Dear All
Over the past 3 years, we’ve had the privilege and pleasure of prototyping various community space models in Little Jamaica.
Our initial intention was to transform an old general store into a vibrant community space, offering accessible antidotes to disconnection for 6 months in response to the pandemic.
Clearly, we've endured for much longer!
During this chapter, we've been deeply enriched by those in the community who came before us - and by those who came because of us.
We’ve welcomed thousands of visitors.
We’ve hosted over 700 (!!!) events including Human Libraries, Love Letters to Little Jamaica, a 24 hours Dominoes Day, Tech Free Hangs, Poetry Plays, Good Work, Friendship Practice, Sauna Nights, Community Meditations and so much more. Also, we danced, a lot.
We’ve collaborated with dozens of local organizations and businesses and we've provided free space and resources to many community-led groups so that they could organize.
We’ve challenged conventions (including our own!), confirmed the urgent need for our culture to centre on social health, and shown that new worlds are both possible and already emerging.
We’ve made both measurable (the average visitor to the Living Room spends just over $10 in the community each time they visit) and intangible contributions to the local community.
It hasn’t been easy yand it’s been so joyful.
So, it’s with both a heavy and hopeful heart that we share the news that [y]our Living Room will be closing on December 1st.
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Unsurprisingly, the rising costs of...everything have played a role, leading us to operate with a monthly deficit that has increasingly put the organization in a vulnerable financial position and created conditions for burnout within our team.
We tried to address this earlier this year through our membership campaign, and while it helped, we were never fully able to bridge the financial gap and/or find a way that didn’t further contradict our emphasis on careFULL work.
However, focusing solely on finances does not tell the whole story, nor does it hold us accountable. It’s important to acknowledge that parts of our thesis didn’t work, that we made mistakes, and that challenging norms is, well, challenging.
It’s also important that we honour all the ways we’ve succeeded and been supported by the community—our monthly members, individual donors, drop-ins, community collaborators, government grants, and our supportive landlords. We have not been alone on this journey and that’s the biggest reason it’s endured for as long as it has.
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To be clear, Reset is NOT closing.
There's a lot ahead for us including a new strategic plan, new projects and our 10 year anniversary Camp in 2025.
While we are holding a lot of grief, we also see this moment as one of renewal.
It’s like when a tall tree falls in the forest—its decomposition nourishes the soil, enriching the land and allowing new growth.
We also don’t see this as the end of the Living Room concept and we believe that they can succeed under the right conditions and models. So we see this moment less as an ending and more as a hibernation.
We’re trying to not rush to the next steps and instead to presence in this moment and with the community. In collaboration with many of them, we have dreamed and schemed and incredible Hibernation month ahead.It’s filled with all of our regular programming and with’ve added a bunch of free and/or PWYC events focused on opportunities to grieve, express gratitude, recite poetry, DANCE, reflect on learnings, share love and ground ourselves in hope.
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Oh hello there!
If this is the first time you’re learning about our Living Room, you might find our original webpage for it a helpful starting point:
thisisreset.org/livingroomhibernation
Join us
We will continue to run our monthly programming through to the end of November.
Good Work Coworking | Tuesday - Friday | 10 - 6 | RSVP HERE
Sauna Nights | Tuesdays 6 - 8 | RSVP HERE
Meditations | Wednesdays 6-8 | Sundays 11 - 1 | RSVP HERE
We will also be offering a number of special events related to the closing of the Living Room that are intended to provide closure and opportunities to grieve, express gratitude, reflect on learnings, share love, and ground ourselves in hope.
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FREE FOR ALL
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
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Join the Reset team to listen to deep shares about the Living Room journey and unpack our decision to close this project.As we step into the next chapter, we want to do so transparently and thoughtfully, in order to create opportunities for accountability, learning and loving.
This space is open for anyone to ask questions, reflections, and to process feelings together.
This event is free and being hosted twice to improve access. -
FREE for Members | PWYC for everyone else.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
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On November 13th and/or 17th, join Sunshine’s meditation themed: Being Present for Grief.Both meditations are dedicated to honouring the emotions that come with the news of the closure of the Living Room.
Sunshine's meditation prompts will be dedicated to recalling moments, memories and community within the Reset space.
Reset staff will be on hand before and after to hold space for anything that came up.
