• Cyrus DraegurEnglish
    91·
    1 year ago

    i wish we’d build structures and allow people who need a roof and four walls to just LIVE in it here in america.

    I have this crazy dream of expanding the house that’s been in my family since 1951 to maximum possible footprint and floor space, and then convert that space such that it can house as many people as possible, so I can directly assist in the so-called ‘housing shortage’ by providing a place for people to live.

    The zoning laws in my area have some stupid limitations on them, but I’m hoping to find a way to circumvent them through some clever nonprofit charitable organization arrangements.

    The idea is, I found a nonprofit whose mission is to shelter low income individuals and families,

    I sell the house to this nonprofit with some sort of embedded covenant to ensure that if the nonprofit fails I have right of first refusal to buy it back for $1 or something trivial like that as a safety measure, BUT,

    the nonprofit signs prospective residents on as members

    the nonprofit’s financial books are 100% transparent and open to its members

    every penny must be accounted for

    Obviously the nonprofit needs to be able to cover the cost of property taxes and utility bills.
    It is in the members’ best interest to ensure that sufficient funds are raised to ensure that the nonprofit doesn’t go bankrupt.

    the nonprofit, as a nonprofit, by definition cannot accumulate money it doesn’t need for the purpose of ‘paying out’ to shareholders or anything. However, it is allowed to accumulate a fund that can STRICTLY be used to further its mission.

    Its mission:
    Buy up surrounding land to expand the footprint of the dwelling to accommodate more people.

    Executive decisions are to be made by a board of directors elected from the membership base of the nonprofit.

    These executive decisions include arranging structure maintenance contracts.

    All executive decisions are subject to veto by the membership base at large with a simple majority.

    A secondary objective of the nonprofit’s mission is community education, incorporating (when possible) facilities to accommodate the teaching of trade skills and light manufacturing operations (a maker-space).

    I’d love if people - regular people who wouldn’t be able to afford them alone - had casual access to 3d printers, subtractive machining equipment such as mills and lathes, tools for miscellaneous maintenance work or automotive repair, to the same extent as having access to books from a library where you sign the assets out (and accept legal responsibility for the assets pending their return).

    Members are not required to directly contribute monetarily to the operating funds but as stipulated in the charter they have to make sure the bills stay paid. They are free to organize fund raising events if they so choose.

    Among potential fund raising activities:

    • operating a daycare that services the surrounding neighborhoods
    • bake sales utilizing the facility’s meal prep equipment
    • craft sales utilizing the facility’s light manufacturing equipment
    • cleaning, meal prep, and laundry services for the surrounding neighborhoods

    Tertiary mission goal: represent members in collective bargaining for healthcare, medical supply, and prescription medications (presuming america doesn’t attain universal healthcare at some point), deposit banking and lending, and job placement and wage negotiation.

    Stretch mission goal: interface with other nonprofits to assist materially in their missions.

    Any excess funding that is not invested in furthering the mission must be donated to other charitable organizations. NO cash payouts to directors. If collusion is discovered (such as any of the contractors hired by the charity for any reason being related to or associated with any of the directors in any way that has not been pre-disclosed and cleared by consensus) is grounds for immediate suspension from the board of directors. If my cousin was an electrician and I wanted to recommend him for a job,

    Someday I’d like there to be community dwelling facilities like this all over the country ready to accommodate anyone passing through, looking for someplace to crash while they try to lay some roots, or even just to settle in right there and help it grow.

    all just a pie-in-the-sky pipe dream, sadly, but it remains in my thoughts and I’m always watching and listening for opportunities to refine the plan or vectors along which I might execute it.
    (or for someone to come along and convince me that it’s a bad idea, but no one has accomplished that yet.)