As 2009 draws to a close, we wanted to update you on our progress, thank you for your support, and encourage you to get involved with MoveSmart.org.

When this year started, MoveSmart.org was just a simple blog about a website we hoped to build. In the spring we partnered with the Chicago Technology Cooperative to offer a fellowship to Rebecca White to start work in earnest on the site. The first iteration of the current site launched in May. At the time, it was just the blog and a tiny Guides section - although by August of this year the Guides would expand to include nearly 80 articles on a wide array of topics.

The summer brought great news - we received a $10,000 outright grant and $10,000 challenge grant from the Field Foundation. This funding enabled us to bring Rebecca on half time in August and get the Neighborhood Finder system up-and-running in early November. Since then, our progress has continued to accelerate; we have been launching new features and data sets on an almost weekly basis while at the same time raising funds for the challenge grant (check out our Twitter stream for the play-by-play).

We are happy to report that - due in part to the support of more than 50 donors, the Pierce Family Foundation, the Poverty & Race Research Action Council, NeighborWorks America, and the Metro Chicago Information Center - we succeeded in matching the entire challenge grant! Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who donated, forwarded our e-mails to their friends, blogged, or posted to Twitter or Facebook about the effort.

But MoveSmart.org needs more than just your donations. We've partnered with The Extraordinaries to offer two micro-volunteering opportunities. Through a web browser or on your iPhone, you can help new neighbors integrate into their communities by mapping the locations of community bulletin boards and/or telling us why you love where you live. Find our more at http://app.beextra.org/activityfeed/show/orgid/35a37ba

The MoveSmart.org team is taking a much needed break during the last week of 2009, but we plan to hit the ground running when 2010 begins. We have met folks in Boston and the Bay Area interested in starting local version of MoveSmart.org, are planning to dramatically overhaul the look-and-feel of the site in early February, and have a few other surprises in store.