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This week, we restarted classes in our new temporary home at St. John-San Juan Lutheran Church at 409 W Ben White Blvd, approximately 300 feet west of our studio doors. The community at St. John’s has been so welcoming, kind, and generous during this disaster. We truly cannot thank them enough for everything they’ve done for us.
We’ve been settling into the space, discovering how to train on thin puzzle mats (and all the troubleshooting that has gone into that!), and just generally figuring out our new normal. Every day is a new challenge and a new problem to solve. A new realization that we need to buy all new mat cleaning supplies and a screwdriver and… shoot, we need to print some blank waivers for new folks. Wait, we don’t have a printer.
Every day is a tiny heartbreak.
Every day we practice grace with ourselves and each other as we learn how to ask for help, and then separately, how we accept the help that has arrived.
The love and generosity from our community all across the United States has been overwhelming. Y’all have shown up in ways we could never have predicted or anticipated.
I’ve been told we’ve surpassed our $32,000 GoFundMe goal, but I haven’t been back since just after we launched it. It’s so uncomfortable and so humbling to ask the community to help us get back on our feet. While I hate that we had to ask, I’m grateful for everyone who has been able to show up for us. We needed the help. It’s going to take us a long time to recover from this mess.
Insurance has been exhausting. We go through long periods of no communication where we’re just waiting, and then just like that, there’s movement again.
We found out today, quite by accident, that our Room 2 (the origin of the fire) was cleared by insurance for demolition. They’ve already gutted the room.
There’s still a lot we don’t know. There’s still a lot we’re waiting on. But we’re staying busy making the very best of our new temporary home while we figure out the details of insurance and whether we’re rebuilding at 321 W Ben White or whether we’re finding a new location.
What we do know is we will recover from this. One good cry at a time. One step. One more trip to the hardware store. Our community doesn’t quit. We can do hard things.