sacred thread yoga, Love Saves the Studio!
Donation protected
Update: While we have closed the doors on one of our beloved studios - we are holding tight to the other and hope to regroup once COVID is under better control. In the meantime... we still need your help and support. We are so proud that to-date our community has donated almost $10,000 and funded 20 scholarships for those in need, which will launch in March 2021 as we round the corner of COVID...
To read more about how this effort began and the history behind our gofund me.... take a peak below <3
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In the nearly 8 years since we opened our doors, {sacred} thread yoga has served thousands of yogis in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, East Atlanta and Hapeville neighborhoods. We are an “early adopter” - setting up shop in neighborhoods well before gentrification changes the fabric and constitution of the community. As such, we have had a commitment to diversity, connection, and social activism. We are proud that our students and teaching staff come in all shapes, sizes, and skin tones. And we take a purposeful approach to expanding access to yoga through our teacher trainings which have graduated over 45 teachers of color, teachers in their 60's, a number of teachers who have gone on to offer yoga in rural Georgia (increasing access) and even a teacher as young as 15! We believe there is NO standard to what a yogi looks like...
Over the years, we have created jobs, supported local artists, offered community scholarships to community members who could otherwise not afford yoga, and given back to non-profits like Operation PEACE, the W-underdogs, Lifeline Animal Shelter, Wellspring Living, RAICES, and Planned Parenthood. We are not a big-chain yoga studio... we are a locally-owned community business AND we think we offer some pretty amazing yoga. From hot yoga to non-heated (more rare in Atlanta!) vinyasa classes to yin, restorative, and yoga nidra... we truly aim to be inclusive, accessible and inline with the philosophy of yoga as much as the physical practice of yoga.
I've worked hard over the past 8 years to move from contract teachers to a staff of employees with some benefits - which is a rarity and difficult for small business. Our employee team currently receive paid time off and I pay to send them to trainings every year to expand their knowledge and passion around yoga. This is difficult as my profit margins are slim but our teachers are some of the most amazing people I've met in Atlanta and they teach with a level of professionalism & integrity that deserves this level of investment.
In short - while yoga is plentiful in the U.S. - a studio like ours is not... And now we are faced with a critical need:
Due to COVID-19 and the fact that our brick & mortar studios are currently closed to the public, we are running out of cash to pay our rent, payroll and utilities. Though we have applied for Government loans we have yet to receive any funds and attempts to mitigate our liabilities with our landlord in Old Fourth Ward have been unsuccessful. Our state has reopened for business - but without guidelines in place to protect our staff and with limited sanitation supplies - we do not feel it is prudent to open at this time. And so, here we are… asking our community and neighbors for support.
Funds given to us as part of this campaign will support us in covering rent and payroll and any excess money raised will be earmarked to invest in appropriate safety protocols and ramp up our operations once medical professionals indicate it is safe to reopen. For every $500 we raise we are offering one community scholarship once our doors reopen. These scholarships will provide ten classes to someone in need due to loss of employment or dire circumstances. This is our commitment to our community and our way to showing our immense gratitude for your support. We believe that the best way to pay-it-forward is to continue to do what we do best..offer yoga to those in need. <3
If you can give any amount - even the smallest contribution is helpful. If you’d rather support our online virtual class platform we would love to continue to provide you a service in return for your money. When our studio doors closed on March 17th, I was 9-months pregnant and expecting my first child any day. But that didn’t stop me from working 20-hour days to move classes online. My goal was simple - to retain as much of our staff as possible and to hustle hard to get the studio into a stable place before I went into labor.... and every single minute of my day was like a race against the clock. Fast-forward 35 days and I've now given birth to a beautiful baby girl AND a pretty fabulous online yoga studio. We've retained 5 of our 10-person staff. We now have a large platform of on demand classes available to rent (currently 35+ classes) and offer LIVE STREAM virtual classes 3x a day. However, despite this investment our April revenues are 40% of March. This is driven by our fiercely loyal membership base but we are missing our foot traffic and those yogis who dropped in on us 1-2x a week. It is difficult to replicate the revenue stream of our brick & mortar locations, though we continue to try.
