Living Room

The Community Living Room was a prototype for a new kind of third space—designed to help people rebuild their social skills after the isolation of the pandemic. Located in a former convenience store in Little Jamaica, the space featured cozy seating, communal tables, an indoor forest, and even a backyard sauna. Programming focused on rest, rituals, and relearning how to be together—with activities ranging from phone-free hangouts to group meals and poetry nights.

This project emerged from early-pandemic conversations with our community and key insights from our Pop-Up Playground: people were nervous about returning to shared physical spaces and needed support in socially recalibrating. We were also inspired by Jay Pitter Placemaking’s Cultural Districts report, which identified the need for culturally sensitive community spaces in Little Jamaica.

Until then, Reset had only operated as pop-ups and seasonal experiences. With the Living Room, we wanted to offer something accessible every day—a soft place to land and reconnect. It allowed us to prototype ideas in real-time while responding to the growing need for affordable, inclusive gathering spaces in the city.

The core team behind the Living Room included Micha Edwards, Genevieve Melito, and Adil Dhalla-Kim, supported by an amazing community of collaborators and volunteers. Special shout-outs to Kiona Mercer Tremblay for weekly meditations, Joshua Fernandes for co-hosting poetic gatherings like Hope in the Cracks, and 42 Communities, the property owner who helped us bring the vision to life.

The Living Room was sustained through a mix of membership fees (with over 80 monthly members), day passes, and generous support. Programming was funded by the City of Toronto’s Cultural Hotspot initiative and Main Street Innovation Fund, with additional donations from the Toronto Foundation, Chrisoula Mirkopoulos, and partner bookings from Nia Centre for the Arts, Forth Youth Initiative, 880 Cities, and CP Planning.