Community Care Agreement


Community Care Agreement

In the spirit of creating an inclusive learning community, we need to be especially mindful of our interactions with one another. Many on our organizing team have learned a lot about how to ensure that people feel safe emotionally and physically when bringing together large numbers of strangers. This list has been compiled through years of experience and suggestions. It is intended as an ongoing collaborative agreement between everyone participating in Reeds & Roots to provide the safest learning environment possible, while recognizing the needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized among us.

  • Care for each other.
  • Ask before you touch someone.  Then, wait for their response.  Do not proceed without a “yes.”  Example:  “Can I give you a hug?”  “Yes, please!”  or, “No, I don’t want that.”  No always means no.  Good consent is sometimes a little awkward to learn at first.  It’s worth it
  • Don’t teach someone else’s workshop.  You may know way more about the topic than the instructor.  We know.  We designed it that way. We have workshop leaders of all levels of knowledge and skill, and we like to provide opportunities to help people grow into teaching roles. Please help them by applying to teach your great ideas next time.
  • Be respectful of other people’s identities.  This means not assuming you know someone’s abilities or interests based on your perception of their appearance.  Avoid identity specific terms for people you don’t know.  Avoid cultural appropriation.
  • Ask someone what pronouns they use before using them.  For example, do not assume someone goes by “he” without asking first, “what pronouns do you use?”  Common pronouns include: they/them, she/her, he/him
  • BE WILLING TO MAKE MISTAKES.  No one is expecting perfection in our social interactions.  We are not “offending” people when we accidentally make identity assumptions – humans are used to complex imperfect social encounters in crowds of strangers.  Please do not assume some kind of police culture in which your words are being policed by whomever you are speaking to.  Quite the opposite – mistakes are welcome, as long as we all try.

Please talk with a Reeds and Roots organizer about any concerns you may have about anything on this list or anything that we may have left out. We are here to help!