A Miami Community
Belonging
heals the world.
DIWA is a Miami community where every exchange — a cup of coffee, a handmade gift, an hour of your time — generates something for someone else.
November 14–19, 2026
Give Miami Day
DIWA is part of The Miami Foundation's Give Miami Day this year. Gifts made on givemiamiday.org from November 14 through November 19 earn bonus dollars for DIWA from the Foundation's pools. Our goal: $10,000 from 100 donors. Each donation takes us one step closer to a physical space where we can gather and feel like we belong.
What Is DIWA
DIWA — spirit, essence, the animating force inside a person or a place in the Filipino culture — is a Miami community built on the belief that belonging heals the world. We bring the community together to exchange, to shop from values-aligned makers, to connect, create, and be part of something bigger than ourselves. Our marketplace launches soon, our Credits system is in development, and programs for elders and for children are taking shape. The DIWA space — a marketplace, a wellness center, a coworking space, and a community under one roof — is the vision every gathering brings closer. DIWA is for everyone who has longed to belong.
DIWA helps communities build belonging through culture, commerce, and care, so every exchange generates abundance for someone else. Every person has an easy and meaningful way to participate in philanthropy simply by belonging to the community.
"This is a place where your light is welcome."
Why belonging
Across 148 studies and more than 300,000 people, strong social relationships raised the likelihood of survival by 50 percent, an effect on par with quitting smoking and greater than the effects of exercise or body weight. Technology has made us more connected, yet even more isolated than ever before. The Surgeon General has called loneliness an epidemic.
Sources: Holt-Lunstad et al., PLoS Medicine, 2010 · U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Social Connection, 2023
What We Stand For
Seven Core Values
Every decision inside DIWA — from the objects we carry to the way we greet someone at the door — flows from these commitments.
Belonging
Every person is met where they are and welcomed as they are.
Dignity
Everyone is honored, regardless of role, resource, or history.
Intention
Every choice, every object, every gesture is made on purpose.
Presence
The unhurried quality of paying full attention to what is in front of you.
Joy
Lightness, play, and delight are essential.
Wonder
The willingness to be surprised, moved, and changed.
Abundance
The idea that there is more than enough for everyone.
How DIWA will work · In development
The Exchange
Every exchange inside DIWA will earn DIWA Credits — for the buyer, the maker, and the volunteer alike. 1 DIWA Credit = $1 of community value. Commerce, care, and community become the same act.
Earn Credits
Spend Credits
In Development
The Credits system is in development.
Transparent
Every Credit traces a chain of impact — from commerce to care to community.
Community First
Credits stay in the community. Every transaction funds access to care, culture, or education — right here.
Every transaction is an act that builds belonging.
Every Credit is proof that you were here.
Where we are going — come with us.
The Road Ahead
Launching soon
DIWA Marketplace
Values-aligned makers, online
2027
Second Miami Gathering
Details to come
Every milestone makes DIWA more real.
Be part of DIWA
Your light is welcome here.
Help shape DIWA
DIWA is being built in the open, with the people it is for. Tell us what it could become, where it could meet a need you see, or what you would love to bring.
Support DIWA
Every gift opens a door: a gathering hosted, a neighbor welcomed, a maker paid. Give once or give monthly — both carry this work forward.
DIWA Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity (EIN 42-3779302). Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
DIWA FOUNDATION, INC. · FLORIDA REGISTRATION NO. CH85202
A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.
The Founder
Paula Antonia Gonos, PA-C
Paula Antonia Gonos, PA-C, is the founder of DIWA — a Miami community built on the belief that belonging heals the world, where commerce sustains culture and every exchange generates belonging. Born and raised in the Philippines before immigrating to the United States, she learned early that while talent and opportunity are everywhere, community is not guaranteed.
A decorated United States Air Force veteran (2000–2004), Paula carried the discipline and systems thinking of military service into a career in medicine, entrepreneurship, and community building. She practices today as a holistic anti-aging expert and has published peer-reviewed writing.
In 2006, she launched SpotCleveland.com — a community-curated city-guide platform that grew from a standing start to an acquisition in 2009. That exit validated a belief she has carried ever since: curated local community generates real economic value.
She has organized clothing swaps at Lotus House, Miami's largest women's shelter, for nearly a decade, mobilized Typhoon Haiyan relief, and established a library for children in the Philippines who had no access to books.
"Every chapter — from a childhood in the Philippines to the structure of the Air Force, from the digital community of SpotCleveland to the quiet generosity of a clothing swap — has converged into a single realization. DIWA is the missing piece that connects them all."