Common house love
Our Common House
Isn’t the Common House fantastic? It’s a place to eat, and cook, and watch movies, and play, and meditate, and read, and have celebrations, and have workshops, and enjoy concerts and performances, and take shamanic journeys…it’s just wonderful!
Another lovely thing about the Common House is the generous and beautiful care and consideration for the community that is expressed there: the work that went into the incredible new bathroom, the seasonal decorations, the cleaning and sweeping and scrubbing that’s involved in making sure that each neighbor who uses the space has a beautiful, welcoming environment.
Could you imagine yourself signing up for a Common House Love volunteer job too, but you’re just not sure? Maybe we can answer a few questions to encourage you to take the leap.
- What are the jobs?
- We have four volunteer jobs: Floors, Surfaces and Supplies, Bathrooms, and Trash & Laundry. All four jobs are described on the laminated yellow “Common House Love” guides that hang in the dish room. Each job can be done by one person or by a team.
- Don’t we hire a professional cleaner?
- Yes, we do! She comes twice a month. The volunteer jobs ensure that the basic tasks are done so that she can focus on keeping everything top-notch for us.
- How long will it take?
- Depending on the job you take and how fast (or fastidious) you are, the jobs take between 2 and 4 hours per month total.
- What if I’m sick or go out of town?
- When you adopt a job but can’t do it, we ask that you recruit a friend in the community to do the job for you.
- How do I sign up?
- Glad you asked! The yellow sign up sheet is right next to the event calendar in Common House.
Here’s some more detailed information.
1. Common House Love
There are four jobs that are available for adoption every month to keep things running smoothly. These jobs are meant to take between 2 and 4 hours per month and can be done on your own schedule.
Every single month there will be a chance to adopt a chore and join the august ranks of volunteers. We warmly invite you to sign up for a chore by yourself, or with a friend — just write your name in the schedule by the Common House calendar, using the nearby felt pen (see below):
To see what’s involved in each chore, and to guide you as you do the chore, grab the appropriate “Common House Love” description from the dish room corkboard. They are hanging on a nail, so it’s easy to take with you as you do your job. (see below).
2. Expectations: in the event of an event (or any time you use the Common House):
After years, or at least an hour or so, of scientific research, the CH Circle has come up with easy-to-follow reminders of what to do to leave the space in the way you would like your best friend or your grandmother to find it. Also on the corkboard in the dishroom, you will find a guide that has a quick list of 10 things to double-check on (see below):
….and on the other side of that page, you will find a detailed description of these basics. This is useful in case people want to be helpful but they aren’t sure what to do (see below):
It is probable that the guides are not perfect yet – if you have any questions, clarifications, or corrections that will make the guides better, please make them!