Big Feelings Queer Collective seeking tenderhearts, queerdos, revolutionaries, and badasses to join our vision.

We are gentle anarchists, creators, and poly-queers growing and learning and practicing who and what we are and we want you to be a part. Come co-create with us.

Two homes: 1930’s house in the historically black neighborhood of Smithfield, Birmingham with plenty of shade trees to hang hammocks from, large front porch to laze on, burgeoning vegetable and herb garden (with plenty of room to grow) 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, living room, large room dedicated as an art/yoga/meditation/dance/gathering space, kitchen, laundry room, sunroom. Parking: some off street/some on street. House has limited accessibility.

In progress home: Next door is a shamble-y two story multi-bedroom, multi-bathroom home. High hopes for habitability in 2020. If you’ve got skills, ask about work trade!

The Room and the money

Current open room has wood floors, two large windows, a closet, and a non-working fireplace. We anticipate future room openings in mid-late spring as well as opening when the house next door is ready, so please be in touch even if you’re interested but not looking to move now.

Room: $350/mo. $60/mo to shared food fund, $20/mo to shared house fund, bills range from $100-$150/mo and include electric, gas, internet, water. Total: $580. We’re currently in discussion around how we can ensure that the distribution of cost is equitable and how to dismantle (as much as possible) the inherent power dynamics of ownership. Due to that, these numbers may shift or change in the future based on income and ability.

Values

Mutual aid, resource sharing, anti-cop, anti-capitalist, intersectional feminism, consensus based decision making and intentional moves to abolish hierarchy, work: make less/share more/spend less/play more, sustainability and conscious consumption, honest/authentic communication that is compassionate, imagining and creating social realities that defy the dominant narrative of how we are “supposed to” live our lives, interdependence, shared labor, a culture of generosity amongst ourselves and our larger community, activism, joy and play, large space for emotional vulnerability and big ideas, safe(r) space: no tolerance of discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, age, class, ability, or religion, we are vehemently protective of those who are marginalized.

How we practice our values (some perfectly and some imperfectly)

Vegetarian/Vegan Kitchen

Shared food based on our food values

Communal purse

Weekly meetings using consensus to make decisions, check in with each other, and talk about this thing we’re building.

Open, honest, kind communication. Holding space for different perspectives, for feelings big and small.

Participating in community/activist events through volunteering, work, protest, etc…

Find it used, reuse it, fix it, recycle it, reduce it, compost it

Chore and grocery rotation

Shared ownership and shared personal items

Events and parties to bring people together in quiet and loud ways (We’ve had DJs, house shows, work days, pizza parties, and have an ongoing weekly craft night)

Cops: Never

What we hope to practice

Become more engaged in our neighborhood

More shared meals

Rain water collection

Grow more food

More food from farmer’s markets and local growers

Workshops: Teach us stuff!

Hosting groups and organizations

A more accessible home

Everything, everything, everything!

Current Comrades

Penny: 35, her, community enthusiast, big feelings queerdo, embraces and celebrates vulnerability, DIY to the core, nature freak, enjoys reading, drawing, shimmying and shaking, most any kind of adventure and a little bitta witchy shit.

Lindsey: 33, her, poetry lover, nature walker, enneagram expert, freelance priestess, lives and breathes community.

Addison: 21, him, enjoys mischief/trouble but generally good-humored and merry. Literature student, DJ, anarchist, poppers connoisseur.

Molly, Desmond, Jezebel, Feivel They/Her/Her/Him: our faithful and mostly friendly animal companions

Future Comrade?

If you feel like you’d be a good fit and want to move in, please e-mail us with the answers to these questions. We’re happy to receive written answers or video answers. For serious though, we won’t answer if you won’t.

1. How do you spend your free time? What are your passions/interests?
2. Why do you want to leave where you live now?
3. What’s important to you? Values/principles/passions?
4. Part of living here is contributing labor to the house (via chores, cooking, food shopping, cleaning, and other various projects). How do you think it will fit into your life?
5. Anything you want to add?
6. Do you have any questions for us, either practical, philosophical or silly?

Not ready to move, but want to be a part?

email: bigfeelingsqueer@gmail.com

insta: bigfeelingsqueercollective

facebook: Big Feelings Queer Collective