Let's get us Twin Cities Weavers together again ... this time for something different. 🙂

We'll be running an Offers and Needs Market (OANM), an experience to unearth and share the various forms of wealth we all have. So much of what we need for a good life is already within our grasp!

Participants have found work, housing, new friends, a richer self-identity, and even a renewed trust in their community. Each exchange builds a connection, more connections create meaningful relationships, and the collective relationships strengthen communities – and maybe even create new ones.

It's also a way to practice Asset-Based Community Development as you focus on what resources (a.k.a. “assets”) the group already has. The OANM is a simple, playful, and cheerful way to highlight what people can already do, and provides a positive way to short-circuit the “But we don’t have any resources!” narrative. The emphasis is on creating and sustaining a mindset of what you can do to help – and get helped – right now.

Check out this participant guide instead of reading a wall of text here. 🙂

The high-level process works like this:

1. Think about what you might offer to or need from your fellow Weavers. The participant guide linked above has the context to do it well.
2. Write down those offers and needs on provided sticky notes.
3. Put your sticky notes on a wall with everyone else's offers and needs.
4. Browser people's offers and needs.
5. Either find someone who you think you have a match with or prepare to have others come up to you and say, "I just saw your offer/need. We need to talk!"
6. Repeat steps 4-5 as much as possible.

Helpful Preparation

Are you looking for inspiration? Here's a spreadsheet with real examples of offers and needs from various events and gatherings.

Oh, and here's what one recent OANM participant had to say:

"I love Offers and Needs Markets! It's so much bundled into one: community-building, vulnerability, sharing resources, owning up to our own depths, and the generous use of sticky notes.

We all inherently want to help, so giving and receiving with an intentional, organized process allows us to contribute and gain without it feeling transactional. This is just genuine and heartfelt." – Aja Marsh

How to Join the Live Market

1. Go in the Fairview Business Center at 655 Fairview Avenue North, St. Paul, 55104.
2. Find St. Paul Ballet at Studio 4.
   
   

Just One More Step …

If you're committed to this great concept and the real help you'll get from participating, we’d be grateful if you RSVPed "Yes" right now so we can plan for a certain number of participants.

RSVP Here