At Sustainable Ballard's monthly meeting April 27, nearly 50 community members came together to barter, donate and advise to help each other get through these tough modern times.

The meeting featured a raffle for services and items from local businesses, a community resource board, advice from featured speakers, and a table of free items, such as old audio tapes, self-help books and winter hats.

"These are difficult times and we have a lot to share with each other," Sustainable Ballard founder Vic Opperman said to the crowd, as Angelo Boscolo gave out free hair cuts on the other side of the room.

Featured speakers for the evening gave advice on how to mentally deal with adversity and how to get involved in a community and responded to questions and comments from the audience.