Canada
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Update Nov 30: We may have space starting Dec 18.
Note: Due to the ongoing Coronavirus, If you have been not isolating before arriving, we may request that you get a Covid19 test or partially isolate at the house. So far no one living here has gotten sick.
Especially looking for people with renovation skills/interest for our new kitchen/dining room project that is underway (now until March). Also there is cooking, cleaning and garden work.
Note: We don't always book people many months in advance, we prefer to wait until closer to the start dates so we can see how much space we have. Some people here stay longer than they initially planned so we don't always know the timing of openings long in advance.
If you would like to help, please let us know your range of availability and preferred length of stay.
We are a 11-person vegetarian community house in Toronto. My name is Steve and living here is also Adonia, Marius (an exchanger from Romania here until Spring), Luke (from Canada/Africa), Elia (Russia/Israel), Swetha (from India), and Steven, Vishal, Karma, Sarah (from Canada) plus one shorter term an exchanger.
Toronto is a great place to visit with vibrant neighbourhoods, bike-friendly streets, lots of festivals, farmers' markets, waterfront parks and an island park you can reach by ferry. etc.
We are looking for people who are either older (our house is mostly made up of people in their mid 20's to early 50's) or those in their early 20's who already have some experience living independently.
We are especially open to people who are keen to try a vegetarian diet and interested in spiritual activities like meditation, chanting, yoga and/or prayer. We are a spiritually-focused house. Most of us practice a faith of one form or another.
We typically make daily vegan meals (feasts) and often a breakfast or other preparations. We typically shop at farmers' markets and food co-ops.
We also have an environmental focus -- we are into natural building, avoiding plastic packaging and products, eating vegetarian or vegan, and not wearing/using chemically-scented products.
Are you OK with a chemical-free home? i.e: no perfumes, or scented soups, shampoos? Unless natural and organic.
Includes high speed internet, house phone and laundry soap. We have guest bikes available. To support a peaceful atmosphere, we are looking for those wanting to live without the distraction or temptation of TV and radio, cigarettes and alcohol.
We are located on a quiet street (1 block from the subway and very close to downtown). We have a large tree-shaded front porch and back deck. Our three storey house has eight bedrooms, a guest room and two bathrooms (soon to be three). We have an infrared cedar sauna and workshop in the basement.
Ecological features include using Bullfrog Power (green energy provider), front load washing machine, clothes lines for drying, low flush toilets, efficient fireplace insert where on cool nights we can burn scrap wood, a vegetable garden, and a low-on-the-food-chain vegetarian/vegan kitchen with an emphasis on organics and locally-grown foods.
Charity Work
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Cultural exchange and learning about community living. People will learn about vegan cuisine, environmental food choices and maybe also renovation of an old house, yoga and gardening.
We looking for about 4 hours per day in exchange for a room, full use of the house and basic food ingredients. Our shared food is cooked from scratch, so the more help we get the better we all eat. :-) We can provide some training, and timing of work is flexible.
Volunteer work options: We currently have plenty of renovation projects. We are working on some major design changes to create some large open spaces within the house (involving demolition, flooring, wiring, plumbing, cabinets, plastering, etc), currently we are building a new kitchen and dining area. And replacing the stairs to the basement.
There is also cleaning and stuff to make in the kitchen. You can cook a full meal for the entire house, help others cook, or just make single shared items such as a soup, hummus, muffins, etc. We can teach you some of this.
You can also work on the Veggie Challenge . Some of the work could be adding content to this project. Or helping to create recipes and cooking videos. Or translating pages.
Other possibilities include leading a yoga session, art, crafts, sewing or gardening.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Intermediate
This host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
Please contact them directly for more information.
Small bedroom or guest/meditation room. Sometimes housemates go away and more rooms become available.
Our home is bug-free.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
We generally have a good high speed wifi connection but a lot of people in the house are using it, or you can connect with ethernet.
You would need to park on the street and buy a parking pass which is about $25 per week
No cats. Only well behaved dogs, but keep in mind that we have no fence around the property.
Two
About 4 hours per day 5 days a week, a couple hours on the weekend cooking and/or cleaning
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