Potential Home for Bright Way Zen – Sangha Support Needed!
WE MADE IT!
Raised so far: $28,181 in Donations + $78,840 in Pledges = $107,021
Our goal was to raise at least $100,000 - success!
Consider donating/pledging to BWZ's long-term Capital Fund even though we have reached this short-term goal! If this particular opportunity falls through, the Capital Fund will be there for the future.
There are many potential obstacles we still face in making this a permanent home for the Zen Center. The Burks (our teacher Domyo and her husband John) need to work out acceptable terms of purchase with the seller, and then we have to work with Washington County to get permission for religious institution use at the site.
Wish us luck! Check here for updates!
More Info on the Oleson Road Property and Our Proposal ~ Zillow Listing
Our Video Tour of the Oleson Road Property
Recordings of All-Invited Sangha Meeting about This Proposal:
Audio ~ Video
Link to Questions & Answers Document
Link to Make a Pledge ~ Link to Donate
Dear Sangha,
Bright Way Zen’s Strategic Plan, adopted in 2024, identifies a goal of “working toward ownership of a physical Zen center sufficient for the Sangha’s needs by 2035.” The reasons behind this goal can be found here: Our Dream of Developing Community.
The time frame for searching for a new home was moved up because we anticipate the owners of the building we rent will want to sell within the next year or two (and we aren’t interested in buying the building in part because its parking is so constrained), and because Sangha enthusiasm is growing for having our own place, including a kitchen to use for retreats. We formed a “New Home Committee” in July of 2025. and began watching property listings.
We didn’t anticipate that a possible new home would appear so soon, but the New Home Committee and BWZ’s Board of Directors wanted to share with you this property: 8815 SW Oleson Road (click link for Zillow listing).
Click here to view a video tour of the property including intended uses.
Positives:
- Central location relative to current BWZ membership and westside population centers
- On a bus line (bus stop is right out front)
- Room for parking (25 cars easily, and more can fit with some planning an alterations), plus neighborhood parking within a few minute walk (there is a sidewalk along Oleson Road)
- Attractive and inviting setting
- A teacher’s residence or “parsonage” – this would be the front portion of the house including kitchen,* Zillow photos 8-24 (it’s very nice but not as big as it looks in the photos), allowing Domyo (and her husband) to live on site and for the Zen center to have more activities and open hours from Tuesday noon through Sunday service, including hosting AM sitting and service. *The kitchen would be available during retreats.
- A large enough room to accommodate a Zendo immediately. Zillow photos 25-27, and the diagram below that indicates 27 seats (our current Zendo has 31, which we rarely fill at this point). If we had more than 27 attendees for zazen, people could sit upstairs, and more than 27 could fit in the room for talks.
- Room for expansion: The plan would be to convert the garage into a larger Zendo, allowing the “game room” space to be converted into a kitchen + fellowship hall (or something like that). In the long term, an addition could be made to the “back” of the garage to make a bigger Zendo + additional bathrooms, etc.
- Three rooms for Zen center use: There are rooms above the garage (Zillow photos 28-34) that could be used for a Zen center office and library (converting the walk-in closet), multi-purpose meeting/sanzen/overnight space, and room for a possible ordained resident at some point.
- Space for Cloud members to come and stay. There’s enough room to accomodate at least one Cloud Zendo member overnight even without improvements, although there will not be access to a full kitchen. Still, it wouldn’t take much to develop this capacity further.
- Other features: Large basement for storage (Zillow photos 38-40), cottage out back that could be renovated into a guest house (Zillow photos 41 & 44), bathroom off Zendo/game room (Zillow photo 35), separate entrance for Zendo/Zen center (Zillow photo 36).
- Optimal location for conditional use approval: For a religious institution to legally operate on a residential property, we would have to apply for a non-confirming use permit from the county. The property is zoned R-5 and is in unincorporated Washington county, so church use is allowed as long as we meet various requirements (re: safety, transportation, etc.). The fact that the property is located on an arterial road, fully fenced and fairly private from neighbors, and directly across the street from a non-residential use are all things in our favor.
Considerations:
- Bright Way Zen is not yet in a financial position to purchase a property of this price and scale. The property would be purchased by our teacher, Domyo, and her husband John, using all of the equity from their current home.
