Digital tools built like water: local, life-giving & held in common.
If you run a food shelf, tenant union, mutual aid collective, or community care initiative in the Twin Cities, we're your neighbors. We volunteer our technical skills to set up private, secure websites, rosters, and communication tools—so community funds stay on the ground instead of paying rent to Big Tech.
The Solidarity Pact
Our Covenant with MovementsNeighbors, Not a Corporation
Based right here in South Minneapolis, Phillips, Rondo, and Frogtown. No investors, no boards, no monetization schemes.
100% Free • No Surprise Invoices
Everything we offer is shared on volunteer time. Never trial expirations, per-seat paywalls, or sudden commercial invoices.
Your Data Stays With Your Group
Zero trackers, zero broker sales, and zero AI training on community files. Rosters belong solely to your organizers.
Zero Lock-In • Total Portability
We build on standard open-source tools. If you ever move, we gladly hand you every database dump and file cleanly.
A Digital Tool Library for Frontline Organizers
Every week, mutual aid coordinators and tenant advocates spend precious hours wrestling with broken spreadsheets, expired software trials, and monthly subscription charges that drain budgets meant for food, medicine, and rent defense.
Sky Waters exists to lift that burden. We set up reliable, open-source community infrastructure—like a neighborhood tool library—so your group has the digital backbone you need to stay safe, organized, and focused on community care.
“Big Tech privatized the ‘cloud’ and charges our communities rent to access it. But long before corporate clouds, this land was Mni Sota—where the waters mirror the sky. We build digital tools the way water was meant to be: local, life-giving, and held in common.”
Who We Are: Neighbors, Not Tech Bros
Sky Waters was started by community organizers, sysadmins, and web builders living right here in Minneapolis and Saint Paul—in Phillips, South Minneapolis, Frogtown, and Rondo. We've spent years organizing around tenant defense, food distribution, and mutual aid networks.
We don't believe in the "non-profit industrial complex" where software vendors extract grant money from underfunded groups. We treat digital infrastructure the same way a neighborhood community garden treats soil: as a shared, life-giving commons cared for by neighbors.
Rooted in Twin Cities Frontline Organizing
Because our time and server space are volunteer-powered, we intentionally dedicate our capacity to grassroots groups that cannot afford expensive commercial IT.
Movements & Collectives We Support
Mutual Aid & Survival Networks
Free grocery distribution, community fridges, solidarity meals, warm clothing drives, and street care supply pods.
Housing Justice & Tenant Defense
Tenant unions fighting evictions, eviction defense notification chains, and unhoused community encampment outreach teams.
BIPOC & Indigenous Sovereignty
Grassroots racial justice organizers, Indigenous language and cultural revitalizers, and immigrant defense coalitions.
Queer & Trans Community Care
LGBTQ2IA+ youth resource coalitions, trans housing networks, and community wellness initiatives.
Community Defense & Harm Reduction
Street medics, overdose response teams, reproductive healthcare access escorts, and grassroots bail/legal defense funds.
Neighborhoods We Actively Serve
Our volunteers live, organize, and support projects across Minneapolis and Saint Paul. If your collective operates in these neighborhoods, we're already your neighbors:
How We Work Together
You don't need to know technical terminology, server specs, or coding. If your group is having a headache with software, we talk it through in plain English.
Tell Us What's Causing Friction
Reach out through our short intake note. Tell us what your collective does, what tools are breaking or costing too much, and what you wish was easier.
We Review Simple, Private Options
A volunteer will connect with your organizers over Signal or email. We figure out the simplest, zero-cost setup that respects your group's privacy and workflow.
We Set It Up & Stay By Your Side
We configure the tools, securely migrate any rosters or documents, and walk your volunteers through how to use them with ongoing, friendly check-ins.
Why We Refuse to Pay Rent to Software Landlords
Big Tech traps mutual aid and grassroots groups in perpetual rent: baiting organizers with fragile "free tiers," then demanding hundreds or thousands of dollars a year when community needs grow. Here is how we replace extractive commercial subscriptions with tools held in common:
Google Workspace / Microsoft 365
$6–$18 per user / month
CryptPad & Private Nextcloud
Client-side encrypted live document collaboration, volunteer spreadsheets, and private file sharing. Zero tracking, zero per-seat fees.
