I wanted to address the concerns some people may have about coming downtown where our new space is. There’s been a lot of negative talk about our beautiful city in the past few months. While our city may be hurting like a few other big cities, it’s not as bad as some people make it out to be. I’ve had my store, The Fossil Cartel downtown for 33 years. I’ve seen a lot of changes. In all of those 33 years, I have never been harassed or had any bad thing happen to me. I want to assure you it is safe, but at the same time encourage you to have your wits about you as you would in any big city. 



There is street parking often right in front of the space or at least on the same block. There is also a Smart Park Garage right next door. The cost of street parking is $2/hr., but only from 8am-7pm Mon.-Sat. and 1pm-7pm on Sunday. Our circles start at 7:00pm normally, so street parking will be free.


I always pictured a Moondays Red Tent space in more of an old residential area. Perhaps some day it will be. For now, we are taking advantage of the free space that has been offered to us. It’s a great opportunity to experiment with our model and work things out. There are advantages to being downtown: it’s a central location, there are great restaurants, shops, cafes, clubs, shows, markets, etc. nearby. You can make a whole day out of coming downtown for a Red Tent! Downtown needs our love. The more people come back downtown, the faster things will improve.


I welcome your comments or concerns before, during, and after this upcoming Red Tent on May 27th about this subject. I want everyone to feel safe and free to let go into a nourishing evening of sisterhood and community, so please always keep us informed about how we can best support that. We look forward to seeing your beautiful faces soon! 


Photo credit: Laura Ramirez

Greetings, Moondays Community,


I wanted to send an update on what’s going on with our new space for Moondays
I’d like to transition away from using my house so that I may fulfill my original vision of having a dedicated space for Red Tents and all sorts of other events for women. The space we will be using is next to my store, The Fossil Cartel, in downtown Portland. The landlord is allowing me to use it for free until they find a new renter. Originally, the space was planned for a couple of psychic salons a month for the customers in my store. I then had the idea of hosting Moondays events in the space. The landlord agreed to one circle per month and he asked that no alcohol be consumed on the property. Our first circle there will be May 27th, so please save the date!


I’ve had a deep yearning for several years now to gather women, form a community and have healing, nourishing, and inspiring events with Moondays. The events we’ve had over the past 8 years have fulfilled that need to some degree, but I want more. I pine for a space we can call our own and have as many events as we want. Do you have the same desire? From my experience in leading circles and other events over all these years, it seems the answer is “yes!”
If we were to actually rent a space so that we can have as many events as we would like, the questions then become:

• Would you be willing to pay for a monthly membership to be a part of this amazing community?
  
• Will the community be willing to volunteer a little bit of their time in lieu of having employees? 
  
  
  

These days, it’s very difficult to find employees and the cost of having staff has become so high. It seems the only viable way a Moondays brick and mortar would work, would be to have its members contribute a little of their time. Imagine we are creating a new paradigm, or “disrupting” the market. You know how we “vote with our dollars?” How about we vote for things that bring meaning into our lives? 


Here are some options for what you might expect in the near future: 


Option #1: Monthly membership

• We’d keep the cost low, $20/mo
  
• Includes:
  
  • one circle per month plus two other types of events for free
    
  • an online forum where members can interact with each other
    
  • events and opportunities to promote yourself and your business
    
  • The option to rent the space for your own event at a 50% discount
    
  • Low-cost trainings on how to lead circles
    

• Members would be asked to volunteer 1 hour every month. Volunteer jobs could include:
  
  • Door check-in
    
  • Event set up, take down/clean up
    
  • Facilitate or lead events
    
  • Marketing or social media assistance
    
  • Other skills you might have that we have not listed here. Let us know! 
    
    
    

Option #2: pay as you go 

• A la carte for the events you’d like to attend
  
• Events cost more because they would include the cost of a month’s membership plus a fee for the event.
  
  
  

We’re enthusiastic about trying, if you’re also enthusiastic about helping us make this happen. Please let us know your thoughts! We wouldn’t be able to start this model out right away since the landlord only agreed to one circle per month. We’re hoping we can encourage them to allow us to have more events in the space.
Meanwhile, until we get the okay from the landlord to have more events, we’re going to start with one circle per month at the normal rate of $22 that you pay on the website. 
Please save the date for our first Red Tent in the new space, Saturday, May 27th!