Time, Trust, and Money

For better and (sometimes) worse, RCND's story evolved from communal trust, time, and money—in that order. There would be no RCND if we had not always invested first, extravagantly so, in communal trust. It is our oldest and deepest asset.

There would be no sprawling canopy (or deep roots) if we had not invested next, extravagantly so, in communal time. We exist to redistribute vast gifts of time, care, and attention from neighbor to most-affected neighbor. 

We have invested last-and-least in money. And there would be no RCND without this inverse relationship. We didn’t fund it in order to build it, we just built it. From trust, and time, and whatever money followed along  with. 

Every good thing about us comes from that peculiar balance. And—it turns out—the least good things as well. As trust and time have continually outpaced our money, it becomes increasingly clear that we are writing budgets that will not ultimately sustain the spaces we create. Or the people on whom they depend.

A simple sign by the donation bowl at our monthly Community Luncheon Roundtable says: “Your presence is a gift. And we accept donations via...” That order of operations is no accident. It will not change.

And for the integrity of each space we create—we are gathering into some new honesty about the balance of trust, time, and money required to sustain this life together. This, too, is the work of trust. If you ever feel our Coalition is getting that balance wrong: would you please let tell us so?

But we want more of our people in more of our space to see us doing this balancing work—to be-and-feel more invited into it. Because we have never been of, from, or for anyone else.