The house started two years ago when Saleh and Bilal were cleaning up the aftermath of a flood in the house. Saleh was Bilal’s student at a UNICEF funded project run by Nawaya where Bilal was working to bring innovation through design thinking to marginalized youth. Before long Bilal was realizing that he was Saleh’s student as well.
We started asking the question. What would happen if instead of trying to help each other we lived together instead and had our exchanges come from a place of care. Then we started to wonder is it possible to expand this uncommon union to include more people, to create a structure that supported the financial and physical needs of those involved, while living from a place of compassion rather than obligation.
These questions grew into Beit Al Atlas. A semi-public and semi-private community home where we explore alternative care oriented ways of responding to the many challenges our modern times bring to us.
It’s been a challenge, and we are evolving and changing as we learn. We have made mistakes and I’d like to take this moment to publicly apologize to anyone who’s had a challenge in our house. Beit Al Atlas struggles financially, as well as infra-structurally and we’re continuously attempting to improve our communication processes. If after reading all this you’re still interested in participating as a house mate, a part time resident and house contributor, or hosting an event in our public space please message us on Facebook and we’ll get back to you soon.