Soul Sanctuary
We have partnered with our beloved Durham waymakers Helena Cragg and Sylvia Williams to incubate our shared vision (through distinct and collaborative effort) for a sanctuary for LGBTQ and BIPOC folks. In Collaboration with Golden Girlz (https://www.goldengirlsnc.org/), Helena, Slyvia and a number of other aligned and talented loved ones, we are creating a retreat center, a number of housing options and an intergenerational assisted & interdependent living community.
Alexis and Sangodare’s current expansion centers the living library.
Library in the ancient sense…
At the end of the first decade of the Mobile Homecoming adventure we have arrived at the place that inspired us to begin with. TRUST. So, we createed Mobile Homecoming Trust Living Library and Archive to sustain the lives of Mobile Homecoming and Black Feminist elders their care takers and legacy bearers. The Mobile Homecoming Trust Living Library and Archive is our answer to the longing and need for physical gathering space, residential stability and accountable care that we found again and again in our community building work with the stewards and stakeholders of Black feminist LGBTQ brilliance.
More about the vision and the space
CURRENTLY
11+ acres
Durham, NC
4 bdrm house
Double car garage
Muscadine grapes
Herb Garden
Vegetable Garden
This is the house as it was when we started. The house was built in the 1930s and has “good bones”. It is ready and we (the squad) are freshening it up with paint, our own design and furnishings.
We GET to be TOGETHER and we are always learning more about how!
In the works…
SEPTEMBER 2021
Transcend
Spiritual Practice Program
for those interested in transcending the everyday
NOVEMBER 2021
Day Retreats
facilitated by Alexis & Sangodare
(outdoor, spacious, small groups, masked when close)Sunday Service
- weekly
- in-person
- live broadcast
- spacious/masked
NOVEMBER 2021 (cont)
Pauli Murray
Birthday DANCE Party
- BIPOC Butch
- BIPOC Trans*
- BIPOC GNC & NB
- spacious dance circles
Figure 8
I (Sangodare) had a vision for a part of the loveland that was somewhat circular and partially cleared. I saw a figure 8 where one circle was for the retreat center to incubate in separate modular structures - a place for us to practice together (spaciously) WITH people. The other circle, I saw as a place for us to practice solo and as Loveship. One circle feeds the other and the Figure 8 as a whole feeds the entire Soul Sanctuary which in turn feeds our communities. So, it looks like an ongoing 8 within 8.
More photos of the House
FEBRUARY 2022
Soft Launch
- Modular Retreat Center
Mobile Art Studio
Mobile Workshop
Companion Residencies
Loveship REBOOT
MAY 2022
Full Launch
What I’m thinking about/working on
by Sangodare
9/24/1979
We have some key collaborators that we have been working with (living and loving and traveling to connect) over the years. I want us to name some of the elements of the space collectively - the sculptures, the tiny houses, the domes. Capitalism has a cool little practice where you invest a lot of energy (usually money) and you get the right to name a thing. For us, our relationships and resonances are what generate the names of things. Our collective work and responsibility is what sources a thing, even our own lives and evolution.
So, right now I am working on creating the elements and structures for OUR existing and large community to get a birds eye view of the projects in the works and the collaborations on the table. Though you see some fragments of it already, I am working right now with our team to pull things together in a cohesive way that is accessible for us to understand. This all as a means to come to even more alignment and consensus about what our priorities are and the ways community wants to plug into the collective vision. It would be great for you to make a large donation (whatever large means to you) to support us in this womb phase. It does make it run more smoothly and more efficiently (also faster).
At the same time we are committed to making the work more accessible so you can see what you are investing you time, interest, labor, skill, money and other resources into down here in Durham and around the world. Yes we’re working, we’ve been funding our work primarily with our own labor and income for years with invaluable support from you (our community and families). But we are shifting to a more sustainable model and learning more and more about HOW to do that as we go.
Stay connected.
Reach out.
Ask questions.
We Love you!
Keep us lifted!