The kind of community hub we need: The Mulberry

A chance to become part of the new Baltimore Community Commons

This is a little unusual for me—a personal pitch letter. So apologies in advance!

But I want to share with you a brilliant crowdfunding project which is hosted on the Small Change platform here. If you care about community wealthbuilding, here she be.

You may recognize two of the key people behind the project: attorney Jenny Kassan and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. (Here they are discussing time banking—part of the Baltimore Community Commons vision.)

I’m hoping you and/or others in your orbit might consider making an investment ($1,000 minimum) in it. I’m already in!

But the window for action will be closing soon–Wednesday, December 31!

The Mulberry is a historic four-story townhouse at 15 W. Mulberry St. in downtown Baltimore’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood.

Jenny and a group of community investors purchased the 6,500 sq ft building and are restoring it as a ground-level community space with five gorgeous one-bedroom apartments on the upper floors for short-term and corporate rentals. (Cash flow!)

So this is not a pitch for donations. We’re talking about a social enterprise-focused real estate project which expects to generate a return-–i.e., double your investment within 7-8 years. (More about that on their crowdfunding page here.)

But there’s more.

On the ground floor will be the Mulberry’s anchor non-profit tenant, the Baltimore Community Commons. It’s a place-based membership organization that promotes community investing, mutual exchange, knowledge sharing, and connection.

Here’s the thing: I think BCC can become a comprehensive model for building locally-grounded community wealth – one that could be replicated in communities throughout the U.S.

BCC will launch with three key initiatives:

● A community-focused business school: A hands-on, alternative business school focused on training and supporting local solidarity-minded entrepreneurs.

● A timebanking program: A network that promotes the interpersonal exchange of skills and services. This ecosystem-building project is a collaboration with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Steve Dubner (of Freakonomics fame).

● The community investment initiative: A program that helps local residents pool capital to create a fund specifically to invest in local businesses.

Next step: I hope you’ll go to the Mulberry’s crowdfunding page on Small Change, the investment portal where you’ll find more info.

f you would prefer to have a call with me and Jenny first, then just send me a note at elias.crim@solidarityhall.org.

Thanks much,

Elias

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