The Partnership

With the first ADU build, the super tiny Coram House, it would have been impossible to get it done without partners. I don’t have wealth, I didn’t know where I was going to come up with the funds, but I began the project anyway with a hope and a prayer. A few weeks in, I was having coffee with a new friend, and shared my project idea. On the spot, he offered to help financially. On the spot, I said no. But a seed was planted. I thought about his offer, I thought about why I denied it, and I reckoned with my own pride. My own sickness, that I believe to be a shared sickness, the belief that we don’t need help, that the highest ideal is to make it on my own, to do it my way… I reckoned with the fact that self-sufficiency was the god I worshipped, and how problematic that is. A few weeks past, and I called him back, and accepted his offer. He told me that he’d been really successful, and had plenty of help along the way. It was a good reminder that no one “makes it” on their own. He and I are splitting the rent profits until he recoups his investment. His help sparked this idea. If the people who are able decide to partner, together we can all rise and grow together.