Seeking private room (short-term transition to long-term) in exchange for barter in community

[PETAL]

Dear Friends,

I'm very grateful to have found this list and I appreciate the intentions behind the resources listed here. 

I'm a 44 year old (F) LGBTQI/ IPOC (both indeginous and black) seeking a private room in East Bay for 1-3 months in a co:op, coliving group, or community, initially as a barter-exchange while I transition to working full-time (and can pay rent at the end of the barter period). 

I can offer the following support or services: 

Audio Engineering (vocal recording, tracking, podcast recording and editing, etc.)

Social Media Strategy

Writing / Grant Writing

Childcare

General Administration

Bookkeeping

Cooking 

Happy to send a CV, references, and links to my website, Instagram, etc.

Ideal move date would be in the area of July 23rd, so about 1 week.

Regarding COVID. I arrived in SF on July 6th and as of Monday, July 20th, and will have completed self quarantine in an Airbnb in Berkeley. I take the virus and necessary precautions very seriously. Prior to this, I was living in a private house in Orlando, Florida with my mother, who is retired, and my brother who is  long-term unemployed. Both are introverts; we had no guests in the house and were on the last house on a dead end street. I had very limited social contact, (only when grocery shopping), or walking on an exercise path nearby. 

ABOUT ME

I've spent the past two years offering 1:1 coaching, career counseling, and lecturing on Artist Branding for Music at creative higher education institutions and non-profits in Germany and the UK. 

Recently arrived in SF, (almost two weeks now) after having returned to the US from Berlin, Germany in December 2019. 

I managed a 6 month stay with family on the E. Coast, who are Jamaican and Fundamentalist Christian. After being physically threatened, twice, for being gay, I decided it was best that I move on, ASAP.  As a proud LGBTQI/ IPOC - let's just say our ways of seeing the world, and life clashed.

CO-LIVING EXPERIENCE

In terms of co-living experience: I have had several experiences living or staying in cooperative housing, some extremely well organized and maintained. 

I lived in on and off in Berlin, Germany from 1999-2020, and have friends who are long term members of the community attached to Ausland (Lychenerstr. 60). 

I have lived in Lychenerstr. 60,  in periods when I had returned to the US and would visit Berlin, or when I had moved back to Berlin and was in-between housing. This was my introduction to the experience and has stayed with me ever since.  

I have also lived/worked at the main Vipassana center in Shelburne Falls, MA for 5 months as a long term server. This experience entailed serving 250-300 guest meditators twice a month, and working daily (or sometimes leading) a team of anywhere from 15-30 servers (some staff, long-term, or short term meditator volunteers) on 12 day 'sits'. 

After leaving the Vipassana Center in 2015, I was accepted as a resident artist at AS220 in Providence, RI and moved into a shared artist cooperative on one floor of a building consisting of 10-12 individual studios, with shared bathroom and kitchen spaces, for about 3 months. 

In 2017, on my way out of the US and back to Europe,  I rented one of the studio units at the LA Eco Village for 2-3 weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with them, and it was my first experience in a co-op made up of individual studios, similiar to your building. I like the setup because it gives a strong sense of autonomy and freedom, whilst allowing residents to gather and work together as they wish. 

All the best,

Petal