Day 2 at Area 15

Yesterday was a fairly relaxing day for me. I slept in until about 9:15 and then went to a bible study in front of the free store. The free store is located next to the main building of Area 15 and they have various items but mainly clothing in which anyone can take what they need. The slogan for the store is "give what you want, take what you need". I attended the bible study and then headed back to my room to write yesterday's blog post.

After finishing up the post I went to the coffee shop called Not Just Coffee which is owned by a guy named James who has experience living in intentional community. He, his wife and kids no longer live in intentional community and I found it interesting when he said he would never do it again. The reason I found it interesting that he would say something like that is because he IS still living in intentional community. Maybe he no longer has to share a bathroom at his house but he does still share a bathroom at his work (there are only a few bathrooms at Area 15 so many businesses will share one bathroom) and he is still working in intentional community in that he is working with the other businesses around him. James and another guy from Area 15 had worked at Leo's wedding to brew coffee for all of the guests. From that experience, they are now looking to possibly add catering to their business and cater events such as weddings, art shows, etc where they bring their unique coffee and brewing style.

We sat and talked for a while until Daniel, a friend from College came and picked me up and we went to get some lunch. I had forgotten that Daniel lived in Charlotte until the night before and so I gave him a call and we decided to pick up some lunch. It was fun to catch up and we mostly talked about how great Carolina Football was going to be this year and a little bit about what we had been doing the past year.

When I returned to Area 15 I talked a little bit with Carlos and Robert who are the owners of the property and we shared ideas of how to live in community and how to live intentionally as Christians. They talked a little about how Area 15 got started and how it has affected them and others who have been a part of it. Conversations like that have been some of the most enjoyable parts of this trip.

I ended the day like I did the day before with the open AA meetings. This time, I also stayed for the 12:00 meeting and hung out with everyone until about 2:00AM. I obviously will not talk about what was said in the meeting but I do want to mention one thing that I found out. In Minnesota they have these places call Wet Houses in which they allow homeless alcoholics to come and live in the Wet Houses and they are allowed to drink. It is basically the governments way of say that the alcoholic is hopeless and it is better to give them a place to drink themselves to death rather than "waste the tax payers money". Since when has helping to save someone's life been considered a waste of money? I wish I could say that this information shocked me but unfortunately it doesn't we live in a society that is centered around money. Everyone wants to make as much money as they can at all cost and they want to spend it on themselves. Some try to help others but only on their terms. They don't want to do anything to inconvenience themselves.

I was standing outside of Area 15 when I noticed something rather interesting. This is the view from Area 15.

In the background you can see the downtown Charlotte skyline. Those tall buildings are home to many fortune 500 companies as well as their CEOs and top employees. You may also notice the foreground which can better be seen in this picture.

While the other picture showed all of the wealth of downtown, this picture reflects the poverty which is oh so close to the extreme wealth. This is not unique to Charlotte but can be reflected in most cities. West Dallas is one of the most impoverished zip codes in the United States yet they have a "beautiful" view of the Downtown Dallas skyline.

How can we find reconciliation? Area 15 is a prime example of where people could start. It wouldn't take much for some of those big businesses to buy warehouses and rent out the space at little to no cost in order to create small business incubators. That, however, could possibly create a paradigm shift. People may begin to think they can actually be something and start their own businesses instead of working for corporate America. People might start shopping locally and live out Carlos' version of the "Trickle Down Effect" where people buy from those who make less money than they do. But alas, what then, would happen to all those multi-billion dollar industries. We wouldn't want them to lose business...would we?

Namaste,

Brandon

If Two Heads Are Better Than One, What Can 27 Heads Do?

Yesterday I arrived at Area 15 around 5:00. I met Carlos who is one of the owners of the building and he gave me a tour. Area 15 is a large warehouse on 15th street not too far from Downtown Charlotte. The warehouse is home to 20 businesses and 7 non-profits. Each has it's own unique identity and it's own unique space. The businesses range from painters, graffiti artists, jewelers and tattoo artists to real estate agents, newspaper writers, and online networking businesses.

This is one of the legal graffiti walls behind Area 15. 

In a city which headquarters many big businesses like Bank of America, Area 15 works to help out the small businesses. I really like how Carlos worded in that "We should buy from people who make less money than we do". That brings a whole new meaning to the trickle down effect. Rather than buy from large corporations to save a buck or two, buy from your local mom and pop store because the extra money you are spending will be working to benefit the neighborhood that you live in. Area 15 may not be making a lot of money from their rent but they are a ministry that works as a business incubator. Everyone at Area 15 is here because they want to be here. If they didn't want to be here then they'd leave (the leases are month to month so they only need to leave a 30 day notice and then they are free to go).

The best picture of the community that I have witnessed was that I happened to come in on the night of a wedding of one of the members of Area 15. The sound guy for the Paper Tongues was getting married and they were kind enough to invite me to the wedding. It was a simple and beautiful service that was held at a rose garden just down the street from Area 15. Leo (the groom)'s family is Mexican and they had cooked a full meal for everyone complete with chips, enchiladas, fruit, vegetables, rice, beans etc. Some dark clouds came over the wedding and right after the service ended it began to rain. I did not hear a single person complain as some stayed out in the rain talking and eating while others went inside the lone small building at the garden. They went inside for coffee, dessert, and dancing. It was a wonderful sense of community as family and friends were joined with other members of Area 15.

After the wedding I attended an AA meeting that is held in the prayer room. I forgot to mention before, but there is a space of Area 15 that is devoted to a 24hr prayer room and they have AA meetings there at 10:00 and 11:59 each evening followed by fellowship time. The meeting is an open meeting and so they welcomed me in and were a loving and honest group of people. Not all of the community would call themselves Christian but I believe they are more likely to be called Christian than many who attend a worship service every Sunday morning. Regardless of what they call themselves, Area 15 is a loving, caring, and supportive community that is searching ways to love themselves and love one another through a community of small businesses and non-profits.

Peace,


Brandon