Help our family with everyday life in vibrant walking neighborhood in Oakland, California, USA

Details

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  Description

  Hello! we live in a gorgeous neighborhood near SF and have SO enjoyed the happiness that guests have found and shared here- see more info below. We currently have these openings:
  
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  - we are currently pretty full through mid June except for strong DIY candidates
  
  - we ARE actively seeking a couple or single person from last week of June (2024), for a stay of 8 or more weeks (family help, cleaning and ideally some DIY).
  
  - people with interest and or skills in diy/construction can ping about stays of as short as a couple weeks, for any month
  
  We're not actively thinking yet about September or beyond, although couples that are a great fit for 2+ month stays we'd consider for September.
  
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  Share about your interests and experience with that, and your dates of availability / how long you'd be here.
  
  === OUR FAMILY & HOME ===
  
  Julia is a kindergarten teacher and Brian social impact entrepreneur live near Lake Merritt in Oakland with two young children two dogs. We enjoy connecting with people, traveling, nature, yoga, dance, music, healthy food...
  
  In one of Oakland's finest neighborhoods - green and calm, with super friendly neighbors, walking distance from many businesses, Lake Merritt, farmer's market, and downtown/subway , with easy transit to downtown, San Francisco, Berkeley and more.
  
  We're among four units in a new co-housing project (separate kitchens, but each provides a monthly meal, shared garden etc.) so there will be many friendly faces around. We have a huge sunny deck, a separate roof deck and yard, a hot tub, music and a big screen for movies, and often bikes to borrow.
  
  Brian is currently handling initial communications. We'll both do a Whatsapp interview before agreeing to anything if it looks like we could be a fit. Happy travels!
  
  == HOW WE HOST ===
  
  We enjoy hosting travelers~ it's so cool to meet new interesting people and to hear about your enjoyment of the bay area! We have been hosting almost continuously since 2017. Today, we still keep in touch with a few dozen of our "Workaway family" and several have returned for visits short and long.
  
  We have learned that it works best if there's a true "win--win." So tell us, what do you hope to gain or learn from the Workaway volunteer experience? We usually try to connect you to reach your goals. And, we sure appreciate the extra hands/help. We lead a very dynamic life (flexible schedules to make sure that we have time to strive for our balance of family, neighbors, friends, WORK, healthy food & fitness, nature, urban events and nightlife).
  
  Some people do a bit of both, but we think of people often in two roles:
  -- house help, and
  -- construction/diy
  
  === House helper person/s==
  
  MUST HAVES (TOP 5): for the house/family helper persons
  1. you LIKE DOGS (Boo is small but has a lot of personality)
  and walking/taking care of them= 5+ hours a week (not all on you!)
  2. you are an experienced and SAFE DRIVER (we often need help with driving errands)
  3. you are comfortable around and ENJOY CHILDREN (we have two: a 7 year old boy and 5 year old girl) and with OLDER people that need a little help around the house. Our children wake the house up around 7:00a and have an incredibly bright life: enjoying school, playing with friends, drawing, being outside. And, Julia's mom is currently staying with us and she loves cooked food, being driven to interesting places, etc.
  4. you enjoy KEEPING TIDY. (your private room is small but bright. our weekly housekeeper for our house has been with us 15 years and we keep trying to live in a clean and inspiring space. Our housekeeper cleans our main house. We do ask for 5 hours a week to help clean at a pretty detailed level.
  5. you have CLEAR COMMUNICATION. (you are clear about your dates (+scheduling needs) and tell us about your date window in your first message, also share your goals for the workaway experience. you are truly interested in experiencing Bay Area living and helping out. you can talk about challenges that come up in life. you are clear and comfortable with saying yes or no. we often share meals together (usually 2+ dinners per week, and weekend breakfasts, occasional lunches - we provide ingredients for the other meals).
  
  
  === Workaway Handy Projects ===
  
  We *️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️always*️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️ enthusiastically consider people who have real experience working with TOOLS (carpentry - working with wood, electrical, plumbing, drywall, etc) to work together on projects as they come up. Could be shorter 2-4 week stay. In this role you don't need strong/extensive skills- we usually have someone to mentor on details, but the mindset to do things carefully, clean up afterwards, and also to dive in and learn while doing. So tell us about your experience with tools and projects in your first message. "DIY" people super welcome.
  
  Also open to discussing other skills such as massage/yoga, swim lessons, etc.
  
  ===
  Many guests have earned money while here (of course, make sure your visa status allows that if you're not from the US).
  
  We have two different Workaway spaces: a private room usually for our *House helper* and a private attic space for *Workaway Handy projects*. We provide healthy food, and lots of ideas to make your experience the best it can be.
  
  ==============
  Interested?
  
  If you read all the full profile and think we might match all of it, please let us know in the subject saying "I read your conditions- we match" since many emails are typically generic.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are a very social family, surrounded by neighbors we often share meals with.
  
  A traveller could meet many interesting people, improve their English if from abroad, and see San Francisco, Berkeley, and California generally. Our house is a perfect location to explore the Bay Area. It is walking distance to the lake, shops, restaurants and the BART train.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  Details are posted above. We work out weekly schedules for 20-25 hours of volunteering in exchange for room+board. People whose goals here include earning money could find well-paying work in the neighborhood (cleaning, gardening, handyman work), visa permitting of course.
  
  Ideally you would have house experience (cleaning, organizing, cooking, walking the dogs, help with running errands, gardening) the other ideally has some experience with tools (construction/ or the spirit to learn/focus on DIY projects around the property for example, landscaping).
  
  Our house and neighborhood (very central/ great walking neighborhood and public transportation, biking etc) are well suited for this so make it easy to host.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  Spanish: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  Our home is a gorgeous, large 1908 house with a very modern add-on unit and a set of very friendly neighbors with whom we frequently share meals. There are many different spaces to hang out.
  
  
  We have had many roommates and happily share our food (we eat mostly vegetarian, but some meat is fine too).
  Dinner is usually 6-6:30 because of kiddos. We communicate when we need a "family dinner" (some private time 2-4 times a week).

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  What else ...

  It is really fun to live so close to Lake Merritt (great for jogging and picnics), and the "BART" (subway) is 15 minutes walk. Our work week is mostly quiet at home (sometimes meeting friends for dinner). We like to get out of the house on weekends. Our dogs love when we take them on hikes in the nearby hills.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have very high speed fiber internet (nearly gigabit), a wired ethernet network, and mesh wi-fi network.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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