Help Us Complete the Essential Renovations of The Hearth

Help us complete the next steps in creating our beautiful community hub for all to enjoy!

The Learning Council (TLC) has taken a gigantic leap this past year, by acquiring The Hearth building at 138 Grand Avenue, with your support. It has been an exciting time and is exceeding our expectations. The renovation of The Hearth will allow TLC to provide essential services to our community such as:

-Preparing nourishing local food for the community to be served on-site via Ice Cream Corner and locally at the Arbol Farmers Market

-Offering classes on the Gift Model & By Donation

-Providing a safe space for teens

-Advocacy in our community

-Uplifting diversity & inclusion through our Diversity Library

-Educational workshop space rental

-Mentorship opportunities

-Creating a "teaching" kitchen for classes on cooking local/cultural/ethnic foods, herbal and wildcrafted preparations, etc.

We hope you have had the chance to come see what has been completed so far and enjoy some of the inspirations of our community, whether through a class, workshop, or a refreshing treat.

The Hearth renovation project is big and we have broken it down into stages of progress. First, we focused on completing an educational space, the Robin's Egg Community Hall, where teachers and facilitators can share their knowledge, information, and skills with the community.

Next, we cleaned, beautified, and completed the Ice Cream Corner- where our teen-led ice cream team serves delicious local Third Bowl ice cream and herbal creations, including dairy-free and gluten-free options. We invite you to stop by during our open hours Thursday 2-9pm, Friday & Saturday 2-10pm, and Sunday 2-8pm from now through Labor Day weekend.

The next phase of this big project is to complete our National Sanitation Foundation(NSF) certified commercial kitchen, which is already underway! Commercial kitchen facilities require that the materials, design, fabrication, and construction meet the NSF standards. We have completed 50% of the kitchen renovations by laying tile, installing sinks and plumbing. Wood floors are underway and countertops are being built. We need to purchase and install remaining essential fixtures such as stoves, more countertops, as well as make lighting and electrical upgrades.

We are also in need of renovating the two ground level restrooms, transforming them into clean, inviting, and accessible spaces for public use.

We hope you will consider donating to our next phase of The Hearth's renovations. We are grateful for all the ways our community has shown up and supported this project coming to life! A big thank you goes out to Mary Lalli, The Buell Foundation, and the Kampe Foundation, among many others in our community who have supported us to acquire 138 Grand Ave.

If you are excited to join our campaign and help us fundraise, you are welcome to become a "fund-raiser" by clicking the button below! This allows you to set a fundraising goal and share this campaign with your network of people, thus widening our fundraising reaches.

If you are interested in Donating Today, you are welcome to do so by clicking the Donate button at the bottom of the page.