Who wants Vaishanava community this year! - I am being given a 3-storey building!

I am being given a 3-storey building and wanted to know if there are serious people who want to work to start Vaishanava community this year! I will not take this on myself and so I thought to tell this group and see if there are enough people to pull it off. Thank you - Kindly respond here first and then also E-mail here as well. I will not take the building unless there is support. It is multi-zoned and in a great part of town - perfect place to house 10+ people in private housing and 10-20 dormatory style and will support varies cottage industries/businesses to bring in 10-20k per month for maintience, stiepends, or other projects, etc.

I was hoping for at least a few alrights! Go JD33 Go!

I realize that most of us are situaited in life already and unable to move, etc. Also hardly any of you know me in any way and might even dis-trust who or what I am or represent. I felt I had to make it avaiable before I give it up. I will still put it out here for 1-2 weeks and see what people want. Be well.

Being over here on the other side of the pond, I can't say much. Sounds like a fantastic thing, almost too good to be true.

good luck. I hope you can find a group of svajatiya snigdhas to set up an ashram.

Also you seem a bit easy-come-easy-go with it. Someone has offered you a property, but you will let it go if you cannot find some fellows to move in ( and obviously contribute to the expenses.)

QUOTE(Madanmohan das @ Jan 29 2005, 04:25 AM)

Also you seem a bit easy-come-easy-go with it. Someone has offered you a property, but you will let it go if you cannot find some fellows to move in ( and obviously contribute to the expenses.)

Also, how about some details, pictures, etc. Personally, unless it is in Central Mass, I wouldn't be able to help... but I'd be interested in seeing more details on the building (esp. location?)

Ok - guys - thank you for the response!

It is a very run down building! now you understand my hesitancy - second it is in the middle of nowhere in North/Central Missouri. And needs alot of attention. I will try to raise the money for it, but it is such a huge project (from clean-up to re-building, to the generation of business, etc.) I cannot do it alone - I would sooner move out of this quaint very friendly small town and move somewhere more "hip". Anyone who helps long-term will eventually get the right to on some level "own" one of the apartments as agreed by guidlines. I am very much into giving a place to live to involved and dedicated people for the rest of their natural lives so that they have security in life in old age in a loving, supporting community!

The building was made in 1914 as a high school. It has a huge gynasisum on lower floor, many, many classrooms that would be converted into living apartments with one bathroom per two single apartments on the second floor, and something bigger for any married folks which very welcome - this is a non-hindu Vaishanava community. no dressing up in Indian clothes and otherwise "strange behavior". A big theatre on the 3rd floor with a few huge rooms for a temple room! There will be theatre and concert presentations for the us and the public (it is a University town and some pretty hip people in it). It will house some gift shops on the ground floor and an 'arts movie theatre' somewhere to bring in funds. Plus a wellness center for massage, colonics, floatation tanks, and other things as people come in with their individual skills!

I hope this helps! When a country/forest center gets started then sadhus can live where they want with an eye to keeping everything running smoothly.

Awesome. Good to hear of some movement over there. The community is coming, it's in the air. You can feel it coming. Who knows what shape it'll assume, but it definitely is growing over the years to come, and it'll grow fast. I'll have to read this more carefully to say anything further on the specifics.

I just want to throw this out there, with the disclaimer that often I'm accused of being overly negative, while I'm simply trying to be practical. Case in point: someone was trying to get an ISKCON based catering business going in the Boston area... seems like a slam dunk, lots of financial institutions, etc. around... I asked a fairly simple question about serving coffee. The answer was a 'no way!' Fine, but not really practical... long story short, they got a catering job, and other than showing up 30 min late, everyone was wondering where the coffee was..

That was the one and only job...

I bring this up because I think JD33 has already made that leap that so many Vaishnavas seem unwilling to make... working with people other than Vaishnavas I'm glad JD33 is forward thinking enough to recognize that to get anything off the ground, we need to be inclusive, not exclusive.

Now for the practical bit: JD33 himself said he was hesitant to post because of the condition of the building, and I can tell you from having worked in schools for the last 10+ years, renovating schools is no small undertaking. Schools are usually not built to code (for a variety of reasons), and renovating them is extremely difficult/expensive. Does that mean it can't be done? No! Its just unlikely that a small community could get it done.. you would probably have to open up to developers/interested/farsighted businesses.

A few ideas I had (for generating income):
1. Depending on the housing/business market, any chance of luxury apartments?
2. Its a college town, so what about cheaper student housing? Depending on the area, you could even potentially make it 'dry'... might draw Southern Christian students?

Madhava is right tho.. something is coming, its in the air.

I post this to start a practical conversation on starting something like this... I'm curious about others thoughts. It is in no way to discourage JD33 or any others thinking about something like this! Just the opposite!

QUOTE

DharmaChakra: A few ideas I had (for generating income):
1. Depending on the housing/business market, any chance of luxury apartments?
2. Its a college town, so what about cheaper student housing? Depending on the area, you could even potentially make it 'dry'... might draw Southern Christian students?

Thank you DharmaChakra. There have been and are great plans of a combination of things for both community service and income support.
1) a concert hall for the kids - HS & college students with live bands in the Huge Gynasium. $5 admission and have health pizza and fruit jucies and natural sodas for sale. each Friday and Saturday night from 7pm to 11pm concert stops at 11pm. but we stay open til 12 midnight for the kids to stay and talk and eat more if they want.
2). Apartments can be done not luxuary, but good ones, which later can be used for spiritualm practioners in the future as it becomes finicially stable.
3). use one of the rooms for an 'arts movie' hall. play different movie each week. again charge $5 or so and have popcorn and fruit juice/natural sodas and some other types of on ther healthy side refreshments for sale. alot of professors & spouses would come to these!
4) have a health and wellness center there - which alot of professors and their spouses would come for massage and hopefully other treatments.
5). create a vegitarian cafe/Bakery (something this community use to have and misses!).
6). have yearly Sanskrits intensives/classes
7). gift shop/ book store
These are the main ways for income. a few of them may not work out - some of them will!
This is a project that will need 5-10 peoples 2-4 years of concentrated work. But it will be a Vaishanava Ecological institution for many many years! 'ours' forever! with huge community and housing potientials! Retirement provisions!

considerations: it is far out in the bonnies. It has very cold winters, hot muggy summers. It will need some big sums of money to start it - I can bring in some and try to get funding as well.

Overall it can be done - the building has alot of charature. Brick building and steel frame. Without a dedicated group of 5-10 for at least 1-2 years forget it. ITS UP TO THE COMMUNITY IF WE WANT IT.

I am sorry this has gone no-where. Its a bit pre-mature for a step like this anyway. However I will add:

I have a house here to offer free room and board for sincere people who want to come from 2 weeks to 6 months to offer seva to start this oppertunity of creating a Vaishanava community that can be a place for all of us to live and stay anytime we want and do group sadhana, etc. I have a limited amount of time to get this together or the building will go to someone else.

I am hoping that Jagat and Madhava are able to see what a wonderful oppertunity this is and respond. Otherwise onward - ever onward.