When Ripples Return
As a ripple maker, is brings me and my family tremendous joy to spend time with people and ignite curiosity and possibility within them. In the rise and fall of many ventures we have been on and been a part of, we have been able to experience many roles and vantage points of the human spirit and the sources of inspiration that keeps them in pursuit of happiness and purpose. Every now and again, we get to experience how these ripples come back.
Cafe 2020
On Saturday, April 6th, 2024, I received an unexpected call. A dear friend of ours who came out to do some filming work at our last farm (known as the Ingenuity Innovation Center) to capture the work we were doing in aquaponics, reached out. Tom and his friend, Barry, shared that they had a mutual friend who had a wish to help visionaries with their projects who were working on sustainable and community based ventures. Through social media, our friend had been watching what work we have been up to with the Prosperity Private Club and the revival of our aquaponics greenhouse. In catching up on what we were focusing on creating, the question arose if we had a project in mind that would be helpful for us to have some funding to support. My mind immediately zeroed in on the semi trailer. I began to share my thoughts of how turning the space into a tiny home, we could host a myriad of chefs, artists, musicians, educators and storytellers to help bring people together and inspire new stories and ideas. Working in the media industry, both Tom and Barry instantly saw the value and we began to dream up also having a way to include in a production studio to capture what we host at the Prosperity Private Club. As our minds began to connect over the possibilities, I also learned about their passion projects and where their interests overlap in what we are building. (I will write more about that soon.)
Picture of the cafe in June 2020.
After getting off the phone, I knew in my heart that something really special had just happened. In quietly standing in the space of the Prosperity Private Club, I paused and began to soak in what had just unfolded… For those of you who have known us for many years, you are aware that what we are working on is part of our big come back story. In 2017, we made the decision to walk away from our farm in St. Helens, OR when we learned that a partner of ours had no intention of following through on a mutually made agreement of putting the 20 acre property into a trust so that the community we were building and generations to come would have access to what we were creating. This realization was devastating to say the least. The betrayal we felt did not just affect us. It impacted those who had contributed a lot of their time, energy, resources and support to help us build what was becoming an international aquaponics training and a rural sustainability innovation center. As we packed up our belongings, we did not know where we would go. Thankfully, we had some incredible friends who helped provide a space for us to land in their 600 square foot basement. There, the four of us spent a few months together with them before we split. Aaron’s mother, Rose, moved to Washington, and we moved into a small one bedroom basement near the downtown area of St. Helens. We did our best to keep our spirits up and without a farm to build and manage, we focused our energy on what we could do to help others. We stepped into to revive the Aquaponics Association as strategic advisors and then also began to look at what other projects we could support on a local level with our knowledge and expertise. As much as we enjoyed helping support others and doing what we could, we felt the tug and pull of having our own space to build and create in it. In saying that, we also wondered if we had it in us to do what we did again.
Picture of the cafe in 2021.
When the first signs of the pandemic were sweeping across the globe, my husband was returning from an aquaponics farm build with a non profit to help an orphanage in Peru. He barely made it home before the lockdowns happened. (In fact, some of his team didn’t make it home until months later.) As investors pulled out from a joint farm venture we were working on, we found ourselves without any income. As crime and homelessness rose quickly in our neighborhood, our concern for our safety grew. During those months we, like many others, felt paralyzed and stuck. We didn’t know how we were going to make a move towards something new. Navigating yet another loss, we spent many restless nights wondering where we were going to end up. Thankfully, we were one of the lucky ones who were able to qualify for some federal and state aid to assist us. In having some breathing room, we then focused on how we were going to move forward. The embers to have our own place began to light up and spark.
Months later, Rose called late one evening to share that she had found a place in Cheshire, OR. She could barely contain her excitement and asked if we all wanted to go and see it. We made an appointment with the realtor and headed down south. None of us knew what to expect. Leaving the city and driving down the I-5 corridor, we were whisked into abundant green fields of the Willamette Valley. It wasn’t long before we then headed west into the coastal range. The lush forests of late June enveloped us as we meandered up the road. When we arrived, at our destination, I couldn’t help but think back to a small town that I had owned and operated in Central Oregon. This little place was known as Service Creek, Population 2. It had a lodge, restaurant, store/deli, raft rental and river shuttle service. My now ex-husband and I lost it in the economic downturn of 2008/2009.
