January 2026 Update
Gender Outlaws and construction timelines
Apologies for the late email, we've been a bit occupied with snow and storms! Hopefully you've dug yourself out too. Read on for our latest news.
The snowstorm we got vs. the meals we cooked during it
Valuing our membership
In January we had our "values meeting", which all members of the community attended. This was an all-day meeting (with breaks for meals) - but even then, we had to drop parts of the agenda! In a community like this, there's simply a lot to talk about.
What do we mean by values? How we resolve conflict, how resources are shared, how spaces are used. We even talked about this very website: how much of a social media presence do we want, who controls the accounts, and who is our audience?
We left with a long list of action items, and a commitment to continue the conversation as we accomplish immediate tasks. It's likely that we'll make regular values check-ins a regular part of how our community operates. Getting on the same page about culture and values is a critical part of incorporation as a non-profit, since those decisions impact how we write our bylaws.
Gender Outlaw
One of our housemates, Rowan, was featured in an artist profile! You can watch Gender Outlaw: The art of Rowan Raskin on YouTube (filmed by William Muench). Some of the footage was filmed at one of MALT's parties, and we of course love seeing Rowan's art everywhere around the house!
Upcoming events
In February, we will continue to have a light schedule with just a few community meetings and meals. Losing our two largest community spaces has definitely made it harder to host others, so we're excited for that to end.
Over the weekend, some of our members attended a standout in Malden to show our opposition to illegal actions by ICE and democratic backsliding in the United States. We'd love if you joined us next Saturday - if you ever want to get in touch, you can always send us a DM on BlueSky.
The only upcoming event to note is our next Quarterly Planning Meeting, which will be in March. Details TBD as we figure out where and how to host it.
Two open rooms
NOTE: We're looking for ideas about where to advertise our room openings! We're especially interested in reaching people who are interested in intentional communities, or who are trying to relocate to the Boston area.
We are currently conducting interviews for two open rooms. Our priority is to find new members with skills relevant to managing collective housing, and who could see themselves staying for at least several years. If you think this sounds like you or one of your friends, please start a conversation! We'd love to invite you to some events and get to know each other.
Our website's "Housing" page will always have the most up-to-date info on what's available and what we're looking for:
MALT Community
Please feel free to forward our housing page, or this email, to a friend or to another mailing list. We're especially open to working with people planning to relocate to Massachusetts.
The construction continues
While our social events have been slower, the construction is actually ahead of schedule. Most demolition has been completed, and much of the new electrical and plumbing has been put in place. This is a great chance to see what the "guts" of an 1880s home look like - and where possible, make improvements to safety and energy efficiency.
Demolished walls, new plumbing, and much improved wiring
How we live is directly tied to our political values, and that impacts the choices we make when remodeling. An example is that we're trying to avoid "quartz" countertops in favor of natural stone. It turns out that these products are essentially stone dust bound with plastic fillers - and that dust is killing construction workers. Bans on quartz countertops are in progress in other countries, and the risk to workers means we won't be buying one even if they're currently legal in Massachusetts.
Major remaining tasks include demolishing the load-bearing wall, tiling, and installing cabinets and countertop. After that, it will mostly be finish work. That means it'll still be a few months before we can announce our inaugural event in the new common area, but you can expect to hear all about it on this mailing list.
And now for a pet photo
That's it for January. See you when everything thaws!