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(Note, you don’t need to RSVP but it’s helpful if you do so we can plan accordingly)
Sunshine & Boterbloem are hosting an "Everything Under $25 Holiday Market."Their intention for this market is to give back to the Reset and Vaughan/Oakwood community, through an affordable and locally crafted market.
The market is free entry, and will have an array of vendors selling items like baked goods, candles, digital art, jewellery and more, with everything being Under $25!
There will be live tarot, meditation and a musical performance during the market.
The sauna will be available for use, at no charge to Reset Members. PWYC for the sauna to all other guests.
If you're interesting in being a vendor please email under25dollarsmarketto@gmail.com
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FREE for Members | PWYC for everyone else.
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
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On November 13th and/or 17th, join Sunshine’s meditation themed: Being Present for Grief.Both meditations are dedicated to honouring the emotions that come with the news of the closure of the Living Room.
Sunshine's meditation prompts will be dedicated to recalling moments, memories and community within the Reset space.
Reset staff will be on hand before and after to hold space for anything that came up.
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FREE FOR ALL
CLICK HERE TO RSVP
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Join the Reset team to listen to deep shares about the Living Room journey and unpack our decision to close this project.As we step into the next chapter, we want to do so transparently and thoughtfully, in order to create opportunities for accountability, learning and loving.
This space is open for anyone to ask questions, reflections, and to process feelings together.
This event is free and is being hosted twice to improve access.
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FREE for Members | PWYC for everyone else
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TICKETS
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Over the past few years we’ve danced, cried, read, worked, napped, organized, grieved, and LIVED together, in this radical social experiment of Reset’s Community Living Room.We’re hosting one last poetry jam to share words NOT just with each other, but with the walls themselves, of thanks and appreciation for what this space has meant to us and held for us.
Join us for a gathering to recite poetry OR Prose/short journal entries that are your own or someone else's.
Poetry has been an oasis for many - a place to grow, heal, be challenged, make meaning and explore. For those deciding whether or not to recite poetry - know that this is deep community vibes and that everyone has your back and you can share whatever you'd like.
To balance the head and the body, between poetry sets there will be dance sets where DJ Peaches will be spinning a live set with his best friend on Djembe, Jude Rajarariar.
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FREE for Members | PWYC for everyone else.
RSVP HERE
Join us and our friends from Growing Tkaronto to collaborate on a flower mandala in Little Jamaica and send a goodbye message to the community. -
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As the Reset Community Living Room transitions out of its physical space and ripples outward into the lives of all that it has touched - join us for an afternoon exploring the joys and challenges of what it means to live with hope in this version of the world.
How do we embody hope? What does it mean to grapple with hope during these tumultuous times? For one final collective gathering, we will come together and hear a live reading by Reset co-founder Negin Sairafi and participate in a collective cooking experience with Chef Alyssa Becker.
“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” - James Beard
Sometimes when we can't find the words, food speaks. It nourishes in times of despair, expresses acts of care and kindness, brings us together despite differences, and provides us a space to listen & learn. Chef Alyssa will use the power of food to unite the attendees in a colourful and flavourful culinary experience.
This gathering will be a pay what you can event with a suggested amount of $20 (all funds will go to compensate those who have provide contributions to this gathering).
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Free for Members | PWYC for everyone else | TICKETS HERE
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Join us for the last day and experience at the Reset's Living Room for a night of reverence, ritual, community and celebration.Doors open at 5pm and you’re welcome to drop in for as little as long as you’d like for this multi-channel experience:
Channel 1 is Connect | Small, Medium and Big talk in open, cozy and imaginary spaces. If you want prompts, we got em.
Channel 2 is Play | Put on our magic headphones and embrace a rest remedy and/or sing karaoke bangers and/or DANCE.
Channel 3 is Rest | Lie down, literally. We got you.
Channel 4 is Co-Create | Let's art the things we've harvested over our final month.
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For those who are with us at midnight, we’ll close the evening with a Lights Out Ceremony.
This idea was inspired by a similar ceremony folks who. we know created for the farewell festival at Honest Ed’s, where, at the very end, they turned off the remaining lamps to mark the close of a cherished space. Our Lights Out ceremony will involve turning off our beloved balloon lamp, affectionately known as our "security system."
