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Hello to our dear friends, soul family, and visitors from our extended community network!
Maplewood is what we’ve been calling the home we’ve recently purchased in Hamilton, where many of you have already visited us. With the birth of Matt and Amanda’s son whose name is still being uncovered, this house is now the space where we are raising a family, tending to a budding village, and living together in an unconventional, beautiful way.
We're taking our first steps in raising funds to transform our garage into a beautiful multi-purpose community space. Our hope is that this new space allows us to continue to nurture our relationships with all of you, within this network of friendship and mutual support we’re growing together.
Below you will find information on the vision for the project, the renovation plan, and ways you can help <3!
Thank you for being part of our lives and part of our village. This home and community space is being built with so much love, and we're grateful to be creating it with you :)
~Teresa, Benjamin, Matt + Amanda +Baby, & Sandra
Vision: a network of life-affirming learning and living
Maplewood is a home for us as friends and family, and a home for a growing community we’re a part of. The story and future of this home is connected in a fundamental way with our relationships with many of you.
We see Maplewood as a cultural learning node — a rooted, living space where people come to practice new ways of relating, collaborating, and being together. Over time, our vision is for Maplewood to become one of many anchor points in an interconnected network of people, homes, and projects learning to live in ways that are deeply wholesome, vibrant, and life-affirming.
You will see in the photos throughout this page a handful of the retreats, ceremonies and community gatherings we've hosted in the last few months that have had magic and have impacted our lives.
A beautiful, multi-purpose community space
Our vision for the garage is to transform it into a beautiful spiritual temple and functional multi-purpose space. Our sense is that some financial resources now will unlock far greater value in the months and years to come. Here are some highlights of what we are seeing as possible:
Unlocking a wide range of offerings
- The space can be used to host offerings like circles, ceremonies, retreats, dances, relational practice, therapeutic community experiences, body work, and other practitioner offerings
$ sustainability and accessibility
- Having the space on-site means we can initiate the wide range of offerings above without renting external venues, making them more accessible and sustainable for everyone.
Purpose-oriented livelihood for a network of practitioners
- Where we've built the right trust there will be opportunities with friends and community members to be able to use the space for their offerings and gifts. In an ideal world this can support their growth as practitioners and their path towards sustainable livelihood.
Right-distance from main home
- Having this community space be just outside the main home living space helps create the room needed for many rhythms to coexist. It will expand the range of things we can host and how we can host them, because we will have a space whose use won't interfere with family needs.
Orbiting visitors and experimental co-living
- It gives us more options for a revolving network of friends family and community members to build a relationship with Maplewood because we have a place to receive them. It also opens up creative co-living arrangements and experiments, especially once the kitchen and bathroom are installed.
Renovation plan (in phases)
Phase 1 - $25,000 in expenses by January 1st, 2026
Community Space MVP: Framing and insulating, adding windows, new entry way, repairing a roof leak, a heat pump, flooring, loft space, electricity, permitting and converting the garage door — enough to gather and host people in a safe, warm, inviting space.
Phase 2 - $15,000 in expenses by May 1st, 2026.
Community Space Vision: Finishing the ceiling and windows, adding a bathroom, and small kitchen and glass doors to the backyard — which opens the door to hosting more humans, supporting community-led offerings, and allowing people to stay for longer periods.
Phase 3 - (Self / Community Sourced) - by Fall of 2026
Adding furniture, light fixtures, higher quality finishings, art, mattresses and cushions and decoration. We imagine this may be more community and thrift led, growing the space into what it will be, collectively.
How you can help
Each person reading this will be navigating different financial and life circumstances. We invite you to participate in turning the vision of this community space into reality, in whatever way feels right for you! Here are some options:
1. Make a financial contribution
Our philosophy around giving is based on the buddhist concept of dāna . Dāna is a spiritual practice of generosity towards self, other and world. Our request is that you contribute towards this project in whatever way maximally gladdens your own heart!
You can e-transfer Teresa, Benjamin, Matt or Amanda to help us save on transfer fees (3%) and we'll add you to the donations page here.
If you are sending funds internationally, you can use https://wise.com/pay/me/teresah396 to pay through Wise, or message us to find another payment option.
Even $10 makes a difference! With a big enough community that cares about this space and what we’re building, small contributions add up quickly and help us move this forward in a very real way.
2. Share about meaning and impact in the comments
If you've had a beautiful experience during an event we've hosted in the past or through some other way our lives have touched, sharing about gives others a little taste of that magic!
3. Circulate this page with others
If there are others in your life who are in more abundant financial circumstances or who you feel would resonate with the purpose of this project, you can circulate this donation page with them.
4. Reach out to participate in other ways
You can also reach out if you'd like to participate in other ways, whether it's labor or artistic vision or any other skill or gift you'd like to contribute.
5. Come spend time with us in the space
Please come and enjoy the space with us once it’s complete!
If you have particular ideas for how you could imagine using it then let's talk :)
Thanks again for holding us in your thoughts. We're looking forward to creating more beautiful experiences with so many of you, maybe even some we have yet to meet :)
Wishing you warmth and care.
