Bring Marigold House to Life!
Donation protected
Meet Coco and Marigold House
Hi! I'm Coco Shah (they/she/he). I'm a queer social worker, writer, healing justice organizer, training full spectrum doula, and caretaker of Marigold House. I am the granddaughter of Pushpa, Biharilal, Anne, and Kunjachan, the daughter of Rita and Massey, sibling to Zachary, and life partner to Jordan. Situated less than 15 feet from our loving residence in Winooski, Marigold House is truly an extension of our home that is offered to the people I work with as a facilitator and am in community with as a neighbor.
About the Model
Marigold House is an intergenerational community space for People of the Global Majority that nourishes the practice of generosity and centers cross-cultural growth, connection, and rest. Through crowdsourcing and consulting work with schools, organizations, and state governments, I redistribute my income and access to the slice of land I live on to cover overhead costs and provider fees for offerings at Marigold House. Therapeutic use of the indoor and outdoor space (currently in the design stage of renovations) is always 100% FREE to providers and facilitators as well as to participants and community members. As the most racially diverse town in Vermont under threat of gentrification and suburban sprawl, it is critical that Winooski remains a stronghold for culturally important means of healing and relationship-building. Marigold House is one of many burgeoning free-to-access community spaces intentionally centering the healing of Black people, Indigenous people, and all other People of the Global Racial Majority on these unceded Abenaki lands renamed post-colonization to “Vermont”. I am passionate about the scale and transferability of this intimate community care model. Marigold House rests at the intersection of generosity and abundance.
Examples of Offerings at Marigold House, Fall 2021
- Deep Rest Restorative Yoga
- Sharing Yarns
- Reusi Dat Ton: Thai Hermit’s Wisdom for Self-Massage
- Making Spoken Word Speak
- Meditative Painting with Watercolor
Our Creative Partners
Every single dollar from this GoFundMe goes directly to structural renovations in collaboration with our local contractors and partners. I'd like to give an extra loud shout-out to our contractor, New Frameworks . New Frameworks is a multi-racial, women-, queer- and trans-owned worker cooperative committed to a kinder sort of building. Marigold House is receiving lighting design and custom handmade lights from Rory Pots, and beautiful ceramics donations from Adler Ceramics, zobird pottery , and Jeremy Ayers . I would also like to thank Rory and Addie for building a pottery community initiative that will continue to adorn and give back to Marigold House! We are thrilled be centering our BIPOC and queer creatives with the support of a larger community coalition to bring Marigold House to life in a locally-energized way.
Action Steps
1. ORGANIZE. Hold a dinner party for friends, a silent auction at your gallery, organize a cornhole league...the possibilities are limitless! Plan and register your unique event and donate the proceeds to our GoFundMe. Help us reach our $250K goal for renovations by July 1, 2022!
2. PURCHASE. Help us bring the Marigold House vision to life by purchasing items from our Zola registry.
3. DONATE. Make a one-time donation to our GoFundMe! This crowdsourcing pool is specifically collecting funds for Marigold House renovations, updated appliances, and overhead costs.
To connect with Coco directly
Visit my website
Instagram: @badindianwife
E-mail: [email redacted]
Organizer
Coco Shah
Organizer
Winooski, VT
