Create a Safe Sapphic Space in Pittsburgh.

**Update**

We have found a building!!! Not to buy... that dream is going to pause a moment while we get established. But, we have a building to rent!!! Please keep sharing our fundraiser! It's going to take some time to build and outfit the space. In the meantime, send us your dreams! What would you like to see in the space?

Hi there. My name is Aerin and I am raising funds to open The Soft Spot, a Sapphic Cafe open late in Pittsburgh.

The vision is a space with coffee and food, open late and partnering with other local queer spaces and organizations to occasionally host Sapphic nightlife events.

It's a lot of money, maybe an insane goal honestly, but if we make it, we can purchase a building. If we don't, we'll rent. Either way, we're coming!

The desire to own our building is born from fear and love. The current way that the world is flowing is not in favor of the queer community. In the past two years, we've seen multiple queer businesses pushed out of long held spaces. Owning our building would stop that from happening. And the love? Several of the spaces we're looking at have attached apartments. The opportunity to work with local orgs that house at risk trans folx, immigrants, and victims of domestic violence aligns so incredibly with the goals for this space, it would be a dream within this dream.

But, as I said, if we don't make our whole goal, we'll rent. We'll work hard. We'll keep trying!

Now, crowdfunding is an act of hope but a business can't pay its bills with hope. So this page will be paired with grant applications and fundraisers. I'm not kidding when I say we're here for the hard work. Our community deserves a home!

Speaking of that home...

We aim to abide by three pillars, our first being the creation of a safe soft space for Sapphically alligned folks in the Pittsburgh area.

The lack of Sapphic spaces in Pittsburgh is sharply felt. We're grateful to the pop-ups fought for by members of our arts community and are excited to collaborate with them, but we're also excited to offer a continuously accessible space.

Our second pillar is intersectionality.

Trans women are women.

Black lives matter.

Those are easy things to say, or type, but we intend to honor them in the way we execute our business.

From the non-profits and mutual aid we support, to the art on our walls, to the policies we operate by.

The work done by trans folks and queer people of color is the reason we can safely open a Sapphic business, and we will not take that for granted.

Our final pillar is a commitment to our community. Our goal is to work hard to source locally, hire locally, and give back locally.

We're so incredibly honored to be part of Pittsburgh's queer community. It's vibrant, strong, and it's all of ours to shape.

We hope you'll help us to connect with and serve the Pittsburgh resources that make you feel at home.

Lastly, I'm Aerin, but who is "we"? Well my soon-to-be-wife Samm is my rock in all things and this will definitely be a family effort. But we also have the unwavering support of Leanne and her partner Jen. Leanne will be in the shop, making you pretzel salad and giving incredible advice. Our Sapphic community is huge. So "we" is also all the artist reaching out, all the builders and helpers offering their skills... The Soft Spot is a "we" place. For those aligned with the goals above who want to foster Sapphic safety and community in Pittsburgh, we're going to build you a home!