The short update: We bought a building! When we’re done with it, we’ll save 27% of our overhead costs every year.
The long update: Every Shelter has had five official addresses for our office headquarters in the last five years. As we’ve grown both as staff and in our mission, each new office move has added complexity to an already complicated body of work for our team. It became clear in the last year that securing a long-term, permanent headquarters for our operations was mission-critical for our team’s long-term ability to effectively pursue and accomplish our mission.
Thanks to two visionary supporters, we were able to purchase a 3,000-square-foot 1950s upholstery shop that will one day become our long-term home.
Many of you have supported us since our days crowdfunding via IndieGoGo while we were still architecture students. Can you believe it? Those early days have led to tens of thousands of lives impacted and a healthy, growing Every Shelter. Buying a building is a huge milestone that has us looking back at our origin with disbelief. You all have made this journey possible.
The task in front of us now is raising the needed funds to remodel and build out that future office so that we can double down on designing our shelter solutions for refugees and displaced communities globally. Below is a picture of the building today and an early rendering of what we hope it can become.
For us this moment represents a huge milestone and a significant accomplishment both in terms of our maturity as an organization and the staying power of our team and mission.
When we started Every Shelter over five years ago, we never knew how critical and challenging our work would become. It almost seems like each new day brings with it a new displacement event or crisis, deepening the global need for Every Shelter’s work.
Every Shelter sits at a strategic threshold, eager to scale our work and impact. With over 120 million people displaced globally for over 20 years on average, this work is not going away, it’s only becoming more urgent. We’re in this for the long haul.
Here’s how you can invest in our work:
1. VISIT WITH US.
a. Join us for a coffee or personal tour of the building. We’ll share renderings of the future space and our latest program updates. Simply reply to this email and we’ll set up a time to meet.
b. RSVP to The “Before” Party Open House on November 7. You’ll meet our architects (one of them is an original Every Shelter Co-Founder and current board member) and experience the building before its transformation.
2. INVEST WITH US.
a. Not local or can’t spare the time? Support our operations and scale our impact with a special gift. In our short history, we have served 31,649 individual shelter needs. Your generosity will equip more men, women, and children with our shelter solutions.
b. Join The Haven, a group of justice-oriented monthly supporters whose reliable monthly giving helps refugees rebuild their place of safety, stability, and refuge, their haven.
3. JOIN US
Amplify our good work by sharing our vision video or blog posts with your social network. Most people are unaware that the average displacement period is 20 years.
Renderings by Bright Architecture
