The living room cooperative - help us launch!
Description
Dear Friends, Family, and Neighbours,
Our city continues to lose its beloved third spaces – places where all generations can freely gather. Years of underfunding social programs, the arts, and investments in children and the elderly have left gaps in our community that make us less connected, politically engaged, and resilient.
A group of us–passionate neighbours, artists, makers, educators, community organizers, and small businesses–have pooled our resources together to start a cooperative. Here, coop members run their small businesses and–in turn–facilitate free, public hours for the community to learn, play, gather, skill-share, and “be.”
Our Visions for The Living Room:
- Free & low-cost workshops, skill-shares, and community events
- A robust makerspace & scrap store
- Open lounge and cozy nooks to gather, work on a laptop, and bring your kids
- Childminding & after-school programming
- Community resiliency projects & political organizing
- Intergenerational learning & tradition-sharing
- Skill- and community-building for newcomers
- Physical media library
- Fully accessible
- Room rentals, birthday parties, and events
As a cooperative, we will not siphon resources from other organizations doing critical work. As such, we are not applying for grants that our community partners rely on.
Launching a project of this magnitude happens one person, one conversation, and one piece of furniture at a time! It also happens one dime at a time – something that goes a long way in getting The Living Room off the ground and into the hands of the workers, elders, children, organizers, and artists who will transform this space in ways we can only dream.
Our current members have poured our savings into this project and still have a little ways to go to ensure we can get The Living Room going strong for its first year. If you have been sent this page, we are graciously asking for your support. No donation is too big or small, and means the world to us. Additionally, we encourage you to check out our memberships as a means to support the project–even if you are not a small business! :) You can visit our website here: www.thelivingroomto.org
We also offer partnerships with carefully selected community businesses who may wish to use our website and platform to share what they offer. If this is someone you know, please share our website above.
Our goal is to have The Living Room open to the public before winter, allowing ample time for holiday gatherings, Halloween costume creations, working “from home” in flexible seating, and connecting with folks so we can hibernate together in community.
We cannot wait to welcome you to The Living Room!
With love,