Laura's Fundraiser for HOBT!

As you may know, I serve on the Board of Directors at HOBT.   I joined the board five years ago at a time when my voice felt so small in the face of all that was happening in our country.  I felt that the best thing I could do was look close to home for a place to make a difference.  HOBT has always offered a way for community to raise their voices together in artistic expression.  For me, this was the place to invest, to ensure that our neighbors in Minneapolis had a way to be heard through the power of puppetry.  There is no way I could have known at the time what challenges we would face as an organization or as a country in the years that followed- even as the focus of the entire world turned to Lake Street and the strife of our times walked straight up to our front doorstep last June.   Through it all, HOBT has dug in to do the difficult work.  We are now in the final leg of an amazing transformation, and I turn to you for your support to see it through! 

HOBT is approaching 2021 as a time of emergence. We are grounding in intention, generosity, and vulnerability by investing in a future for MayDay that is rooted in Environmental Justice, Workers Rights, Trans/Queer Community, and BIPOC leadership.

This year, HOBT will begin work to convene the Avalon Cohort to create a democratically and cooperatively held community arts space, in HOBT’s Avalon Theatre! The Avalon Cohort will work to provide creative space that centers, celebrates, and supports non-mainstream artists while giving the MayDay Celebration a sustainable space from which to grow. 

Despite the many challenges we face, HOBT is harnessing the opportunity of this moment by shifting our organizational structure to one rooted in shared power and collaboration that will move us into a sustainable post-pandemic future. With your support, that future is bright! 

Please give today to support this moment of growth rooted in relationship and resilience.