Good Gorilla

A Flexive Coworking Space for Creatives.

Status Update

Gracia Lam

Status Update

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Soft Re-opening Extension (10 additional members) on Aug 6th

As we settle into this new normal, our priority at Good Gorilla continues to be the health and safety of off our community. In line with those priorities we will continue to take a slower and more cautious approach as we enter our 2nd stage of Soft Re-opening to coincide with Ontario’s Phase 3 (Aug 1st).

At this moment, we continue to only open to current members and unfortunately will not be accepting new members.

After our first re-opening phase and testing, we are now confident that we are able to gradually and safely increase the capacity of members while maintaining social distancing.

Working, connecting and relaxing in safe way.

How we are implementing to accommodate a larger group:

  • Face coverings will be required everywhere inside the office, except when you are seated at your desk. Obviously you are welcome to keep your mask on at all time.
  • Food & drinks should be consumed at your desk or at a safe distance between members.
  • Sanitize your hand each time you enter the space. Sanitizers wipes and masks are available in multiple areas.
  • Sneeze guards have been put in place at different locations within the space.
  • HEPA antimicrobial filters will be added to the A/C Units. Separate air purifier will also be added to both partitions.
  • The layout of the space has been reconfigured to allow more space between each member.
  • Our services will continue to be limited. However, the community manager will be available through Slack and Optix.
  • Cleaners will come every weekend for a deep cleaning of the space.
  • Updated Community Guidelines establish a set of operating principles that can help keep all of us as well as others safe, within the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Read the guideline

If you would like to have access to the space during this 2nd re-opening phase: you can email us at [email protected].

Co-working Space Re-Opening Steps

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As of Wednesday, June 24th, The Provincial government has announced that the city of Toronto has finally moved to the second phase of reopening. A lot of our members have expressed that your Work From Home situation isn’t the most ideal and getting back into the space would help maximize your productivity. While we are also eager to reopen, our top priority is the health and safety of not only our members and our team, but all of our loved ones as well.

With that said, similarly to how the province is proceeding, we have decided to move forward with a multi-phased approach to open the space. The first 2 phases will be for our current members only. Our members will be informed privately regarding

  1. Soft Opening (10 members)

  2. Soft Opening Extension (25 members)

  3. Full Opening

What you can expect from us and the 401 building on the safety front:

  • Sneeze Guards are available at the front desk. Those can be set up on dedicated and shared desks.
  • Disposable face masks are available to our members also at the front desk. However we encourage you to bring your own mask to maximize quantities.
  • Sanitizers and wipes are located in multiple areas of our coworking space, including the shared desk, kitchen area, phone booth, and meeting room.
  • Dishwasher & Garbage cleaning will be done on a regular schedule.
  • 401 Richmond’s property management team has been doing more frequent cleaning of washrooms, elevators, common areas and other high frequency touch points. Additional hand sanitizer stations have also been installed throughout the building.
  • Washrooms will have a maximum occupancy of 1 person at a time for the time being. To avoid contact from the washroom keys, we encourage all members to use the washrooms on the first floor until further notice. You may choose to use a paper towel when exiting washrooms to avoid touching the door handle. Waste bins have been placed at the door to the washrooms to dispose of the towels after exiting.
  • Cleaners for Good Gorilla will come every weekend for a deep cleaning of the space.

We will continue to stay informed and make changes as we see fit based on the advice of Public Health authorities. We miss you all very much and we’re looking forward to catching up and chatting with you very soon!

Black Lives Matter

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We’d like to take a moment to focus our attention towards the Black Lives Matter movement. If you can, please donate to some organizations we’ve contributed to:

Justice for Regis
Helps get the proper justice Regis Korchinski Paquet needs.

Black Legal Action Centre
A non-profit community legal clinic that provides free legal services for low or no income Black residents of Ontario.

Black Lesbian and Queer Digital Residency Fund
Provides digital residencies in the form of micro grants to Black Lesbian and Queer scholars, archivists, artists, and content creators with the goal of creating more digital spaces and giving more support to the spaces that already exists that exclusively share Black lesbian and queer culture, art, and archival works.

Women’s Health in Women’s Hands
Provide primary healthcare to racialized women from the African, Black, Caribbean, Latin American and South Asian communities in Toronto and surrounding municipalities.

Orgs that Support Black Trans People
Not all Black people have the same needs, and some Black communities, such as Black transgender people, are still not receiving sufficient financial and structural support.

We will always strive to contribute to the eradication of racial and systemic injustices and are hopeful that if we all do this together and keep our foot on the gas, we will succeed.

Digital Pride Month

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During April and May, we relied heavily on our community for support. Many of you have come forward with your generosity and showed kindness in many forms. Besides connecting with us for mental sustenance, the purchases you have made at our store directly benefited Canadian creators, organizations, and paid for expenses that we are upholding until we reopen. This is why we believe we have the best community.

If you are still looking for ways to help us or other communities in need, or want to wear your pride on your sleeve/shirt/hat this month, look no further! Our Good Gorilla Pride Pin is created to send 50% of its proceeds to Pflag Canada, founded by parents who wished to help themselves and their family members understand and accept their LGBTQ+ children.

LGBTQ+ Organizations We Love

A few (of many!) fun and safe spaces we want to put a spotlight on:

Inside Out
Our neighbour who also resides inside 401 Richmond! An important organization that holds production and exhibition of film made by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people of all ages, races and abilities. Take a look at their upcoming roster of (online) events, films, and competitions.

Club Quaranteen
A queer online dance party!
every 👏 day 👏 of 👏 the 👏 quarantine
9pm-12am EST (plus 4-7pm EST on saturdays!)

Buddies in Bad Times
Queer, Far, Wherever You Are is a digital performance and blog series that are programmed to help bring some quality queer content to the comfort of your homes (er, phones). Over the next couple of months, Buddies’ Instagram will showcase queer artists who will share intimate performances from their homes — from burlesque to readings, and DJ sets to makeup tutorials.

Tegan and Sara Foundation
Their COVID-19 response has granted more than $28,000 to grassroots organizations that are supporting the LGBTQ+ community through the pandemic. The link above has resources for mental health, healthcare access, risks for LGBTQ+ people, and other positive content.

The WFH Edition

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May 2020: This month has seen us adjust to a new reality.

Without a space to go into, the lockdown is reshaping how our community comes together. Physical distancing highlighted our need and commitment to social connections, so we’re creating virtual meetups and events online that are open for all to join!

One special moment we had was on April 1st, when our members virtually and celebrated our 4th Birthday with us.

From what started with only 3 individuals to now a community that has reached hundreds of creatives every year, we recognize the significance of how these connections has grown beyond being an office inside a (beautiful brick and mortar) building.

Good Gorilla has always served as a safe space for all freelancers to work from. We are excited to come back healthier, stronger, and more connected for many years to come.