Online – Twin Cities Cohousing Network

Ann Zabaldo event

Don’t miss hearing from national cohousing professional and enthusiast Ann Zabaldo at TCCN’s next Meet the Professionals event on Zoom. Zabaldo’s tireless efforts and successes are sure to inspire those of us envisioning more Minnesota cohousing communities!

Meet the Professionals

Hear from national cohousing professional and enthusiast Ann Zabaldo at TCCN’s Meet the Professionals event. Zabaldo’s tireless efforts and successes are sure to inspire those of us envisioning more Minnesota cohousing communities!

“Everyone living next to someone who cares about them” — My role in creating cohousing, working with a developer, and helping cohousing in the mid-Atlantic states

View this presentation on TCCN’s YouTube Channel

Ann Zabaldo
Wed. Oct. 12, 2022
7:00 – 8:30 PM Central

Image of Ann Zabaldo wearing green glasses and smiling brightly. — Ann Zabaldo, Washington DC

Ann Zabaldo is both a pioneer volunteer and a paid professional in the cohousing movement. She specializes in outreach, education, marketing, and fueling the fires of burning souls working to start cohousing.

Ann is past-president of The Cohousing Association of the United States (CohoUS) and is a co-founder and current board member of Mid Atlantic Cohousing, a regional non-profit organization. She is a certified facilitator for McCamant & Durrett’s Senior Cohousing Study Group workshops. She is co-executive producer of “Building Sustainable Communities for Today’s Housing Market” a DVD and companion handbook created specifically for developers who are interested in entering the cohousing market niche.

Ann was on the development team for both Eastern Village Cohousing in Silver Spring, Maryland and Takoma Village Cohousing in Washington, DC where she lives with 65 adults, 15 children, seven dogs and waaaay too many cats. Currently, for Takoma Village she is serving on the Bylaws Working Group to revise the bylaws and the Resale and Rental pod (team or committee). This pod has brought in excellent buyers who are prepared to live in cohousing. Plus, more than $120,000 in donations to the community. Her description of living in cohousing? “It’s a rolling Mardi Gras.”

Twin Cities Cohousing Network is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Please consider making a donation in any amount to help us continue our Meet the Professional speaker series. Donate securely via PayPal or Donate via GiveMN. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent of the law.

TCCN brings you CohoUS resources and benefits

Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN) has partnered with The Cohousing Association of the United States (CohoUS). This partnership offers TCCN’s partnership supporters access to all CohoUS recordings, events, and resources during 2022 with an annual gift of $60 or more. (The Cohousing US individual partnership fee is $150; joining with TCCN is a savings of $90 per calendar year.)

See all partnership benefits here.

Grace Kim, renowned cohousing architect to speak

On May 11, Grace Kim will kick off Twin Cities Cohousing Network’s new speaker series, “Meet the Professional” with her talk, “Cohousing: A Short-Term Antidote to Loneliness and Long-Term Retirement Plan” to help us catalyze cohousing in Minnesota. There will be time for Q&A.

Cohousing: A Short-Term Antidote to Loneliness and Long-Term Retirement Plan

View this session on TCCN’s YouTube Channel!

Grace Kim, FAIA
Wed., May 11, 2022
7:00-8:30 PM

On May 11, renowned architect Grace Kim kicked off Twin Cities Cohousing Network’s new speaker series, Meet the Professionals. This series connects viewers with well-known cohousing professionals who generously share their cohousing journeys and offer advice for how we can catalyze cohousing in Minnesota.

While Grace Kim and Mike Mariano (her partner in both life and practice) were studying architecture in London in early 90’s, they learned about the concept of cohousing from a Danish guest lecturer. This idea captured their imagination and became the foundation for their lifelong partnership (both personally and professionally). Since starting Schemata Workshop in 2004, Grace’s focus has been on multifamily housing with a strong focus on community. And in those intervening years, she has become an international expert in cohousing, inspiring projects around the globe. Her 2017 Ted Talk on the benefits of cohousing has received more than 3M views; and her Common House Design Guide along with the design of her own cohousing community has served as a resource for many national and international projects.

In her exclusive presentation for Twin Cities Cohousing Network, Grace shared her journey in cohousing and offered advice to those in the Twin Cities who are interested in catalyzing cohousing. She talked about the positive impact cohousing can have on combating loneliness and other long-term benefits.

Grace is also the cofounder of Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing, a collaborative residential community which includes her street level office and a rooftop urban farm. She walks the talk of sustainability – leaving a small ecological footprint while incorporating holistic ideals of social and economic resilience into her daily life.

Grace has visited more than 90 cohousing communities in North America, Denmark and South Korea. Grace served on the national board for the Cohousing Association of the US and she currently serves on the Professional Advisory Council. She was the Chair of the 2009 National Cohousing Conference and International Cohousing Summit in Seattle, and the Co-Chair of the 2019 National Cohousing Conference in Portland.

Explore the appeal of cohousing by participating in a story circle.

