The Gazebo Community is a weekly gathering in Silicon Valley, CA. that welcomes people on a faith journey (direction of travel not specified) who find themselves in-between or outside the churches. We exist to provide a shelter stop on the way, rest and perspective for the traveler. In addition to musical, artistic, and scripture-based practices, we hold a quarterly generosity dinner, during which we discuss local or wide-area needs, and then give from our common funds toward a chosen recipient.
Our next dinner is on August 16th 2015.
RSVP & Donate to the Dinner Fund
How it Works
The Gazebo Community is a weekly gathering in Silicon Valley, CA. that welcomes people on a faith journey (direction of travel not specified) who find themselves in-between or outside the churches. We exist to provide a shelter stop on the way, rest and perspective for the traveler. In addition to musical, artistic, and scripture-based practices, we hold a quarterly generosity dinner, during which we discuss local or wide-area needs, and then give from our common funds toward a chosen recipient.
Our next dinner is on August 16th 2015.
Give
Contribute a financial gift that you’re comfortable sharing (suggested amount $25-250).
Gather
with friends around food.
Bring A Story
Share a story about someone that you care about that might benefit from the common funds that were pooled together.
Our Values
Relationships > Transactions
Maintain the primacy of relational connection in all giving and seek to dismantle the power dynamics entrenched in cross-socioeconomic resource sharing.
Abundance > Scarcity
Demonstrate an economy of enough in an economic context that has modeled scarcity, disparity and unjust distribution of wealth. Start with what we have between us.
Collaboration > Isolation
Honor and value all contributions and the wisdom of the group – whether money, expertise, experience, time, connections, opportunities, or suggestions.
People > Projects
Give in ways that always maintain the dignity of those receiving, honoring their privacy and personhood.
Basic Living/Survival
A group in California helped an aged-out foster care student with food gift cards – but went further and took him shopping and taught him how to cook.
Utilities
A group in California helped a single mom with phone bills to remain in contact with her kids while awaiting a heart transplant. On Dec 31 she received a new heart!
Education
A 17 year-old Kenyan boy dropped out of school when his family could no longer afford school fees. A group paid for his last two years of schooling – and a member met with him regularly to mentor and encourage him.
Gap Grant
A group in Oklahoma helped a friend with living expenses while he launched a self-sustaining business.
Health Care
A D.C. group helped purchase a walker for a homeless friend. And celebrated Thanksgiving with him.
Housing
A group in Minnesota threw a party for a family living in a shelter – and a few months later helped pay the final costs on a Habitat for Humanity home for them.
Parental Support
Friends pooled their resources to help with final adoption costs – helping to build a beautiful family
Professional Expenses
Members in Virginia helped a friend with bankruptcy and legal fees – and spent hours with her giving financial advice and reworking her budget.
Self-Sustaining Initiative
A group in North Carolina helped a dad setup his own business after years in prison – months later they drew alongside him as he sent his daughter to college.
Transportation
Two members in Philadelphia advocated for help for car repairs for a friend in kidney failure – and then went and got tested to see if they could donate their own kidneys to him.
Common Change was born out of a vision that still guides us: That there is enough for all who inhabit the planet. We believed then, as we do now, that if we could just get enough people together we could eliminate personal economic isolation.
Common Change believes that generosity begets generosity. Relationships rooted in generosity and gratitude matter because, in times of crisis, that web supports us in turn. This isn’t just what we do and believe at Common Change, it is how we operate as a nonprofit. By offering Common Change in the “gifting” manner we do, we are asking people to decide on their own “level of gratitude” instead of it being dictated to them. And, at this particular moment, we hope that you will reciprocate any amount of goodness that you have received from Common Change.
Darin
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