(This post was co-authored by me (Cody Wild), Tessa Alexanian and Ray Arnold)

TL;DR We have 2 days - until July 1 - to increase monthly donations by $2260 or raise $27,000 in lump sum , or else REACH will lose its current location and go on indefinite hiatus

Do you care about the Berkeley REACH staying open? Has an open-access community space added value to your life? We have a few days to raise enough money to comfortably sign a one-year lease. If not, REACH will lose its current location, and the project will go into indefinite hiatus.

Community support for REACH has been substantial, and we’re proud to see the number of people willing to pay seriously for something important. But we haven’t hit the level where it’s realistic to sign a full year lease. For that, we’d either need an additional $2260/month on Patreon, or up-front donations of around $27,000 to make us secure enough to do so. If this lease isn’t signed in the next few days, REACH will lose its current location at the end of July.

If you’re excited about REACH, you’re probably already donating. We care about our community not overextending itself. One of the main benefits of REACH is to help those who haven’t yet gotten their financial footing stabilized, and if that’s your situation we don’t want you feeling pressure here.

But if you can comfortably donate more to REACH – if you’re one of those 6 figure salary programmers who are excited by the prospect of having an honest-to-goodness community in a world that increasingly pushes towards atomization, we’d like you to consider whether you want to do more.

If you’re willing and able to pledge more ongoing support than you already have, or want to make a large, one-time donation to help an early-stage project get its footing, the next few days are the time to come forward and do so.

Background Reading

Reflections on the Berkeley REACH - Sarah Spikes, June 7
Thoughts on the REACH Patreon - Ray Arnold, April 30
Humans Need Places - Ben Hoffman, April 19

Current Financial Reality

REACH has a funding gap. While this funding gap remains, it doesn’t make sense to sign the lease.

Assets

REACH is earning $3,600 a month in the Patreon
The PayPal has brought in around $10,000 so far

Costs

The landlord has been negotiated down to $5,500/month in rent
Short-term room rentals have brought in $1000-$2000/month; we expect that to generally be lower outside of the summer months

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