Throughout our time with the Living Room, we’ve been intentional about building trust with our community. Rather than relying on typical security measures we chose a different approach. We’ve kept security low-key by avoiding imposing barriers, we have no surveillance cameras and we’ve shared our keys and lockbox code with a lot of community members to foster a spirit of openness.
Every night when we closed, we turned off all the lights except the balloon lamp. We felt that its warm glow symbolized both transparency and a comforting presence, creating the subtle impression that someone was still there. This simple ritual became our “security system,” reflecting our intentions for trust and our playful spirit.
For this experience, we will turn off the ballon lamp at midnight and then say thanks to the space and each other as we all leave together.
Love
While a community effort, we want to give a lot of flowers to our staff Genevieve Melito, Micha Edwards and Adil Dhalla-Kim for their love, their labour and their leadership. We also want to bouquet our Board Sabrina Bowman, Monique Miller, Anderson Petergeorge, Claudia Escobar, Hima Batavia and Camara Chambers.
We are so grateful to everyone who has touched the Living Room in some way. From the members who supported us, to the organizations that partnered with us, to the people who attended our events—you made this space come alive. We’d like to love on these following folks and organizations especially: Abhinand Menon, Alica Hall, Alyssa Becker, Amy Tepperman, Andres Aquino, Annisha Lashand, Antoni Seloterio, Arwyn Carpenter, Bill Worrell, Chris Mirkos, Christie Wong, Colin Edwards Crew, D’andra Montaque, Darius Bashar, David Fradkin, David Lewis-Peart, Dylan Rudder, Emma Ward, Etienne Dupuy, Fatima Kamenge, Franceta Johnson, Flowana Mowana, Ikinori Lau, Ikram Kabadeh, Irene Gessesse, Jay Pitter, Jennifer Bearney, Jessica Campbell, Jill Andrew, Joshua Fernandes, Joy Simone Brown, Jude Rajarariar, Karim Rizkallah, Kiona Mercer-Tremblay, Kona, Lee-Anne Bigwood, Leya Cee, Lindsay Voradek, Lilian Motta, Lori Diaz, Lori Beazer, Lorraine Lam, Mary Grace Antonio, Mathura Mahendren, Melissa Brizuela, Micha Edwards, Mike Carslon, Mohamed Huque, Morgan, Muriel Alexander, Nadir Ebrahim, Namulinda Lester, Natasha Singh, Nawfal Sheikh, Nebiyu Tana, Negin Sairafi, Nikola Steer, Omer Imsail, Papa Frencie, Rachel Rainbow, Raven Mcbride, Rev. Lameteria Hall, Rob Mckenzie, Romana Kassam, Sanique Walters, Sara Siadat, Sara Barrable-Tishauer, Saejun Yuri Young, Sam Ponting, Samuel Kisito, Saru Pal, Shazia Abji, Shaun Rana, Shilbee Dhalla-Kim, Simone Jones, Steph Ngan, Sylvia Cheng, Tim Groves, Tonya Surman, Whitney French, Wilson Lin and Yucca Escobar.
Logistics
If there’s anything you’d like to know that’s not reflected here, please email us at hello@thisisreset.org.
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If you feel called to, we’d love to do things together - not necessarily because it’s needed - but more so because it feels on brand and more fun.
Here are some options:December 3 - 6 - Packing Place
Do you love boxes or have some lyign around? Email gen@thisisreset.org if you’re interested in coming out anytime on these days. Lunch provided!
December 10 - U-haul AdventuresLoad our U-haul with our furniture and/or on unload it at our storage spot 90 minutes outside the city. Meals provided!
Email gen@thisisreset.org if you’re interested.
December 11 - Home Improvement Day
Join us anytime on Wednesday, December 16th for our final Home Improvement Day. Food provided!
RSVP here so we have a sense of numbers when we arrange food. -
November 30th
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We will stop all billing by November 5th or if requested earlier with the assumption that people will still be able to use the Living Room until the end of November.
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We are in process of figuring out what we will go in storage, what we can return and what w can sell.
If you have donated anything to us that you’d like back, please let us know (hello@thisisreset.org) before November 10th so we can arrange things with you.
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These are the two things people have asked about the most so they deserved their own space. :)
We have found a new home for the sauna that prioritizes community access. Details to be shared soon.Many of the plants have homes they came from, however, we would LOVE LOVE LOVE to share clippings with you so you grow the living room in your living room.