Hiiii there :) world traveler with lots of experience in permaculture / hospo / animals / labor / woofing / teaching English as a second language and just finished a BSc in psychology (32 F)

Now that I’ve graduated I want to move out west again and I’m thinking of buying a van and finding my people out there

I have lived in several communities (mostly in Australia) and I MISSSS IT

Just putting it out there incase this finds someone who knows a group of down to earth humans - I want to be part of something again ❤️❤️❤️ and grow my own vegetables

Hi everyone,

I'm from Romania, and I've spent most of my professional life working in logistics and operations management, coordinating people, solving problems and finding ways to make things work with limited resources.

I'm not a developer, a politician or someone running a large organization. Just someone who believes that, with the right people and a realistic plan, even something that seems impossible at first might actually work.

Why are we doing this?

Over the years, I've watched rural communities slowly disappear. Young people leave in search of opportunities, houses are abandoned, and elderly residents are often left behind.

And I've kept coming back to one question:

Why do we keep accepting that these places have no future?

We're talking about villages that already have houses, land, traditions, and people who spent their entire lives building something. Yet little by little, all of it is disappearing.

I don't believe every village can or should be saved. But I do believe some deserve a genuine second chance.

That's how Satul Viu (The Living Village) started.

The idea isn't to create another tourist destination or simply renovate a few abandoned buildings.

We want to help rebuild a functioning, self-sustaining rural community.

That means restoring homes, supporting elderly residents, creating opportunities for younger generations, developing local agriculture, encouraging small businesses and bringing volunteers together.

Not just bringing buildings back to life, but giving people a reason to stay, return or start something new.

Where are we now?

We've already contacted several organizations, hoping to receive guidance, practical information or simply some direction.

Unfortunately, very few have been willing to engage. And to be clear, we weren't necessarily asking for financial support. Sometimes, even a useful conversation would have helped.

We've also created a crowdfunding campaign, but progress has been slow.

Our biggest difficulty so far seems to be organic visibility. Getting people to share an idea, especially one that doesn't yet have impressive results or dramatic before-and-after pictures, is surprisingly difficult.

We're not starting entirely from zero financially.

We intend to invest part of the money from selling a personally owned property in the city into getting this project started.

But we also understand that throwing money at an idea without the right structure would be a terrible way to begin.

I come from an operational background, so planning, resource management, accountability and measurable results matter to me.

And that's precisely why I'm asking for advice before making major financial commitments.

What would you do in our position?

If you were trying to develop something like this, where would you start?

Would you focus on one house or a small pilot project first, demonstrate that the concept works, and expand gradually?

Would you prioritize partnerships, volunteers, local authorities or building an online community?

And perhaps most importantly, how would you get an initiative like this in front of people who might genuinely care, without turning every social media post into another request for donations?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from people with experience in crowdfunding, community development, nonprofit projects or rural revitalization.

We're not asking for donations here. We're asking for perspectives, practical advice and constructive criticism.

Maybe our approach needs adjustments. Maybe we're overlooking something obvious. Or perhaps someone here has already faced similar challenges.

Either way, I'd rather learn from other people's experience than spend months repeating mistakes that could have been avoided.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Sometimes saving a place begins with understanding why it was abandoned in the first place.