Before you come in
SUBHEADLINE-GOES-HERE
CREDIT-GOES-HERE
I was removed from a paid community for autistic and ADHD adults during the worst week of my year. I asked what rule I'd broken. There weren't any written down.
What that room gave me was real. But what you pay for monthly, someone else owns, and what someone else owns they can take back.
Belonging is not a product.
I wasn't the only one who went out that door. NeuroSpicy Refugees is what I built so it couldn't happen again. It's free and stays free. The agreement was posted before the first member joined. Nobody is removed without being told why and given a chance to answer.
The model calls for three stewards deciding by consensus. I hold one seat, and two are open to member nomination. Until they're filled, no removal or urgent policy change happens on my word alone. Senior members step into the open seats for that decision.
One disclosure. Refugees is under the care of TranquilTech, a company I founded, which is raising its seed round. The whole budget is under $30 a month, and TranquilTech covers it. It does not moderate. It makes tools built for people like us, and you'll hear about them here sometimes, from me, labeled as mine. You'll never need one to belong, and joining doesn't put you on a sales list. Investors may hear how many of us there are. They won't see what anyone said.
You don't have to have been banned to come in, and you don't have to be angry at anyone. The door's open and nobody's standing at it with a list.
Josh Wolf, steward