Sense of Purpose Properties, Brattleboro, Vermont

Geoffrey Habron and Kate Glynn established Sense of Purpose Properties LLC to provide a home for our vision for an integrated, sustainable, social, civic and economic enterprise. We center the enterprise  on the Mermaid Collective LLC. We chose to situate our vision in the historic 1880 building known as the Hotel Pharmacy building at 20 Elliot St, Brattleboro, Vermont. The building began as a Methodist Church (1880-1973) before a brief stint as a community theater, then outdoor outfitters before its long run as a pharmacy (1993-2023). Our plans begin with the main floor Mermaid Collective doughnut social enterprise and follows with development of workforce housing on the remaining two floors. The project is illustrated and described through a multimedia Story Map https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/69989f7a2b20469e8cd2bf8b4500c2fe

The Vision: The  Mermaid Collective empowers women by providing a supportive community in an inclusive and welcoming professional kitchen and retail shop.  The Collective is a tool to personal and economic development, providing a safe environment to learn the art of baking as well as retail skills. [distributive economy, work/income, equality]

Mission Statement: The Mermaid Collective exists to nourish community and connection through handcrafted doughnuts and bold, women-centric energy.  More than a bakery, we’re creating a space where stories are shared, dreams are supported, and magic happens one gathering and doughnut at a time. [connectivity, social cohesion, Nurture Human Nature]
Gourmet doughnuts are the obvious product of the Collective, the unseen products include:

•  Fair wages 
• Job training and skill building 
• Inclusive and safe work environment
•  Possibility for job sharing and cooperative childcare [equality, income & work, education, Nurture Human Nature]

We strive to practice and illustrate principles of sustainability (social, environmental, economic) throughout the entire process from deconstruction, design, renovation and operation. 

We are repurposing and renovating this 1880 building in the spirit of its previous roles of serving the community as a church, community theater, gay nightclub and local independent pharmacy [Be Regenerative; Nurture Human Nature, social cohesion, equality]

The Project Team is comprised of entities devoted to equity and inclusion independent of our project. They are already rooted in shared principles that align with our goal [Embrace the 21st Century Goal, Nurture Human Nature, Be Strategic in Practice]:

•  Helm Construction Solutions - Owner’s Project Management. "Founded ten years ago, HELM is a planet- and people-forward firm with expertise in construction, management, leadership, and training. We work with contractors and design-build firms throughout North America to help businesses thrive — with more resilient finances, a positive and inclusive work culture, and a more beneficial impact on the environment." [income & work, equality]
•  Stevens & Associates  - Architect. "Stevens & Associates is a team of architects, engineers, and professionals dedicated to building livable communities. Beginning with the proportions of the natural world, we integrate with purpose and intent the language of traditional architecture and urban design to create meaningful places. We commit our energy, experience, knowledge, and vision to developing concepts that are profoundly human, transcend the ordinary, and help our clients achieve their goals."
•  Mathes Hulme Builders - General Contractor. "Mathes Hulme Builders is a Brattleboro, Vermont-based construction firm working in the surrounding tristate region. We are a family-oriented company who believes in providing dignified and sustainable employment to our crew. Our team is trained in the latest building science techniques and is committed to environmentally-conscious building practice" [income & work, climate change] 
•  Energy Balance, Inc . Energy Consultant. "Energy Balance, Inc, has been providing energy consulting and design services to a wide variety of clients since 1988. He works with homeowners, architects, engineers and builders, as well as institutions, towns and non-profit housing organizations. Services range from house-doctoring to high performance building design and include research projects and performance evaluation. He is also the Director of Science and Engineering for the Vermont Energy Education Program" [climate change]

We are working collaboratively during team meetings to see how the building design works with and complements our goals for a training kitchen, retail sales of doughnuts, sales of women artists as a collective, sense of community, energy efficiency balanced with the limits of urban setting and historical building and district. [Think in Systems]
 

For example the historical nature of the bricks preclude interior wall insulation to improve the thermal envelope because the masonry needs to breath and release moisture that otherwise has damaged the interior and exterior of the building. The building currently uses oil for heat so we are exploring other energy sources. [climate change]

As we purchased the building, it already contained remnants of its previous life as the last independent  pharmacy in town. This included hundreds of pharmacy shelving units and office furniture. When we read of a new independent pharmacy opening a new location in town, we reached out to see if they were interested in reusing the shelves. They agreed and have moved all of the main shelving from the retail space. Not only has the material been reused and avoided landfill, it is being repurposed for its original and continued use in a local independent pharmacy.  [Be Regenerative, Be Distributive, connectivity]

We then utilized two platforms to advertise the office furniture for free collection: Facebook Marketplace and Brattleboro Front Porch Forum. The latter represents a Vermont-specific non-profit community sharing platform. A range of people picked up items from individuals to entities including the Shelburne Falls Wastewater Treatment Plant in the Town of Buckland Massachusetts and our local community radio station WVEW located in the adjacent block from the building.

We have outlined a three-year timeline to complete the project starting with the Mermaid Collective doughnut shop social enterprise followed by construction of two 2-bedroom units in the basement and two studio apartments in the sub-basement. Given its historic nature, we also need funding to repair masonry, the front facade, slate roof, and bring the building up to modern code in terms of disability access and fire suppression via sprinkler systems. We successfully applied for tax credits for this work awarded by the State of Vermont [See the Big Picture]. Our project received attention as one of three projects highlighted in the official press release.

Our local newspaper visited with us and wrote an article describing our efforts. 

While we have a three-year plan, we are currently working to establish our collaborative networks developing our doughnut sales. Since we don't currently have a kitchen, we are renting space from the Stone Church. The Stone Church is another repurposed church that functions as a concert venue. We found that location through our connection and membership with Brattleboro's Downtown Business Alliance. While we can prepare the doughnuts at the venue, we are not allowed to sell doughnuts there. We began our sales by partnering with a newly opened woman-owned The Humble Mug Tea Shop. We sold wholesale to them, but they also hosted a popup where customers pre-ordered online from us and picked up at the tea shop. We also donated a dozen doughnuts for a fundraiser for the Windham County Humane Society where the first twelve customers received a free doughnut. This increased visibility for all our enterprises in reciprocal fashion. [connectivity, Be Distributive, Be Regenerative, Nurture Human Nature, Ain to Thrive Rather than Grow]

Summary

We believe the project will continue to follow and exemplify Doughnut Economics Principles and Practices. As renovations begin and the retail space opens, we will increase our focus to address both local and global impacts. Even in the short-term the doughnut enterprise includes a focus on local ingredients where possible such as Vermont-based B Corporation King Arthur flour and local fruits such as apples from Scott Farm which is a historic, ecologically certified and B-Corp local farm. We also work with a local woman bookkeeper and a woman marketing person [connectivity, equality, income & work]. Doughnut Principles will affect our supply chain and labor relations such as exemplified in the DEAL Doughnut Design for Business. We look forward to sharing our updates within the DEAL community, as well as sharing the DEAL framework within our team and beyond!