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Co-op Connect!
East Side Cooperatives Initiative
Hello community!
Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter of the East Side Cooperative Initiative (ESCI). We had the opportunity to engage with many of you throughout 2022, and wanted to give you an update on our progress.
Beginning in 2022, four organizations and several community members came together to learn about ways to prevent displacement and grow community wealth on the East Side. We decided that a real estate investment cooperative was a worthwhile initiative to help achieve those goals.
The four organizations involved are the East Side Area Business Association (ESABA), East Side Freedom Library (ESFL), District 2 Community Council (D2), and East Side Neighborhood Development Center (ESNDC).
We identified the need to raise funds to cover staff time, community engagement efforts and pay for stipends for community members. Thanks to the East Side Funders and the Runyon Family Foundation, we met our goal of $70,000!
Exciting next steps in 2023!
After a year of planning and learning, we are working with Nexus Community Partners to incorporate as a cooperative!
This means we’re forming initial bylaws, setting up our membership structure, and getting ready to launch our founding board.
Moving into the spring, we’re going to begin a membership drive to grow the cooperative. Then, we’ll identify an initial property we’d like to purchase together.
We’ll continue to host community events, with the next upcoming events taking place at the Elder’s Lodge and another with North East Seniors. Stay up to date for future public events!
Stay involved
To keep our momentum going, we ask that you spread the word about our efforts. Have an East Side neighbor who might be interested? Share their email with us so we can get in touch!
In our next edition, we’ll share social media information so you can follow along there as well.
Stay tuned for more community events and learning opportunities. If you’re interested in chatting more about the co-op in general, we are always excited to talk with you.
You can get in touch with us by emailing ESCI.connect@gmail.com
