Why is Unga offered as a gift?

Gift vs. Free

Unga is offered as a gift…which is not the same as free.

Inspired by Adam Wilson of Sand River Community Farm, I consider the difference between an item found in a free pile and a thoughtful gift from a friend. I do love and frequent free piles, but they’re made up of cast-off items that someone hopes you’ll take off their hands. A thoughtful gift from a friend is about consideration, care and relationship. Gifting lends meaning to items or experiences that transcends monetary value.

As a gift, Unga is an invitation to help make a dream come true. Would you be willing to receive the gift of playful, creative expression in a community space? Will you please accept the invitation to help bring Unga to life?

Some thoughts on gifting vs. charging $

I’ve been learning about gift economy and experimenting with how to rethink the ways we charge for services and build community for many years. I believe that the practice of gifting is a part of the solution for the fractured and oppressive nature of our current sociopolitical experience.

Gifting this space provides an offering that inherently enacts creation and creativity in the spirit of the village. Unga is offered in the energy it desires to create.

Also...how could I charge money for something I want so badly to exist?

Offering this space as a gift impacts the metrics by which we will evaluate its outcomes. Unga’s success will be measured in relationships built, how many hands make the work light, how many hours we keep the doors open, and how creative we can be with the offerings.

I want to be part of reimagining how we do things in a world that needs to change. I believe we need to decommodify our time in service of sovereignty and connection. I believe we need to collectively rethink our societal relationships with money. And joy. And art.

A note on class position and the viability of this project

Julia Chafets Counseling LLC (my therapy business) is able to sustain the rent, and the other overhead costs of Unga are small. The initial investments I made in furniture and art supplies have been small, and were for me: I want a place where I can make art, play and connect with my neighbors.

I learned through my experience in a Cross Class Dialogue Circle that it is can be powerful to discuss our finances in service of deep and challenging conversations about class. I'm sharing some specifics here in the spirit of transparency:
- The incomes my wife and I bring in are enough to pay our monthly bills.
- We have some savings and small retirement accounts.
- We don't get regular contributions from family, but have extended family members that can help if we have unexpected financial blows.
- We are housed and fed, we have health insurance, and we can easily take small vacations as a family.
- In sum: My family has enough, and my safety net is strong. We’ll be okay if my business pays me a little less than it could. We may even end up with stronger community supports as a result of this project.