I AM ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED
Sup sup Wednesday? I think you can gather from the title of this post that I am kind of freaking out just a little ittle bitty bit. OMG! YOU GUYS! The past year has been a labour of love. I have been slowly but surely building up the Autism in Vienna Facebook page, bombarding strangers with my concept of an autism center, and sobbing off and on. I am now officially a Verein thanks to a friend who helped with the statutes and I am now looking at a real life actual location. I saw it a few weeks ago for the first time and last night, I was back but this time, with my board members. We met with the couple who owns the location and it was all business. Yes, I can be business-y.
We looked at two different floors and then discussed the rent. I laid out my plans for the center and how to raise funds and hopefully sounded business-like and shit. They made an offer which would be ridiculous to refuse and if all goes to plan (and I don't throw myself off a bridge) then we should be up and running by April. It is an incredibly generous offer they made and it will give me about 3 months to raise funds and sell an internal organ. After about an hour, we shook hands, I promised to get back to them as soon as possible and once I rounded the corner with my friends, I started to shake. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This is big guys, this is happening and I am terrified. We headed to a cute hipster heuriger around the corner from what will most likely be the center and I demanded wine and lots of it. The three of us talked excitedly and I tried to stop myself from hyperventilating.
The rent isn't cheap... but for the location and the size, it is amazing. It is the ideal space and I am avoiding a ton of additional costs since there isn't much to renovate and I am not being charged the dreaded real estate fees. And as I mentioned above, they have given me an incredible deal for the next 3-4 months and I know that that would not be possible anywhere else and now I feel like I am on a roller coaster and I can't get off. And I don't want to get off (that's not what she said. heh.heh) but I need to have some capital before I can fully commit. The next couple of days I will be drafting official letters/proposals. One will go to different ministries and the other one will go to anyone foolish enough to give me their e-mail address. I am planning a donation programme that will pretty much consist of a wall in the center: on that wall will be three categories: sponsor, donor and patron. Names of people who give me the monies will be allocated under those three categories. And you can totally Instagram that when you come on by for a drink or stop me from running off to Bali in a fit of terror and angst. Either or. Another option will be for large companies or my really really rich friends: you can buy the name of one of the therapy rooms. How exciting! The Cookie Von Cookiestein room or the Propane and Propane Accessories room? The possibilities are endless!
And if you are truly vindictive, you could choose a name like: Tova is a moron and smells room. I am fine with that too. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am also hosting a fundraiser in January. So far prizes include: a couple of dinners at great restaurants, photo sessions, wine, personal coaching... I am so excited and so so grateful. My ultimate goal is to reach 100,000 euros by April. Yes, that is a lot of money... but that money is going to help many many families. It is going to help parents and children and maybe for the first time, they won't feel so marginalized and alone. This will give hope and will make people feel accepted. This will cover the rent for a couple of years so I don't have to sell all my clothes and my soul. This needs to happen.... and it will. I need to believe it will and I need people to believe in me. Some of the people closest to me are doubtful and while that hurts, I understand the concern. I don't even want Christmas presents this year and for me, that is huge! Gifts are my life.. yes, I am a brat but I am maturing. Kind of.
Long story short... if I don't do this now, I will never do it. Not only will this help change the face of autism support in Vienna, it will help my son and future generations. Now I am dry heaving again. Stay tuned for the next few weeks... it will be a wild ride. I must get back to drafting these letters. Where are my crayons?!?!?!?! Toodles.
We looked at two different floors and then discussed the rent. I laid out my plans for the center and how to raise funds and hopefully sounded business-like and shit. They made an offer which would be ridiculous to refuse and if all goes to plan (and I don't throw myself off a bridge) then we should be up and running by April. It is an incredibly generous offer they made and it will give me about 3 months to raise funds and sell an internal organ. After about an hour, we shook hands, I promised to get back to them as soon as possible and once I rounded the corner with my friends, I started to shake. It hit me like a ton of bricks. This is big guys, this is happening and I am terrified. We headed to a cute hipster heuriger around the corner from what will most likely be the center and I demanded wine and lots of it. The three of us talked excitedly and I tried to stop myself from hyperventilating.
The rent isn't cheap... but for the location and the size, it is amazing. It is the ideal space and I am avoiding a ton of additional costs since there isn't much to renovate and I am not being charged the dreaded real estate fees. And as I mentioned above, they have given me an incredible deal for the next 3-4 months and I know that that would not be possible anywhere else and now I feel like I am on a roller coaster and I can't get off. And I don't want to get off (that's not what she said. heh.heh) but I need to have some capital before I can fully commit. The next couple of days I will be drafting official letters/proposals. One will go to different ministries and the other one will go to anyone foolish enough to give me their e-mail address. I am planning a donation programme that will pretty much consist of a wall in the center: on that wall will be three categories: sponsor, donor and patron. Names of people who give me the monies will be allocated under those three categories. And you can totally Instagram that when you come on by for a drink or stop me from running off to Bali in a fit of terror and angst. Either or. Another option will be for large companies or my really really rich friends: you can buy the name of one of the therapy rooms. How exciting! The Cookie Von Cookiestein room or the Propane and Propane Accessories room? The possibilities are endless!
And if you are truly vindictive, you could choose a name like: Tova is a moron and smells room. I am fine with that too. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am also hosting a fundraiser in January. So far prizes include: a couple of dinners at great restaurants, photo sessions, wine, personal coaching... I am so excited and so so grateful. My ultimate goal is to reach 100,000 euros by April. Yes, that is a lot of money... but that money is going to help many many families. It is going to help parents and children and maybe for the first time, they won't feel so marginalized and alone. This will give hope and will make people feel accepted. This will cover the rent for a couple of years so I don't have to sell all my clothes and my soul. This needs to happen.... and it will. I need to believe it will and I need people to believe in me. Some of the people closest to me are doubtful and while that hurts, I understand the concern. I don't even want Christmas presents this year and for me, that is huge! Gifts are my life.. yes, I am a brat but I am maturing. Kind of.
Long story short... if I don't do this now, I will never do it. Not only will this help change the face of autism support in Vienna, it will help my son and future generations. Now I am dry heaving again. Stay tuned for the next few weeks... it will be a wild ride. I must get back to drafting these letters. Where are my crayons?!?!?!?! Toodles.
Comments
Post a Comment