any of this and we are deeply grateful for the generosity of our loyal donors. Still, the number of contributors has not been enough to adequately maintain our facility and develop the resources needed to grow. Frankly, the EAC building is in need of painting and repairs. And, with our expanding outreach opportunities, we also need funds to hire additional educators and staff. We look forward to addressing these needs by increasing the number of members and donors.

We invite you to make a donation that is significant to you, by joining at the highest level of membership that your finances allow:  Simple Living - $25, Individual - $40, Family - $50, Steward $51-$99, Supporting $100-$499, Sustaining - $500-$999, or Seventh Generation Club - $1,000+. With your support, we will see more children’s eyes light up when they power a fan with a mini solar panel they built themselves, help more students decide that a green career is in their future, and enable more adults to lessen their dependence on fossil fuel and choose renewable alternatives.

 Becoming an Upland Hills EAC Member has many benefits, including:

However, the main benefit of membership is the knowledge that you are supporting a worthy cause and an organization with a longstanding commitment to efficiently and effectively serving the local community.

Please take action and become an EAC member today. Simply complete the enclosed form and send a check payable to UHEAC in the prepaid envelope. To join and pay by credit card on-line, please go to www.uheac.org and click “Become a Member”.

Rest assured that your donation will go directly to our general fund to help us achieve our goals of covering overhead, staffing our organization for growth, and properly maintaining our one-of-a-kind facility. With your help, we will improve our ability to offer experiences and resources that you can use today to create practical, earth-friendly solutions in your life and community.  Please help us to continue and expand this exciting work.

The Upland Hills EAC is a 501c3 organization and your donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.