Register for one or more of the three FREE story circle sessions and engage with others interested in cohousing. Story Circle sessions are offered via Zoom on Thursdays, Mar 24, 31, and Apr 7, 2022 from 7:00-8:30 PM CDT

A story circle is a time-honored tradition of telling stories without interruption until everyone in the circle who wishes to speak has spoken. The uniqueness of our own story settled next to other stories provides insight into similarities and differences in our backgrounds and experiences and opens us to deeper understanding. Discussion and questions follow as time permits.

Register for one or more of the three FREE story circle sessions and engage with others interested in cohousing as we share our stories and discuss cohousing.

Story Circle sessions are offered via Zoom
Thur — Mar 24, Mar 31, Apr 7, 2022 — 7:00-8:30 PM CDT

Please read Steps to Get Ready for the story circle/s that you are interested in attending. Our story circle guidelines are also listed on the Steps to Get Ready page on the course site.

Register on the course site to attend 1, 2, or all 3 (limit of 20 registrations per session)

Each session’s unique story circle prompt is selected to help us understand an aspect of the appeal of living in a cohousing community — as well awareness of the challenges and opportunities that may arise. Cohousing resources on this site complement our learning for those who want to deepen their understanding of cohousing and how it differs from kinds of housing and living arrangements.

These sessions are FREE to help the instructor test the format. Free-will donations to Twin Cities Cohousing Network are greatly appreciated. The course facilitator volunteers her time and is not selling a product or representing any product for sale. The materials in this course are publicly available and have been curated to encourage participants to explore them. Each session is limited to a maximum of 20 participants.

Is affordable cohousing possible?

Affordable Cohousing: Challenges and Opportunities
Wednesday, February 9, 2022
7:00 to 8:30 PM

View event recording

Followup Resources (PDF)

We know there is a huge need for affordable housing in the Twin Cities. And many of us are interested in affordable cohousing units. What strategies should cohousing groups implement to bring down costs?

A national cohousing conference last October centered on this pivotal concern about affordability, drawing on examples from communities recently built. In February, three local cohousing advocates who attended that conference will report on some of the highlights, and then attendees will have a chance to join the discussion.

If housing affordability is important to you, and cohousing is appealing as a way to live, please join us as we attempt to co-create and spread approaches that can work here.

Image of Becca Brackett — Becca Brackett

A summer photo of a third floor balcony with clusters of chairs and potted plants thatt overlooks a common garden area of a cohousing community in Denmark. — BO cohousing. Photo by Fred Olson

To the future and beyond with CoHousing!

Wednesday, April 28, 2021. Zoom, 7:00-8:15 P.M. CDT. FREE registration.

Have you heard about the amazing inventions they’re trying out on Mars!?

There’s an amazing innovation here on earth, and Trish Becker-Hafnor is going to tell us about it.

TEDx Talk presenter Trich Becker Hafnor speaking on stage. — Trish Becker-Hafnor, *TEDx Talk* (January 2020).
Photo and video used by permission of Michael Jenet of TEDx Cherry Creek Women.

Join us as we watch, then discuss, Trish’s short, lively TEDx Talk, Cohousing and the Future of Community and Human Connection.

Trish shares what is groundbreaking about CoHousing, an newer form of intentional community. She also shares how her cohousing community has affected her family and neighbors. Trish is an educator, activist, parent and community co-founder.

Cohousing is just one point on a wide spectrum of communal living models, and it’s basically built around three principles: shared space, shared time, and shared values. — Trish Becker-Hafnor

Whether you are taking a small next step towards your future in community, or simply an interesting evening in the company of others, you’re welcome to register for this special Zoom event by using the link below.

Zoom registration link. Completing this form allows us to send you a confirmation email with the link to the event.

Finances and funnies

Wed. Sept. 16, 2020

A window on cohousing sharing and caring, with a bit of pandemic humor

Learn how cohousing communities are being affected by COVID-19 and how they are responding to meet new social and financial challenges. Humor is included in the presentation, including a series of one-liners written and delivered by a participant.

Register now to obtain your personal Zoom link in order to view this special presentation by Cohousing U.S. Communications Director Karen Gimnig and Executive Director Karin Hoskin. Discussion among registered Zoom participants will follow.

Wednesday, September 16, 2020
7:00-8:00 PM
Free, but registration is required by 6 PM on September 14 to receive your personal Zoom link.

Artist's image of happy and expressive people standing on their balconies making music, singing, dancing, and enjoying themselves while social distancing. — Inspired by the balconies around the world and the spirit of humanity while social distancing. Image created by Shua Baber. Submitted for United Nations Global Call Out To Creatives – help stop the spread of COVID-19. Accessed at Unsplash.com.

Personal Growth: Maybe the Most Important Reason for Cohousing (Aug. 5)

Wednesday, August 5, 2020
7:00 – 8:30 PM.
Free, but advance registration is required.
Please register by 6 p.m. on August 4th to receive your link to Zoom.

We hope you will gather with us from the safety of your home to learn why personal growth may be the most important reason to choose cohousing. Participants will view a pre-recorded “Webchat” by Karen Gimnig. After the presentation, which has been edited for length, there will be time for Q&A among participants and Twin Cities Cohousing Network board members.

Karen Gimnig is a resident of East Lake Commons cohousing community near Atlanta, Georgia, and is the communications director at Cohousing USA.

We look forward to connecting!