- For the foreseeable future, Bright Way Zen would be leasing the property from the Burks and would cover the cost of the mortage + property insurance (about $4,000/month), utilities, and maintenance. The Zen center’s rent would be higher than it is now ($3,600/month) but it’s projected that the Zen center could afford this scenario without a signficant change in its current income. Click here for a projected 2027 Zen Center budget for this scenario. In this projected 2027 scenario, BWZ also comes closer to fulfilling its Strategic Plan goal of increasing the Total Compensation for its Teacher and Spiritual Director to $70,000. (Total Compensation includes the value of housing, in this case estimated to be around $24,000; if Domyo’s 2027 cash salary in 2027 was $35,000, her Total Compensation would be $24,000+$35,000 = $59,000. This is higher than the current budget for 2026 of $51,000.)
- Bright Way Zen would enter into a legal agreement to purchase the property from the Burks as soon as possible, with a goal of doing this within 15 years. The Board would launch a longer-term capital and planned giving campaign toward this goal. Realistically, it is projected that the Zen center could purchase between 5-10 years from now.
Because of the substantial risk the Burks would be taking in purchasing an expensive property that for many reasons is unsuitable for a single family home (and therefore difficult to sell), they are asking the Bright Way Zen Sangha to raise (at least) $100,000 before Wed. Feb 11th, before they make a formal offer on this property.
- The $100,000 can consist of immediate donations or pledges that would be fulfilled within 2 months (the approximate time of closing). Pledges can be contingent on the Burks closing on this property.
- Any funds to this capital campaign would belong to the Zen center and would be used for any capital expenses associated with establishing this new home. Capital expenses are “long-term investments in physical assets, infrastructure, or capacity-building rather than daily operating expenses.” If we move to Oleson Road, such expenses might include the settling out of our current lease, improvements to the property required by the county for conditional use or occupancy, and improvements to the property the Zen center might want to make including painting, tech setup, the conversion of the walk-in closet into an office, and/or an external staircase for accessing the second floor of the Zen center space (above the garage). Any funds not immediately used would be dedicated toward the first steps of longer-term improvements such as converting the garage into a large Zendo space.
- Any funds donated to the Oleson Road capital campaign will be kept in a designated capital fund for the future if this particular opportunity falls through.
- This $100,000 would not only be important for covering costs, it would be a good faith demonstration on the part of the Sangha that the Burks are not taking a financial risk without corresponding support and commitment from the community.
- Assuming all other aspects of this process go well (we continue discussions with the county, a real estate lawyer, financial advisor, tax consultant, etc.), the Burks would make a formal offer as soon as BWZ raised $100,000 in donations or pledges. The property is in preforeclosure and we will also need to ask for a fairly long due diligence period to make sure there are no insurmountable obstacles to our conditional use with the county, so the sooner we raise the funds the better!
We understand that the financial situations of our Bright Way Zen members and friends vary widely. Some members are on fixed incomes and can’t afford to donate financially at all, others are fortunate to have considerable resources and few financial obligations, and everyone else falls somewhere in between.
If you can’t afford to contribute to the Oleson Road Campaign at this time, please don’t feel obligated. If we can’t raise the funds by Feb. 11th, it’s probably a sign that our Sangha isn’t ready for this step. However, if you can afford to contribute, please consider offering as much as you can to launch Bright Way Zen into a new and exciting phase of our development as a community.
– Domyo and the Bright Way Zen Board
WE MADE IT!
Raised so far: $28,181 in Donations + $78,840 in Pledges = $107,021
Our goal was to raise at least $100,000 - success!
Consider donating/pledging to BWZ's long-term Capital Fund even though we have reached this short-term goal! If this particular opportunity falls through, the Capital Fund will be there for the future.
There are many potential obstacles we still face in making this a permanent home for the Zen Center. The Burks (our teacher Domyo and her husband John) need to work out acceptable terms of purchase with the seller, and then we have to work with Washington County to get permission for religious institution use at the site.
Wish us luck! Check here for updates!
More Info on the Oleson Road Property and Our Proposal ~ Zillow Listing
Our Video Tour of the Oleson Road Property
Recordings of All-Invited Sangha Meeting about This Proposal:
Audio ~ Video
Link to Questions & Answers Document
Link to Make a Pledge ~ Link to Donate
Picture Credit: Image from Zillow.
Online(Cloud) participants were invited to share their offerings as well. The online offerings included intriguing artwork, acoustic guitar & song, and an amusing haiku poetry reading.
