Social Change Sanctuary – Community Agreements

These agreements are intentions we hold together — not as rules to punish, but as practices that allow us to show up with truth, courage, and care. We know we will make mistakes. These agreements help us return to relationship and repair.

1. Come as You Are

You don’t have to be healed, whole, or certain to belong here. Bring your full self — your grief, your joy, your rage, your wonder. All parts of you are welcome.

2. Practice Deep Listening

Listen with the intent to understand, not to respond or fix. Allow silence. Resist the urge to interrupt, center yourself, or speak over others.

3. Honor Grief + Gratitude

This is a sanctuary where sorrow and celebration can exist side by side. We honor each other’s losses and joys as sacred.

4. Speak from the 'I'

Share from your own lived experience. Avoid generalizing or assuming what others think or feel. Let your truth be your offering.

5. Move at the Speed of Trust

We are not in a rush. Trust is built over time, through presence, humility, and mutual care. Consent, choice, and agency matter.

6. Practice Accountability with Compassion

We will mess up. When harm happens, we commit to listening, apologizing, reflecting, and transforming — not shaming. We are practicing liberation, not perfection.

7. Acknowledge Power and Positionality

We come from different social locations and lineages. We acknowledge how privilege, oppression, ancestry, and power shape how we show up — and we stay open to feedback and repair.

8. Confidentiality + Consent

What is shared in the sanctuary stays in the sanctuary — unless you have explicit permission to share someone’s story. Ask before offering advice. Ask before quoting someone’s words.

9. Honor the Sacred

This is not just a space for talking — it is a space for remembering what is sacred. We treat ritual, silence, land, spirit, and each other with reverence.

10. Tend to the Collective

This space is shaped by each person’s presence. Pay attention to what you’re taking, what you’re giving, and how we are holding the space together. Mutual care makes us possible.

Optional Additional Agreements:

• Use technology mindfully. (Silence notifications, stay present, avoid multitasking if online.)

• We honor rest as resistance. (If you need to lie down, turn your camera off, or take a break — please do.)

• We believe liberation is a spiritual practice. (This space holds both political and spiritual truths.)