As I stepped into the old and worn down cafe, I could see it had been recently vacated. Like many restaurants, the pandemic had taken a toll and made it impossible for some to keep their doors open given the restrictions and requirements. We toured the rest of the 3 acre property. All the buildings needed massive attention and care. However, with an asking price that was doable, we decided to go for it and with a little help from family, we were able to relocate out of the Portland Metro area in August 2020.
Phase 2 remodel completion 2024.
We knew no one. (The only friend did have, relocated out of the area soon after we moved.) The months following were spent sorting through all of the belongings we had packed onto a semi trailer. Slowly but surely, we began to get things put together and we soon set up the greenhouse and began sharing what we were working on. Our old friends and network became very excited about where had landed and what resources we had to work with. It was here as things began to take shape and form that we contemplated about what the space would become. After owning and operating a restaurant, I had concerns about profitability and burnout. With the rising costs of goods and labor, not to mention all of the other regulatory and compliance issues, this high risk business did not seem to be a good option, especially given where we were geographically situated at. These factors, along with the enormous task of funding and updating the space to make it better also presented significant concerns. We honestly did not know what this space would become, and that made it hard as we could see that the community longed to have a local place to gather and connect.
In fall of 2021, we had an incident where a hit and run happened on the cafe. After the insurance and claims adjustors had come out to inspect the damage, they issued a check for repairs. It was here we set out to do the work ourselves and make the cafe the best we could. We gave the sleepy and tired space a fresh look. When phase one was completed, we were gifted a hardwood floor from some friends of ours named Zsofia and Zsolt Pasztor had available. They have a non profit organization called Farmer Frog in Washington. We met them at one of our aquaponics training sessions where Tom had helped coordinate a crew to capture knowledge from world renowned expert, Murray Hallam. We had stayed in touch over the years and in supporting her and their work with the pandemic where they helped feed over 3 million people in need, this was one way they wanted to give back to us. Their gift initiated the second phase of the cafe remodel.
Phase 2 remodel completion 2024.
As we worked to complete Phase 2, we started to see more and more of what the space could become. Instead of opening it up to the public, we decided that we would keep the space a private venue. Here, we could invite those we wished to connect with and create a private membership based model and host various events. This approach honestly solved many of the concerns and challenges we were worried about and also enabled us the flexibility to make it what ever we wanted while doing what we do best – building community. As we held events with our neighbors while going through the second phase of the upgrade, we started to share more and more about what we were doing and creating. We witnessed a lot of curiosity and interest. As we lit up with excitement, we naturally imagined how other passionate people could affect and inspire others. So that is exactly what we set out to do and find.
The Prosperity Private Club officially launched at the beginning of this year. With nearly 100 local followers and members joining regularly, we are now ready to grow to the next level. We see how there is an opportunity to share what kind of inspirational stories, and interactions that happen here with others by writing and hosting virtual events and offerings here on The Blank Space website. What has been a challenge though is taking what we do to the next level. Getting chefs to come to this space requires more than just a kitchen. Space to accommodate such talent is a big deal. Cooking takes time and preparation. The same is required for any gifted artisan. For the last year or so, we have gazed out at the semi trailer, wondering how we could make this happen. That is when the ripples we sent out came back.
This 45′ semi trailer is targeted to be converted to a tiny home in 2024 to accommodate featured chefs, artists, educators and guests.
We followed the instructions that Tom and Barry had advised us to do. We wrote a heartfelt letter explaining who we are, how we know them and how a gifted contribution could make a big difference in the work we do. We chose Zsofia and Zsolt as our non-profit partners and in all the years of working to help support others, we opened ourselves up to allow the support to come back to us. On May 8, 2024, we received notice that we had received $10,000.00 to help us convert the semi trailer into a tiny home as well as a recording studio and production space. We are still in complete awe over this news and could not be more excited about what this build will bring and ignite in others. We are so incredibly grateful for this opportunity and look forward to sharing more about these beautiful people who have helped make this happen as well as provide updates into what we have planned and will do together with the support and kindness of those we know and have yet to meet.
We look forward to making this dream a reality. If you wish to participate and/or contribute, we will be sharing ways in which you can get involved and help here on our Support page. Right now, we are offering up stays at the tiny home when it is completed. For more information, please go to https://yourblank.space/shop/tiny-home-staycation-fundraiser/.
