1809 Chapel Hill St
A Bustling Community Space Faces a Problem
As more people reached out with requests to use the teal building at 1805, it became clear that they would need to plan their meeting for several weeks out. We would look at the calendar together and simultaneously experience the bittersweet realization that the PSH was bustling… and full.
On a given Monday to Sunday week, the PSH can see anywhere between 5 and 11 events. Evenings and weekends can be booked out for up to a month in advance. On the weekend, there was a chance you would bump into a group on the way in and the way out as there could be 3 or 4 events in just one day. Nearly a dozen organizations, groups, and individuals were requesting consistent meeting access to the PSH over several month periods so they could have a regular place to do the steady and consistent groundwork of capacity building.
It was beautiful! And it was hard.
More people were finding out about their local organizing resource hub, and they were utilizing it! And this realization made the next one very clear: our people needed more space.
A New Property Enters the PSH ecosystem
At 1809 Chapel Hill Rd, there is a big and spacious building, with glitter in the lobby floors and skylights in the ceilings. It had been transformed by its most recent owners, Global Breath Yoga Studio. They prioritized natural lighting, a welcoming garden scape in the front, warm wood flooring, and an open floor plan that would allow for dozens of bodies to gather and move together. After cultivating, renovating, and building this beautiful space, Global Breath made the always-hard decision to close their doors in the winter of 2023.
They recognized that Durham is a rapidly expanding town: there is a growing and persisting danger of property falling into the hands of developers who have no commitment or interest in liberatory projects. With this in mind, Global Breath prioritized reaching out to their SVA neighbors to ask “will you become the next stewards of this resource?”
SVA answered with a resounding “yes”.
More Space, More Opportunities
For several months, SVA leadership deliberated on how to integrate the new property. By late Spring, they finalized the decision to move it under the PSH umbrella. Where PSH was once just a lone teal building, it has now evolved into the People’s Solidarity Hub campuh, which includes both the teal building and now the white building next door. Over the past 4 months, during its informal rollout, there have already been over 100 events scheduled for the space.
In many ways, it has become the parasympathetic counterpart to the teal building. Many of the events in 1805 have focused on activation: workshops, trainings, direct action prep, and campaign planning. On the other hand, many of the events at 1809 have been politicized healing and art offerings. Accessible dance classes for bodies across the range and spectrum of existence. Meditation classes rooted in the radical teachings of Lama Rad or Thich Nhat Hanh. Black August film screenings and Open Mics. An art exhibit dedicated to capturing the pain emanating 6,142 miles away from Occupied Palestine.
All these offerings create space for people to slow down and connect with each other in a way that feels distinctly different than what the teal building has had to offer. We are excited to see how this second building expands the capacity of our movement and our people. And we know our people will continue to decide how that looks.