# @myvpm on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CQOOIxkhQOs
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/49004-myvpm-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2eb3273809.jpg
- **Posted:** 2021-06-17T13:00:40.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** VPM (@myVPM) — https://gondola.cc/myVPM

## Caption

My friends wonder why I work a full-time job, run Dayum Jam and co-organize Safe Space Market. Put simply, I want to provide for my family.
Being a Mapa is my greatest gift, challenge and achievement. This past year was a sea of changes. When COVID hit, we had to sit down for some serious talks about how we were going to work as a family. We decided to pull our kiddo out of daycare, making my wife a full-time, stay-at-home mom. That cut our income in half, making it even more important to me as a business owner, benefiting from having a table at Safe Space, to see that income each week.
To know business owners are happy, that's a big part of Safe Space’s mission. On top of that, people say they enjoy it; they see it as valuable. They see not only the value of supporting vendors whose values are so crucial to them as customers; they also feel safe attending the market COVID wise and community-space wise. Safe Space allows me to participate in activism and be in a community with those who love and affirm me as I am, nourishing parts of me that ache for belonging.
I long for a career that defies norms – a scary course. When I work hard, I want it to be valuable. My normal job doesn't affirm my queer and trans identity in the way that this space does, so it's hard to quantify or define all the ways Safe Space gives back to me. The people that I get to work with, and how grateful and helpful they are, we're there for each other, giving each other visibility.
For over a decade, my work kept me glued to a desk, sometimes 8-12 hours a day. Working from home allows me to watch my baby grow, pass by my wife baking in the kitchen, even simply wear my PJs to work. It has changed me. I don’t want to go back to "normal."
Maybe someday I’ll slow down, take something off my plate, but these days, I am doing what is necessary to survive. How do we, as parents, get it right? I want to give my kiddo the best life I can, ensure that her needs are met in education, socialization, health and beyond, but I want to BE with her, too – the toughest balance. 
- Andy Waller, Chief Jamming Officer of Dayum Jam
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More information on the Safe Space Market is available on our profile link.

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 371
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 24

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| VPM | @myVPM | https://gondola.cc/myVPM | Social Media Intern |
| Alex Scribner | @scribalong | https://gondola.cc/scribalong | Content Producer |
| Alex Scribner | @scribalong | https://gondola.cc/scribalong | Digital Producer |
| Alex Scribner | @scribalong | https://gondola.cc/scribalong | Copywriter |

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