Mailchimp / Substack
$20–$150+ / month
Listmonk Community Newsletters
Self-hosted newsletter tool with fast delivery, zero tracker beacons, unlimited subscribers, and full volunteer ownership.
Airtable / Fragile Spreadsheets
$20/user/mo or crashes
Custom MariaDB Web Portals
Tailored relational web tables for grocery distribution, shift volunteer rosters, supply intake, and repair tracking with simple forms.
Shared Plaintext Passwords
SMS codes & open sheets
Bitwarden / Vaultwarden & MFA
Encrypted team password vaults, hardware security keys, and secure credential rotation so volunteers share access safely.
Squarespace / Wix / WordPress.com
$16–$45/mo recurring fees
Donated OpenBSD Edge Hosting
Blazing-fast, tracker-free community informational sites and resource directories hosted at zero cost on our hardened server.
What's in the Community Tool Library
Every collective has different needs. Here are the community-owned tools and infrastructure we can configure, host, and maintain with your group:
Websites & Resource Hubs
Fast, clear websites so community members can find food distribution hours, clinic dates, or tenant rights info without bloated trackers.
- Works on slow phones & spotty data
- Accessible for screen readers (WCAG AAA)
- Free custom subdomain or own domain
Group Email & Newsletters
Custom group email addresses (e.g. contact@yourgroup.org) and self-hosted community newsletters with zero tracking beacons.
- Full SPF, DKIM & DMARC deliverability
- Private broadcast lists via Listmonk
- Zero third-party tracking pixels or spy beacons
Encrypted Docs & Storage
Surveillance-free alternative to Google Docs and OneDrive. Real-time document editing, volunteer spreadsheets, and encrypted meeting archives.
- End-to-end client-encrypted docs (CryptPad)
- Shared folders with role-based permissions
- Works in any browser with zero app installs
Intake & Roster Databases
Tailored relational tables and simple forms for grocery delivery routing, tenant survey logging, mutual aid intake, and inventory.
- No arbitrary Airtable row caps or paywalls
- Isolated MariaDB database with security
- One-click CSV / SQL export whenever desired
Password Security & Backups
Stop texting passwords or losing administrative access when organizers transition. Shared encrypted vaults and offline backup workflows.
- Encrypted team vaults via Bitwarden / Vaultwarden
- Hardware 2FA / Security Key (YubiKey) rollouts
- Automated offline encrypted backup routines
Hands-On Tech Migration
Untangling messy domain records, moving off overpriced commercial hosts, and helping your team feel confident with independent tools.
- Step-by-step guidance without intimidating tech jargon
- Zero-downtime website and email migrations
- Audit of recurring software bills to save funds
Our Honest Capacity & Boundaries
To stay reliable and protect every group on our shared server, our volunteer maintainers have clear boundaries:
What We Do Best
- Fast, lightweight accessible web portals & resource directories
- Group email routing, contact forms & privacy-first newsletters
- Encrypted team password vaults & 2FA rollout for organizers
- Relational databases for intake, shift coordination, and supply lists
- Migrating groups away from expensive Big Tech subscriptions
What We Direct Elsewhere
- Native mobile app builds (iOS / Android app stores)
- Closed-source proprietary custom software development
- High-frequency commercial payment processing gateways
- Handling high-risk regulated medical files (HIPAA) or credit cards
- Operating 24/7 on-call corporate technical helpdesks
Mutual Aid, Not Charity: How We Keep the Commons Flowing
We don't treat partner organizers as “clients” or “charity cases.” We are neighbors pooling technical labor because we want your organizing work to succeed without draining your resources. If you're wondering how a small collective sustains this, here is how the community ecosystem works:
Keep Doing Frontline Work
The greatest contribution back to our community is simply doing what you do best: feeding neighbors, organizing tenants, and keeping people safe.
Tell Other Collectives
Know another grassroots effort paying \$50/month for Mailchimp or struggling with shared passwords? Connect them with the library.
Chip In When Able
If your group ever has surplus community funds, a \$5 or \$10 tip to our open server pool keeps the VPS running for groups with zero budget.
