An offers and needs party (as we have planned it) is a gathering during which we are encouraged to share some offers of skills, items, or energy that we have available and want to use; and also for us to share some needs, desires, or requests that we have.
We intend this to be an exploratory process, so we don’t want any of us to assume any obligations for responding to these offers and needs (although you can respond if it brings you joy!): instead, it is our hope that we will learn about each other and foster openness among ourselves to what might be possible.
We hope that this exercise will build and strengthen community among us and encourage us to consider how these offers and needs might connect to other people and strategies that we know about. Also, we hope to see more clearly the close affinity between offers and needs: every need an offer, every offer a need.
Agenda/event flow
Round of check ins
Event organizers offer an introduction to the event and examples of offers and needs that might be shared.
Form break out groups where everyone shares offers, then someone from the group provides a summary of the offers to the large group.
Return to our breakout group, and do a round where everyone shares needs. Report back a summary to the larger group.
Large group round where everyone has the opportunity to react to offers and needs that were shared
End the party with a final round to see how people are doing at the end and invite any feedback about the party.
And let us start in a fitting way with a material need for holding this party. We are wanting to provide food at the event: is anyone excited about helping to cook?
About the location
We are planning to meet at the Earthship in Toledo (at 406 Irving Street), but if it ends up being too cold for that, we’ll fall back to gathering at Glenwood Lutheran Church, and we’ll let you know here if we decide to make that change.
We are indeed going to meet at Glenwood Lutheran Church!
It was lovely having this conversation with everyone who joined us! If you want to post your offers and needs, I suggest doing so over in the Personal mutual aid category, and then you can follow up in your topic with how things progress with connecting with other people in our community over those offers and needs.
Some of the people who attended asked for help with posting their offers and needs on this forum, so I’m going to post them here. (Would it make more sense to post them over in Personal mutual aid?) I encourage you to follow up here or with direct messages if you have questions or if you want to explore connecting around these offers and needs!