Adil Dhalla on The Feeling of Community

“What has affirmed my desire to be part of community is the feeling of pleasure that comes from a sense of being one, in service to something that is beyond yourself.” — Adil Dhalla

Adil Dhalla is a community organizer and the Director of Community for Reset, a social enterprise that has been making pop up playgrounds since 2015. Adil’s past titles include Managing Director at Artscape Launchpad and Executive Director at the Centre for Social Innovation.

Host Valery Navarrete talks to Adil about his experience moving into the Clarens Commons cohouse in Toronto during the COVID-19 pandemic . . . just as she was moving out of it.  

In this episode:

The benefits of living in community during a time of loneliness and isolation brought on by pandemic public health measures.The value of intentionally creating space to ask the question “how can we live better together” through monthly house meetings.With reflections inspired by authors Layla F. Saad, adrienne maree brown, Priya Parker, Arundhati Roy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Adil shares the complexities of the cohouse’s journey to be in solidarity with the racial justice movement, and talks about the future of community given the crossroads at which we currently sit.       Adil and Valery talk about the role Reset played in their shared community building, and Adil shares his vision for “just play” in the city as Reset gets set to launch a social recovery project and community hub pilot in Toronto this summer.   

Find Adil and Reset: thisisreset.org, adildhalla.com, Instagram, TikTok, and Clubhouse

Find other episode references: Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad, Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown, The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, and The Pandemic is a Portal by Arundhati Roy

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