Restoring wild and human habitat
Habitat is the wildlife far and near from us. It also includes us. It is also is our homes, our habits, our communities, and how we care, relate ,and connect. It also includes the businesses we gather in and around and rely on for connection. A greater mission of Swarm is to connect community leaders and business owners across the west coast states, who share values rooted in protecting and serving our local human communities. For more information or interest in joining the West Coast Business Alliance please email Mary at meschsand@gmail.com.
Etcetera is the store and workshop of Seed Bank Bugs, which was also the origin of the Red Barn Collective. Here we are active in serving the public with a multitude of novel offerings, engaging in conversations and hosting workshops around community building, cooperative living and low income housing.
Throughout the fall and spring of each year Mary also organizes wildland native plant workshops at the Cosumnes River Preserve, where she teaches volunteers how to collect and propagated native plants to establish in habitat restoration projects. This project was seeded with funding from The Nature Conservancy and BLM, but is now relying on volunteer engagement.
Fiscal responsibility
The fiscal responsibility of this business is to cover its expenses and also support the living and working expenses of the artist and the greater community of collaborators. Our "fiscal" value extends beyond a calculation of money, and includes qualitative assessments of our positive impacts, and intentional choices to invest in the community.