2020 FAQ

2020 is a challenging year for all of us. This page is to help address concerns and questions about our move status, new building, COVID-19 response, and plans for the future.

Where is MakeICT Located?

MakeICT is located at 5920 E Mt Vernon St. March 2020 was our last month paying rent at 1500 E Douglas. Thanks to the help of our most loyal volunteers we were able to move out and clean up on schedule!

Is MakeICT open?

Our new building is not quite ready yet, we do not have the certificates of occupancy necessary to be a makerspace. We have had to work on our projects in small groups to preserve social distancing. Once we are open, we may not be able to hold public events due to COVID-19 restrictions, but hope to be available for member projects. With your help this could happen as soon as July 1.

Is MakeICT creating masks and face shields to prevent COVID-19 spread?

Yes - but in our own homes. We are also actively working with other groups and makerspaces to make masks and face shields.

Are member dues still being charged?

Yes. MakeICT is a community. Last year, as a community, we voted to purchase a new building. Our mortgage, utilities and insurance are paid by our members whether we can hold our normal events or not.

What is our financial situation?

This is a very hard time for MakeICT and we could really use your support! For the last seven years MakeICT has been a healthy, growing, financial stable organization. We've been fiscally conservative and saved up a lot for our new building. We did NOT plan for a global pandemic to happen on top of it!

• We cannot hold our popular open house tour nights, where 30-50 people would come visit the space and consider membership. Maker Mondays were our primary means of attracting new members. Even if people do hear about us online they do not see the value in joining yet because they can't come make things.
• We have lost members. The good news is that in our financial projections, we actually DID plan to lose members in the move - and we have not lost as many as we thought! The bad news is that the members we've lost had to stop paying due to their own financial constraints and lost work, not because of our move. These are hard economic times affecting thousands of people, including some of our loyal members.
• There is no class revenue coming in. Classes accounted for a significant portion of our income, and they are all put on hold right now.

For those reasons, we could really use your help right now. Donate to MakeICT at http://makeict.org/donate

You can still join! Your membership means a lot to us. http://makeict.org/join

If you or someone you know might want to join someday, buy a gift card now! http://makeict.org/gift-memberships/

If you know of grant opportunities, contact fundraising@makeict.org

And finally, the most exciting way to help out is to sell tickets for our June raffle! We have just kicked this off and will work hard in May to sell all the tickets. There are a limited number to be sold and all entries must be in by June 14th. More details about the raffle are here: https://talk.makeict.org/t/please-help-us-sell-some-raffle-tickets/6701

Are we finished setting up our new makerspace?

Not quite. There are small construction projects still going on, and permits required to be a makerspace. We are no longer allowed to work these projects with big huge groups of enthusiastic volunteers, so activity has slowed down a little, but we are still moving forward! Construction is allowed under the state's stay-at-home orders, so we have been moving forward with small groups of volunteers who can maintain proper social distances while working on the space.

What is left to be done before we can receive our Certificate of Occupancy?

The Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is based on MABCD Inspections and a WFD Inspection. The Metal and Wood Shops require fire walls, and fire doors, these should be done by the end of April. Since the new building was plumbed (restrooms) for Early Childhood, we have to upgrade the restrooms to fit Adults, and ADA requirements. This work is underway. Emergency Egress safety is also required and being addressed. When we pass inspections on all these, we will receive the CO.

There are a few items to be finished to be ready to operate, but are not required for CO. 220 V circuits in the shops are one example. Work on these projects is underway, but the focus is on finishing the CO work.

If you would like to help with the construction work, we need you. General Construction, HVAC, Electriical and Plumbing skills are needed. Email: Paula.Pankratz@makeict.org for more information.

Can I join MakeICT?

Yes! Please visit http://makeict.org/join to become a member. As a member you will be able to apply for a key once we can open our new building to be our makerspace!

You can also buy a gift membership at http://makeict.org/gift-memberships/ with a print-at-home instruction sheet to redeem later. It would help us a lot!

I am already a member with a key, does my key badge work at the new building yet?

No. There is a team working on that now.