Hi, I'm Rowan, co-owner of Understory. And today I'm asking for your help (which is REALLY hard for me to do. I like to think of myself as the guy who helps people these days, not the guy who asks for help.)

Five months ago, my partner Dani and I had this wild idea: we would open a coffee shop and wine bar that was proudly trans-owned. We'd staff it with queer people and welcome everyone with an open heart and mind. It would be a safe harbour in today's frightening world, a place of community and connection.

And believe it or not, we did it! We opened our doors January 30, 2026, and folks here in the Queer Village of Toronto embraced us from the start. We've also had guests come from all over the world just to be a part of this special place. All of this has allowed us to hire five staff members and grow our offerings. And thanks to some generous pay-it-forward donations (along with contributions from Dani and myself), we've never had to turn anyone away who isn't able to pay. We have many unhoused community members who get free food, coffee, and find new reads from our community bookshelf.

It hasn't been without its share of problems - a burst pipe on the roof ten days in that poured from our ceiling all night next to the electrical outlet, followed by the heat not working, then the new ice machine giving us grief - but we've always managed it. That's just opening a new business.

What we weren't expecting was that our air conditioner would die in the middle of a heat wave, and that, after two repairs in which everything was done to help it limp along, it would be unsalvageable. The cost? ~$10,000 + $3500 for a temp rental unit that didn't work well, was really loud, and had to be removed after a week anyway.

Yesterday, our AC finally died. And with that, we had to close our doors until the new one comes in. That new one, by the way, is late. It might come in tomorrow, it might come in days from now, But until it gets here and can be installed, we can't open our doors in this heat. It's too hot for our team to work in safely, and we won't do that to them.

Meanwhile, a second pipe went in the ceiling and has been hard to fix. The landlord's people are working on it (but it's on us to repair our ceiling - see below).

And this is where I take a deep breath and ask for your help. I didn't want to do it. I pushed back hard when a lot of you asked. But this isn't just about me and my uncomfortableness. We have a whole team and a whole community who need this space, and the better supported it is right now, the faster we can recover from these hits to our new business.

Some questions you might be asking (and answers):

Isn't HVAC the landlord's responsibility?

Not usually in Ontario commercial leases. It isn't in ours, and it was not something we could get added in. Commercial leases have next to no protections for tenants; they strongly favour the landlord. We also have to pay for any damage to our unit for the leak in the ceiling. They'll only repair the leak itself.

What about an insurance claim?

Our insurance policy does not cover an older AC unit dying or the costs associated with that. It would only cover something sudden and unexpected in a newer unit. Believe me, we've looked into this.

How much are we hoping to raise and what is it for?

I set the fundraiser below what we're actually paying out of pocket for the new unit, temp rental, and other service calls and repairs. We are also covering as much of our staff's wages during shutdown as we can afford - and we not paying ourselves. If we even get a little bit and that helps us subsidize this, wonderful. I've set the goal at 10,000k

Are there other ways I can help?

You can visit our website and purchase merch or an e-gift card. You can also come in once we open again and buy something yummy (We'll be sure to announce it!)

Okay, this was hard. Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. Thanks for sharing. Thanks for donating. Thanks for being you. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. There's a contact us form on our website .