Help Keep Wildside Alive!
Donation protected
Urgent Message from the Wildside Team
Wildside Cottage and Gardens - a 501(c)3 nonprofit - is a place like no other, a beautiful, climate-resilient, educational homestead with annual and permaculture gardens and a 1600 sq. ft. off-grid, sod-roofed cottage, tucked into the hills of Conway, MA. We are dedicated to demonstrating and teaching a can-do approach to climate change, particularly practical ways the general public can strengthen food and energy security at the household and community level.
Wildside is now at a crisis point, and we need your immediate help in order to continue with our important mission. The property here is under threat of foreclosure, scheduled to go to public auction on April 28th. But this doesn't have to be!
We DID meet our goal of raising $25,000 before March 10th, thus avoiding advertisements being run for the auction, but if we can raise the remaining $25,000 due the bank in time to pay off mortgage by April 27th, then there will be no auction.
Wildside Cottage and Gardens - a 501(c)3 nonprofit - is a place like no other, a beautiful, climate-resilient, educational homestead with annual and permaculture gardens and a 1600 sq. ft. off-grid, sod-roofed cottage, tucked into the hills of Conway, MA. We are dedicated to demonstrating and teaching a can-do approach to climate change, particularly practical ways the general public can strengthen food and energy security at the household and community level.
Wildside is now at a crisis point, and we need your immediate help in order to continue with our important mission. The property here is under threat of foreclosure, scheduled to go to public auction on April 28th. But this doesn't have to be!
We DID meet our goal of raising $25,000 before March 10th, thus avoiding advertisements being run for the auction, but if we can raise the remaining $25,000 due the bank in time to pay off mortgage by April 27th, then there will be no auction.
The Wildside team has been pursuing their mission in one way or another for 15 years. At first it was informally - people just began showing up! Over the last ten years we have welcomed around 3,000 visitors, some for free two-hour tours, and some for three-hour hands-on annual workshops led by local experts (with suggested $20 donation). It’s clear that just being able to talk about practical responses to climate change is a relief for many, and leads directly to actions that in the long run are likely to save lives. Visitors leave Wildside inspired and ready to act.
Securing enough funding to keep things moving forward has never been easy, but between individual donors and a handful of small grants from foundations as well as substantial backing from Founder, Sue Bridge, Wildside has become a one-of-a-kind learning platform for school groups, university classes, permaculture groups, families, garden clubs, and curious individuals.
Several years ago, Sue began to form a succession plan, a way to keep working at Wildside while gradually passing responsibility on to the next generation. In 2013 she incorporated Wildside as a non-profit, and in 2014 she deeded the property over to the new entity. In 2020 she began a search for a Resident Steward to live in the original cottage, share the work, and bring in new skills and ideas. Eventually Wildside hired Anna Maclay, a longtime farmer from Natural Roots, a horse-powered CSA farm nearby. A good fit!
What no one could have foreseen was how bad the timing would be!
Like many other small businesses, non-profit and for-profit, Wildside has been hit hard by the effects of the Covid epidemic, including skyrocketing construction costs, scarce availability of skilled labor, and general uncertainty - all this in an already difficult fundraising environment. Hard to believe, but only 1% of US-based foundations offer grants addressing any aspect of climate change.
We have struggled with these challenges through the past year, but month by month we’ve lost ground. Now we must pay off Wildside’s $50,000 mortgage by April 27th, and we have about $70,000 of outstanding contractors’ bills to pay as well.
The path forward is clear. Our immediate and urgent challenge is to raise the money to pay the bank, and beyond that, pay contractors. Then we can focus on next steps, including finishing the new, innovative, net-zero build.
Besides exploding grassroots interest, we see a combination of positive factors that make us optimistic about Wildside’s future. We are excited to be exploring a close partnership with a well-run non-profit that shares Wildside’s values and sense of mission. We're still in the early phases of conversation, but this could be an excellent way for the mission of Wildside to be continued and expanded here on this land, with robust support from a broader community.
And as the whipsaw effects of Covid quiet down, and as foundations turn, belatedly, toward addressing the devastating realities of climate change, we know Wildside’s example and teaching about how to prepare for major changes in weather, energy sources and in food availability can respond to increasing demand from an increasingly aware public.
If we can't pay off the mortgage to the bank in time, though, all bets are off! Everything will go to the highest bidder at a public auction on April 28th. Let's not let that happen!
Thank you to all who can help!
With much gratitude from the Wildside team
Sue, Anna, Tom, and Zee
Wildside is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so all donations are tax-deductible - EIN# 46-3353979.
*If you are offering a large donation, consider sending a check to Wildside directly rather than going through the electronic routes, which deduct fees in the process. Checks may be written to Wildside Cottage & Gardens and sent to P.O. Box 87, Conway, MA 01341. We will enter your gift into the GoFundMe site, either in your name or, if you prefer, as an anonymous donor.
Learn more about Wildside by visiting our website: www.wildsidegardens.org.
Like many other small businesses, non-profit and for-profit, Wildside has been hit hard by the effects of the Covid epidemic, including skyrocketing construction costs, scarce availability of skilled labor, and general uncertainty - all this in an already difficult fundraising environment. Hard to believe, but only 1% of US-based foundations offer grants addressing any aspect of climate change.
We have struggled with these challenges through the past year, but month by month we’ve lost ground. Now we must pay off Wildside’s $50,000 mortgage by April 27th, and we have about $70,000 of outstanding contractors’ bills to pay as well.
The path forward is clear. Our immediate and urgent challenge is to raise the money to pay the bank, and beyond that, pay contractors. Then we can focus on next steps, including finishing the new, innovative, net-zero build.
Besides exploding grassroots interest, we see a combination of positive factors that make us optimistic about Wildside’s future. We are excited to be exploring a close partnership with a well-run non-profit that shares Wildside’s values and sense of mission. We're still in the early phases of conversation, but this could be an excellent way for the mission of Wildside to be continued and expanded here on this land, with robust support from a broader community.
And as the whipsaw effects of Covid quiet down, and as foundations turn, belatedly, toward addressing the devastating realities of climate change, we know Wildside’s example and teaching about how to prepare for major changes in weather, energy sources and in food availability can respond to increasing demand from an increasingly aware public.
If we can't pay off the mortgage to the bank in time, though, all bets are off! Everything will go to the highest bidder at a public auction on April 28th. Let's not let that happen!
Thank you to all who can help!
With much gratitude from the Wildside team
Sue, Anna, Tom, and Zee
Wildside is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so all donations are tax-deductible - EIN# 46-3353979.
*If you are offering a large donation, consider sending a check to Wildside directly rather than going through the electronic routes, which deduct fees in the process. Checks may be written to Wildside Cottage & Gardens and sent to P.O. Box 87, Conway, MA 01341. We will enter your gift into the GoFundMe site, either in your name or, if you prefer, as an anonymous donor.
Learn more about Wildside by visiting our website: www.wildsidegardens.org.
Co-organizers (2)
Sue Bridge
Organizer
Conway, MA
Anna Maclay
Co-organizer