Today, May 12th, our Board submitted a Letter of Intent to purchase a building for our future Dharma Center! This is a wonderful location across from Sierra Two Community Center on 24th Street near 2nd Ave., down a quiet alleyway named “Sakura”. Have a look here .
What happens next? The owners and their listing agent will consider our Letter of Intent, along with others that may arrive, and let us know how our proposed terms suit them or need to be adjusted. There is no deadline for the response, although one to two weeks is usual. The Letter of Intent serves to open the conversation between us and the sellers, ideally leading to a purchase agreement. At that point, we would be able to secure the property while we undertake 45 days of due diligence – i.e., thorough inspection, estimates, and planning. We would also begin the process of applying to the City of Sacramento for a Conditional Use Permit to allow our Founding Sanghas to hold sits, retreats, and classes.
Yes – there is no certainty about outcome! Right here we all can practice together with non-attachment. At the same time, we will use every skillful means available in negotiations.
Your support by becoming a monthly donor will make all the difference – please visit our donation page now to join the Sustaining Circle . Your gift, of any size, shows us the community support essential for this big undertaking! As part of the Sustaining Circle, you will ensure that we can meet the Center’s monthly expenses, while preserving the Capital Fund for the down payment and probable major improvements (bathrooms, fire sprinklers, permit expenses, etc.)
We invite you to reserve a place at the SDC party on June 13th, where you can learn more while enjoying music and refreshments! [your invitation]
Some background: Since the property became available three weeks ago, your Board plunged into multitudes of discussions and diligent research. We have engaged a highly energetic broker, Bob Rosenberg, with decades of experience; examined a variety of scenarios and selected the safest and strongest financial offer we can make; brought in architect Mike Malinowski to evaluate the property, resulting in a detailed To Do list on which all the committees are hard at work ; obtained an environmental report about the parking lot facing 24th St (former site of a gas station); and began gathering the tools to apply for a special-use (assembly) permit from the City, if we enter a purchase agreement.
Please contact your Sangha representatives for more information or with questions or suggestions, and find out how you can join in our efforts! Valley Streams: Linda Dekker and John Penfield; SIM: Joette Sebastiani and John Phelps; SBMG: Helen Hobart and Julia Mullen; and at-large Board member and President, Susan Orr. [our board]
BACK TO NEWS & EVENTS“Our problems today are no longer as simple as those encountered by the Buddha. In the twenty-first century, we will have to practice meditation collectively—as a family, a city, a nation, and a community of nations. We can prepare the ground for bringing that Buddha to life, for our sake and for the sake of countless others, by transforming our own suffering and cultivating the act of Sangha-building. It is the most important work we can do.”
The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings, page 167
Thich Nhat Hanh