You know that feeling when you walk into a space and instantly feel like you belong? For over a decade, The Center SF was that rare sanctuary. So many of us found our people, found ourselves, and found our home.
San Francisco needs a heart-centered third space. So when The Center closed its doors in June 2025, its former volunteers came together to figure out how we could channel that energy into a new form.
We’re searching for a new permanent home for the community – a welcoming space to gather for tea, movement, and mindful connection.
WHAT WE’RE CREATING
Gather Collective is a new organization created by former volunteers and staff of The Center SF. Our mission is to open a community teahouse where we can offer tea, yoga, and events. We are co-creating a vibrant community space guided by the following core values:
1. Community-first: We see ourselves as humble stewards of the community, not owners of a business. While we're committed to providing a stable foundation, we honor that community takes form organically. We're establishing a nonprofit structure to ensure this space can serve as our home for many years to come.
2. Open access: San Francisco has wonderful membership-only spaces and social clubs, but we believe SF also needs a space that keeps its doors open to everyone. We're committed to maintaining our new space as a welcoming sanctuary where all are truly welcome.
3. A haven for mindfulness, wellness, and personal growth: For many, our community was a first doorway into a life of authentic connection and human flourishing. Tea ceremonies, yoga practice, and the transformative events we will offer are all pathways to this end.
NEIGHBORHOOD AND VISION
As a community space, we need to be where our existing community already is. We are searching for a permanent home, prioritizing the area around Upper/Lower Haight, Duboce Triangle, and North Mission.
We want to create a space so warm and vibrant that you feel you’ve been transported to a different world when you walk in.
HOW YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL SUPPORT US
We’re raising $300K to build out a space and support the first year of operations.
Creating a physical space in SF is no small endeavor. This amount will cover rent, commercial rent deposit, build out, decor, permitting, insurance, salary for one general manager, and hourly staff as needed to support volunteers.
The good news is we’ve projected the space will be self-sustaining after a year. With the right financial foundations, we’re confident we can create an enduring community hub.
Since we are a nonprofit, contributions to Gather Collective are legally required to be spent to further our mission. In the case that something goes terribly wrong, we will collect community input and pass along our funding to an aligned nonprofit organization.
FOR LARGE DONORS AND CO-CREATORS
If you’re considering a donation of more than $10K, reach out to Alex (alex[@]gathersf.org). We’d love to chat about helping your donation go further, employer matching, or about incorporating a charitable gift as part of your annual tax planning. We’ve submitted an application for 501c3 status, currently pending. Our detailed business plan is also available on request.
Support doesn’t only mean money. We called ourselves Gather Collective because we’re a community effort, by and for the community. If you want to co-create the space with us, get started here.
If you’re working on a similar project, we want to talk! We’re excited to work together to grow the network of conscious community spaces in the Bay Area.
ABOUT THE GATHER TEAM
Gather Collective is a new organization, not under the same ownership as The Center.
Dozens of people have already contributed their time and energy to the project. Here’s a selection of our team leads (see how we organize here ):
- Alex Zirbel (core team) was a volunteer and staff member at The Center
- Derek Pankaew (core team) was a volunteer at The Center and started the Village coliving community house
- Cara Kandangath (core team) was a volunteer at The Center
- Ariel Mazel-Gee (community lead) was a volunteer lead at The Center and runs a weekly meditation night along with a circling practice
- Kiel Howe (pop-up events lead) was a volunteer at The Center
- Gabi Gazzola (events lead) was the event manager at The Center, runs events at Decentered Arts, and is a part-time yoga instructor
- Deger Turan (tea lead) is the CEO of Metaculus, and has extensive experience sourcing high-quality tea
- Mark Black (location lead) was a volunteer at The Center and started the Celo Foundation
As a team, we've run businesses, led community spaces, and collectively raised over $22M in funding. We have a deep well of experience creating and running organizations, and are excited to take that expertise to a soul-aligned project.
Our initial board is Alex, Derek, and Cara. We’re advised by Liz Cahill, the executive director of Decentered Arts.
We envision a volunteer-run space, operated with solid financial planning. The core team is creating this as a labor of love, but will hire a General Manager and paid part-time roles as needed to ensure the effort is sustainable.
SUPPORT US IN CREATING A NEW GATHERING SPACE
We’re so excited to create a new home for the community we love so much. With all of our hearts, we want to thank all of those who created The Center and stewarded it through its many iterations – co-op residents, business owners, volunteers, event facilitators, yoga instructors, and more.
Also, thank you to the continuing community who have given time and energy to the Gather Collective project over the past months.
All our donors and volunteers will be invited to a welcome party once we open the new space. Any amount helps :)
With love and gratitude,
The Gather SF community
Organizer
