Residents of the Ofek Shalom Co-op, 122 N. Bassett St., are thankful for their new home. The Ofek Shalom house, 12 N. Butler St., sustained extensive fire damage Feb. 21. Residents lost many of their personal belongings in the fire.
Ofek Shalom is a Jewish vegetarian co-op and one of 11 co-ops belonging to the Madison Community Co-op.
Proceeds from the insurance claim and the sale of the land on which the previous co-op stood were sufficient to finance the purchase of the new house and renovations to it, with money to spare, according to Enid Williams, a resident of the co-op.
The new co-op can house 10 residents, compared to the old co-op's capacity of 12. Currently, five people live in the new Ofek Shalom Co-op.
'This was a three-bedroom house. We are now putting in dividers,' said Williams. 'We still hope to put in a skylight and renovate the kitchen.'
Residents of Ofek Shalom are grateful for the outpouring of support from the community as a whole.
'We got a lot of donations for personal losses from the community,' Williams said. 'They were very generous.'
All of the co-op residents are between the ages of 19 and 35. Some are students and others work full time. Residents spend their evenings together enjoying dinner and other activities.
Three residents choose to prepare vegetarian dinners for the house, each fixing one meal per week. Every Friday, the co-op opens its doors to the public.
'On Fridays we celebrate Shabbat and invite people from the community to join us,' said Benjamin Warner, a resident of the co-op. 'Meals during the week are smaller.'
In addition to the weekly Shabbat celebration, residents celebrate Rosh Hashana and Passover festivities along with a drag party each November.
Warner, a student who is taking the semester off, is enjoying life in his new home.
'I live in a state of perpetual bliss,' Warner said.
