Does your cohousing engage in [greater] community work?

[Mary B.]

Does your cohousing value and engage in charity or pro bono work? Either as individuals or together as a cohousing?

This is something I would really like to see more cohousings doing, as I feel the whole concept of "living in community" could be a force for making a difference in lives outside the community.

----------------------

When I first moved in to a cohousing I was told that everyone was expected to give time to the community. Which I took to mean the greater community of the city, as well as the cohousing. I was wrong.

When I compared the number of people in my former coho who devoted time to a non-profit to the population of the coho, the per capita count is much lower than among my non-coho friends. I couldn't even convince my coho neighbors to put together a Christmas box of food staples for a broke and desperate single mom who lived just two blocks away!

Is it possible that cohousing fulfills social needs to the extent that it removes our natural impulse to find positive interaction with a larger community? If so, is that good or bad? Or just a different way of expressing the same impulse?

[garyronstadt]

That's an interesting observation. My wife and I have talked about that before. I work with the local Rotary to build raised garden beds and chicken coops for low-income housings and shelters. She can't drive and used to work for the county, so she's very active in making public transportation more available and user-friendly, and has actually gotten one of her initiatives on a local ballot, which passed successfully.

But very few of our neighbors here are actually engaged in "outside" community work with non-profits or community organizations. We thought at first that it might be because about half our population are young families, and they stay pretty busy just trying to raise their flocks, and some homeschool as well.

Most of our retired folk stay pretty active socially what with their drumming, and wine groups and yoga and sweat lodges and whatnot. But only 2-3 others I can think of are regularly involved with a non-profit.

I wouldn't want outside charity work to be REQUIRED by my coho, but my wife and I host a fundraising cocktail party every year and we were debating whether or not to invite our own neighbors, which felt pretty odd to me, as I pretty much keep an open bar for anyone who wants to stop in and chat. But my wife pointed out that they wouldn't embrace the concept of it being a fundraiser, so she kept the list as it was before, with the exception of a few people.

Not sure if this is answering your question or not.

[garyronstadt]

It could be that if you're involved in "outside" community work that you hang out with similar people, who have similar values. Maybe you shouldn't impose your choice of social involvement on others in your coho.

[Mary B.]

I wouldn't call it "imposing". I was just disappointed that my expectations weren't met. Now I live on a multi-family farm, and except for the gardens and orchards immediately around the original farmhouse, which are for our use, 100% of the meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables produced on the remaining 25 acres are delivered to local shelters and food missions. Plus, we're starting a gleaning site for the entire county. All while all of us work or go to school full time. So my current "community" lifestyle is more in keeping with my values and I'm much happier here.

If I were to move back into a standard cohousing, I would probably choose an eco-village or some type of active farm community. At least, moving forward, I now have the experience to ask what someone really means by "living in community".

[JasminaJ]

I like the idea of our cohousing (forming, maybe) adopting a non-profit that we could all pull together to support. In fact, I think I'm going to suggest it to our condo residents as a separate issue. I think it would be a wholesome way to work together on something outside ourselves. The only difficulty I foresee is getting everyone to agree on a non-profit. Maybe we could narrow it down to a list and rotate projects to support each one.

[hesterkw]

I think there's a bigger issue here for cohousing: cohousing in the US and UK is still very much a minority, even fringe, way of living. I don't think it does cohousing any favours to be so insular: to be viewed as the weirdos who keep to themselves. Being part of the wider community is important, to spread understanding of cohousing as well as benefit and gain from involvement itself.

[Mary B.]

Hester, I completely agree. I think it's sad that as individuals, many people don't feel a responsibility to share beyond the confines of their chosen community. In my previous cohousing, I was on the 'Outreach' team and I was really surprised at how little outreach was actually done. Basically the team's tasks consisted of answering incoming emails and requests for tours. I started a Facebook Page for the coho, and there was literally no support for it.

Here, we rely on grants, sponsors and local volunteers for our programs, so media exposure and community involvement are much more important. Even so, I only spend a few hours every week on all that--so it's definitely doable, and oh so rewarding when we inspire others to emulate our projects and understand the need for change.

I'd be curious to know how many other communities have 'outreach' or similar committees, how their purpose is defined, and what they do.

[Mary B.]

In an interesting coincidence, Communities Magazine, the official publication of ic.org, is looking for articles or commentary on this very topic. Details here.

[garyronstadt]

Huh. Are you sure it's a coincidence? That seems like a pretty obvious connection to me.

[Mary B.]

Gary, I think so. I have a pretty good relationship with cohousing.org -- they even posted a blog announcement about this forum! And ic.org is a similar group although I don't have a formal relationship with them. Either way, I'm fine with it. I think it's an interesting and timely issue for cohousing, so the more opportunities for discussion, the better for everyone!