And that is why we need your help!
To read more about how this effort began and the history behind our gofund me.... take a peak below <3
--------------
In the nearly 8 years since we opened our doors, {sacred} thread yoga has served thousands of yogis in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward, East Atlanta and Hapeville neighborhoods. We are an “early adopter” - setting up shop in neighborhoods well before gentrification changes the fabric and constitution of the community. As such, we have had a commitment to diversity, connection, and social activism. We are proud that our students and teaching staff come in all shapes, sizes, and skin tones. And we take a purposeful approach to expanding access to yoga through our teacher trainings which have graduated over 45 teachers of color, teachers in their 60's, a number of teachers who have gone on to offer yoga in rural Georgia (increasing access) and even a teacher as young as 15! We believe there is NO standard to what a yogi looks like...
Over the years, we have created jobs, supported local artists, offered community scholarships to community members who could otherwise not afford yoga, and given back to non-profits like Operation PEACE, the W-underdogs, Lifeline Animal Shelter, Wellspring Living, RAICES, and Planned Parenthood. We are not a big-chain yoga studio... we are a locally-owned community business AND we think we offer some pretty amazing yoga. From hot yoga to non-heated (more rare in Atlanta!) vinyasa classes to yin, restorative, and yoga nidra... we truly aim to be inclusive, accessible and inline with the philosophy of yoga as much as the physical practice of yoga.
I've worked hard over the past 8 years to move from contract teachers to a staff of employees with some benefits - which is a rarity and difficult for small business. Our employee team currently receive paid time off and I pay to send them to trainings every year to expand their knowledge and passion around yoga. This is difficult as my profit margins are slim but our teachers are some of the most amazing people I've met in Atlanta and they teach with a level of professionalism & integrity that deserves this level of investment.
In short - while yoga is plentiful in the U.S. - a studio like ours is not... And now we are faced with a critical need:
Due to COVID-19 and the fact that our brick & mortar studios are currently closed to the public, we are running out of cash to pay our rent, payroll and utilities. Though we have applied for Government loans we have yet to receive any funds and attempts to mitigate our liabilities with our landlord in Old Fourth Ward have been unsuccessful. Our state has reopened for business - but without guidelines in place to protect our staff and with limited sanitation supplies - we do not feel it is prudent to open at this time. And so, here we are… asking our community and neighbors for support.
Funds given to us as part of this campaign will support us in covering rent and payroll and any excess money raised will be earmarked to invest in appropriate safety protocols and ramp up our operations once medical professionals indicate it is safe to reopen. For every $500 we raise we are offering one community scholarship once our doors reopen. These scholarships will provide ten classes to someone in need due to loss of employment or dire circumstances. This is our commitment to our community and our way to showing our immense gratitude for your support. We believe that the best way to pay-it-forward is to continue to do what we do best..offer yoga to those in need. <3
If you can give any amount - even the smallest contribution is helpful. If you’d rather support our online virtual class platform we would love to continue to provide you a service in return for your money. When our studio doors closed on March 17th, I was 9-months pregnant and expecting my first child any day. But that didn’t stop me from working 20-hour days to move classes online. My goal was simple - to retain as much of our staff as possible and to hustle hard to get the studio into a stable place before I went into labor.... and every single minute of my day was like a race against the clock. Fast-forward 35 days and I've now given birth to a beautiful baby girl AND a pretty fabulous online yoga studio. We've retained 5 of our 10-person staff. We now have a large platform of on demand classes available to rent (currently 35+ classes) and offer LIVE STREAM virtual classes 3x a day. However, despite this investment our April revenues are 40% of March. This is driven by our fiercely loyal membership base but we are missing our foot traffic and those yogis who dropped in on us 1-2x a week. It is difficult to replicate the revenue stream of our brick & mortar locations, though we continue to try.
And that is why we need your help!
Organizer
Annelise Lonidier
Organizer
Atlanta, GA