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We are an ordinary family who had to start life in the United States from zero two years ago.
We lost our home, our work, our familiar world.
Here, we had to survive first — and then rebuild everything with our own hands.
During these two years we worked night shifts, raised our children, built Sweet&OK from scratch, drove to farmers markets in Staunton, Waynesboro, Verona, Charlottesville — and watched how people live here.
And over time, one thing became impossible to ignore:
Augusta County does not have a third place.
Not a bar.
Not a café.
Not an office.
But a warm, safe, welcoming space where people can simply be.
A place where:
— students can study without sitting in their cars;
— teens can gather somewhere safer than a parking lot;
— moms can work while their kids play nearby;
— freelancers aren’t forced to work from their backseats;
— creative people can meet, talk, film, and create together;
— adults can spend time offline, not just online.
We live in an era dominated by the internet — yet real offline spaces are disappearing.
And in the era of artificial intelligence, human connection becomes more valuable than ever.
At first, we considered Staunton.
But Staunton already has a successful community space.
We don’t want to compete or split the same audience — we want to create a new space for the entire county.
Waynesboro deserves its own third place.
From Stuarts Draft to Fishersville, from Sherando to Lyndhurst — the entire Augusta County needs a place of connection.
That’s how Time & Space was born — a family-friendly anti-café, coworking zone, KidsZone, creative hub, and community space under one roof.
A place that will outgrow us.
A place people will return to.
A place that becomes part of the county.
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What is Time & Space?
It’s not a bar.
Not a café.
Not an office.
It’s a third place — bright, safe, welcoming, and accessible to everyone.
Here, everyone finds what they need:
• a student — quiet tables and Wi-Fi
• a mom — a workspace close to her child
• a child — a warm KidsZone
• teens — a safer alternative to parking lots
• creators — a place to film, meet, and collaborate
• musicians — a small stage for their first sets
• photographers — a naturally lit mini-studio
• remote workers — a calm, pressure-free environment
KidsZone is a key part of the project.
It is not daycare and not babysitting.
Parents remain fully responsible — just like in a library or community center.
But there will be an on-duty animator who organizes safe activities and helps kids interact — without replacing parental supervision.
Nearby is the work zone, where mom or dad can focus while staying just ten steps away.
The anti-café model includes coffee, tea, simple snacks, and a familiar approach:
you pay for the time you spend, and everything inside is included.
We want Time & Space to outlive us.
We want a child who comes to KidsZone today to return years later as a teen — because it’s safe and fun.
We want teens to launch their first small projects here.
We want future musicians to say:
“My first show — 10 people — was at Time & Space.”
We want friendships, teams, ideas, even first loves to begin here.
In a digital world, we want to preserve the value of ordinary human interaction.
Time & Space is about that.
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Why we are turning to the community
To open Time & Space, we need to take one step: enter a physical space.
But in the U.S., the process is simple — and strict:
To rent — you need a deposit.
To get a loan — you need an LOI.
To get an LOI — you need a deposit.
A closed loop.
We are actively searching for a location.
But the market moves fast: a good place appears today and is gone tomorrow.
This is why the fundraising goal is tied not to an address, but to a purpose:
the deposit, without which negotiations cannot even begin.
Our realtor — experienced and local — reached out to us himself after seeing the idea.
And he repeats exactly what every landlord says:
“Show the deposit, and then we can talk.”
Banks say the same thing.
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Why we don’t have the required amount
This is not a complaint — it is the reality.
Over the past two years, we:
• built Sweet&OK without investors
• worked nights and did everything ourselves
• supported our relatives abroad during a difficult time
• gave part of our income to charity whenever possible
• replaced a broken car with a work car taken on credit — essential for our livelihood
• reinvested everything into production and survival
Another important truth:
We have been here only two years.
While others were building social networks, we were building a business and raising children.
We don’t have the “close friends” Americans usually borrow start-up money from.
Our circle consists of people who know us by our work:
• customers at the farmers markets
• fellow vendors
• coworkers from Target
• cashiers in the local supermarkets
• neighbors who nod back when we walk by
This is our community.
When it became clear that without a deposit we cannot:
— obtain an LOI
— apply for grants
— receive a loan
— secure a lease
we made a decision to turn to the people who already know us — and to everyone who believes in the idea.
And we want to say clearly:
we are ready to invest our own earnings as soon as there is a location and an LOI.
We are not asking others to pay for everything.
We simply cannot make the first step alone.
If someone is open to offering a private loan on reasonable terms — we are ready to talk.
But we do not depend on that as our main path.
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How much we need and why
Our goal is $17,500.
This covers only what cannot be done with our hands:
• security deposit (1–2 months)
• first month of rent
• liability insurance
• utility deposits
• legal & administrative fees
• POS and required software
• mandatory opening costs
We are not raising money for renovation, furniture, or decor.
Everything that can be built or restored — we will do ourselves or together with the community.
If the space turns out to be cheaper — every saved dollar will go into the project, not into our pockets.
We will provide full public transparency: every dollar accounted for.
And this step is necessary for future growth:
we are preparing documents to apply for city and state grants — but grants require an LOI, and LOIs require a deposit.
Your support is the first brick in the sequence:
Deposit → LOI → Grants → Loan → Opening.
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Why doing this together matters
Community support is not just money.
For a landlord, it means:
“People trust this project.”
For a bank:
“This idea has a real audience.”
For the city:
“The county truly needs a third place.”
For us:
That we read the community correctly and chose the right direction.
We want to build a place that will outlive us.
A place where, ten or twenty years from now, parents will bring their kids and say:
“This exists because our county once decided to bring it to life.”
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How you can help
If the idea speaks to you — please support us.
Every contribution matters.
Every share helps the project find the people who need it.
Every kind word is part of the foundation.
We are ready to invest our time, energy, labor, and our own earnings.
But the first step — we can only take together.
Click the button to support the project.
Let’s build Time & Space for all of Augusta County.
Organizer