Our Transparent $50/Month Budget
Sky Waters is bootstrapped by volunteers out-of-pocket. We don't have corporate sponsors, grants, or venture capital. Our entire infrastructure runs on roughly $50 every month to pay for server hosting, encrypted backup storage, and domain renewals.
Because our baseline costs are capped at a modest $50/month, small community contributions allow us to sustainably support dozens of frontline groups without ever charging a dime.
Domain Subsidy
Subsidizes an independent .org domain for a group on a $0 budget.
OpenBSD Capacity
Powers our virtual server, hosting sites, email relays, and intake databases.
Full Infra Cap
Completely covers monthly hosting, encrypted snapshots, and volunteer rollout bandwidth.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about who we are, how we operate, and why our help is completely free:
Is this really 100% free? What’s the catch?
There is no catch, no hidden charge, and no trial period. We are community volunteers who believe digital infrastructure for mutual aid, tenant rights, and community welfare should be treated like a public common—not an extractive corporate product.
Our server costs are covered out-of-pocket ($50/month total), and our labor is donated out of community solidarity. We will never sell your data, put ads on your pages, or suddenly invoice you.
Our group has zero technical knowledge. Can we still reach out?
Yes, absolutely! You are exactly who we are here for. You don’t need to understand servers, code, or technical acronyms.
If you know what your group is trying to accomplish (e.g., “we need a form so neighbors can request groceries without sharing their personal phone numbers”), we take care of the technical heavy lifting and explain everything in plain language.
What happens if Sky Waters ever shuts down or we want to move?
You have 100% data sovereignty and zero vendor lock-in. We build on standard, open-source software (MariaDB, plain HTML/CSS, CryptPad, Listmonk) rather than proprietary locked formats.
Our Solidarity Pact guarantees a minimum 30-day export window. If our volunteers ever wind down or your group decides to move to independent hosting, we will personally hand you all your database dumps (.sql) and files, and walk you through importing them elsewhere.
Who qualifies for support?
We prioritize unincorporated mutual aid collectives, grassroots tenant unions, food justice groups, unhoused community advocacy initiatives, BIPOC & LGBTQ2IA+ grassroots organizations, and small non-profits operating across Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
We do not support commercial businesses, partisan electoral political campaigns, or groups with large corporate IT budgets.
Does our collective need to be an official 501(c)(3) non-profit?
No. In fact, we specifically love working with informal, non-501(c)(3) grassroots mutual aid groups and neighbor committees that are often excluded from corporate “tech grants” or free non-profit software tiers.
Are financial contributions tax-deductible?
No. Sky Waters is an independent volunteer collective, not a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity. Any tips or Ko-fi contributions go directly toward our $50/mo VPS hosting and domain bills. Money given to Sky Waters is not tax-deductible under state or federal tax law.
Which Twin Cities neighborhoods do you serve?
Our volunteers are based in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. We actively work with groups in South Minneapolis (Powderhorn, Phillips, Whittier, East Lake, Cedar-Riverside), North Minneapolis (Near North, Jordan, Camden), and Saint Paul (Frogtown, Rondo, West Side, Hamline-Midway, Dayton's Bluff).
If you organize anywhere across the metro area or greater Minnesota, feel free to talk with us!
How do you protect high-risk or marginalized organizers?
We run on OpenBSD with Full Disk Encryption (FDE), run zero tracking cookies, collect no marketing telemetry, and route traffic through Cloudflare DDoS shielding.
For sensitive communications, we guide groups toward verified end-to-end encrypted tools like Signal, CryptPad, and Bitwarden with hardware 2FA keys, ensuring sensitive activist or tenant communications cannot be intercepted.
How can technical organizers or sysadmins get involved?
We are always eager to connect with other community technologists, sysadmins, and web builders in the Twin Cities who want to lend their skills in solidarity. Drop us an introductory note at hello@skywaters.org!
Tell Us What You're Working On
No technical jargon required. Tell us a little about your group and what you're trying to do, and a neighbor volunteer will reach out to talk through options.
Doing Sensitive Frontline Organizing?
Need high OpSec for tenant defense or direct action? Skip this web form and message us directly on Signal or via encrypted email.