Affordable Flexible Workspace Enables Neurodivergent Youth Programs and Small Business Collaboration

Sabrina (00:00) I would say a feature that keeps me coming back is almost any time that I have an idea or I would like to do something, and I ask Heather, "Do you think this would be of the time her answer is yes. She doesn't even hesitate and it's super flexible. And even if her answer would be no, she would easily find a way to help me to make sure that what I wanted to do could actually happen. I'm Sabrina Mitchell. I am the owner and one of the social skills instructors for Authentic Connections. We do social skills instruction and social connection opportunities for middle school through young adults that are Neurodivergent. We rent space at the CO-OP, and we spend the majority of our time in the rec room at the CO-OP, but then also spread out to different areas around the CO-OP depending on what our needs are for the We've been utilizing the space at the CO-OP at Shoal Creek about a year and a half. One of the biggest benefits that I've seen working in a shared space is actually my exposure to other small businesses that we can collaborate together for like mutual benefits. So there's been several different small businesses that I didn't even know existed that I've run into with different activities at the CO-OP that we've been able to work together to provide activities for my participants. The flexibility that the CO-OP provides has been really immeasurable for the value of our mission and what we hope to do for kids. I'm able to utilize multiple different spaces throughout the CO-OP with lots of flexibility. We've been able to make a lot of activities come to fruition that I don't think I would have been able put together in another space. The parts of the CO-OP that we use the most, we use the rec room the most. It is a room that has foosball, it has air hockey, ping pong, a couple of different TVs that we can hook up video games for. We also use one of their conference rooms that's kind of a classroom-type space, and we use that on a really regular basis as well. So those are the two spaces that we use the most. This space provides the opportunity for me to be able to offer a huge variety of activities to kids. The amount of space in the different places that we use, I don't think would be possible with my current setup, and currently my financial situation. I wouldn't actually be able to afford rent on a space that provides as much as the CO-OP provides. I originally did have some hesitations working in a church space before landed on collaborating with the co-op. actually talked to a couple of different churches about renting space. A lot of the individuals that I work with might have... some differing gender identities, they might have some different sexual orientation, and I wanted to make sure that whatever space we were in was a space that they would always feel that was home, that they were welcome to be in. And I felt like this is definitely a place where my kids would be loved and accepted and they would feel like it could be at home. So those concerns that I did have about renting a church space are no longer.