Hey there Garry and other wonderful people,
Wow! Space is POWERFUL! I can't convey the message enough- POW_ER_FULL!!! Having been with our organization for 6 years and having seen it go from a twice a month street workshop to a mutli-structured building on a 40'x50' concrete pad that's on City property, I've seen first hand how space is the ultimate limitation on function. We are just wrapping up a $40k structure that ending up costing us about $17k-- VOLUNTEERS and DONATED MATERIAL ROCK! With 20x as much space as we originally had in an old location, we now have the ability to run better quality programming, store our material in a better way, stay clean because there's an appropriate place for each thing, and we have better group dynamics, AND we aren't being rained on anymore (after 4 years.) The truth is-- You can raise 6 kids in a two bedroom apartment, but it's not comfortable nor ideal.
How do get the space you want? PROJECT YOUR IDEAL SPACE INTO THE WORLD. Honest to JOD, it works. And it works if you work it. Within 6 months of having core staff draw pictures of our ideal space, we got it ALL. I mean, we got exactly what we drew on paper as a group. It was clear that our poor space was limiting us in a huge way. Some of you may have seen this with your own organization before it got a bigger space. How did we get on city property? Our clout and respect in the community, illustrated by our political support, gained us enough leverage to simply ask the city to allow us to move onto public property in the name of the public good. We pay about $20 a month in electricity and garbage per month, that's it. Mind you, we are the oldest population by county in all of Washington State, so they want to do right by supporting the younger folk-- and there are a lot of universe loving hippies that toot their horns and wave their flags in support.
I encourage you to continue asking questions about spaces in your own community. Put the dream out there of a bigger and better space. It might not turn out to be free, but you'd be surprised by what you can get. My visit to a bike co-op in Fort Collins blew my mind--- they have this huge warehouse (still?) that they were renting for $1k a month flat. It WAS SO HUGE! They seemed to not have any/much staff and were able to sell enough bikes where that amount of money was no problem. Other organizations are barely scraping by to afford rent each month. With this economy and with the environment in it's current state, there are very well-connected and wealthy individuals who come out of the woodwork when the horn is sounded. Have a "Dreaming of a new Space" event where the whole community is invited to participate- non profits, governmental entities, school district, private citizens, newspapers, etc. The more you work with the general public and community at large, the greater your chances of spreading your message and your need for a new space far and wide and to new ears.
Garry, My best wishes to you and your organization's search for the dream space. It can happen! It can only happen!' Much love and respect!
On Wed, May 15, 2013 at 5:07 PM, Sue Prant <sue@communitycycles.org> wrote:
Gary- Welcome to the club. We are 7 years old, have a big staff and budget, but we still pay $35,000 a year for a space that is way too small for us.
If you live anywhere where space is somewhat of a premium (I would guess Bend is not unlike Boulder in that way) then affording space is going to be one of your biggest challenges. And that is saying a lot because there are a lot of challenges.
We keep trying for donated spaces and cheaper spaces, but when land is so valuable, this is really difficult.
I wish I had advise for you.
--
Sue Prant
Advocacy, Development and Walk & Bike Month Director
Community Cycles
3172 29th Street
Boulder, CO 80301
Phone: 303-564-9681
e-mail: sue@communitycycles.org
www.CommunityCycles.org
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Chauncey Tudhope-Locklear (Executive Director)
The ReCyclery
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