Tag: community

What is the 500 Communities Program?

First of its scale and kind, the 500 Communities Program  is a program created by Katie McCamant, one of the founders and significant figures of cohousing in the United States. Community is more valuable than ever in the wake of post-pandemic isolationism. While creating a cohousing community is often an exciting solution, many seekers are immediately met with an  off-the-beaten-path world of questions and roadblocks. These issues cause people to quit before they can even start. Katie McCamant saw this issue, and created the program in her company, CoHousing Solutions, specifically designed for those who are creating or working professionally with cohousing communities. 

This 12 month intensive course is designed to expand the professional support for those who are establishing new cohousing communities. Professionals who join the program arrive from a variety of backgrounds; from credit union higher-ups, architects, and real estate workers, to healthcare experts and nonprofit leaders– all come together to pool their strengths and to gain a deep understanding of the processes involved within developing a cohousing settlement from scratch. 

The curriculum is extensive, emphasizing the big picture aspects first: feasibility and community outreach. Once the groundwork is laid, more complex topics such as approaching local developers, getting municipal approval, setting up mortgages, and managing a budget are explored in a practical manner with many case studies. 500 Communities participants have many opportunities to engage with the cohousing movement. That includes in-person events such as the biannual cohousing conference, the kickoff retreat in Nevada, and visiting thriving cohousing communities.  Also relationships are established through webinars, small class discussions, one-on-one mentorship with Katie, and monthly calls. 

Upon completion, graduates will attain the title of “Certified Cohousing Consultant” and will have the opportunity to continue working with CoHousing Solutions to receive ongoing benefits. Christina Marshall, a graduate of this program and founder of Kinni Cohousing in River Falls, WI, said the most valuable features of the program for her were both the connections she made and the credibility she garnered. It was invaluable to her that she could interact with people who were supportive of her ideas and those who knew how to realize them. 

In fact, Alastair Townsend, a globally accomplished architect and experienced real estate professional, is lending his abilities to Kinni cohousing due to a connection formed during the program. Moreover, completing the program allowed her to start assisting emerging communities such as Forest Glen at Highland Lake (Flatrock, NC) and Dakota Prairie Commons (Vermillion, SD) with their goals, due to the skills and experience she had gained during the program. While the results of the 500 Communities Program are not measured, it is certainly evident that it has centralized and enhanced the knowledge on the creation of cohousing, something not easily measured.

by Maria Delwiche

Feb. 22 – Children in Cohousing

What makes childhood and parenthood easier and more fun? How about other kids and parents? That’s one idea behind this free online event.

Saturday
February 22, 2025
9:30-11:00 AM

Registration is required for you to receive a Zoom meeting link.
Limit: 100 participants.

Register
Image shows a boy playing with a train set on the floor with toys including many multi-colored balls. There are other children and and adult in the background engaged in other activities, similar to what might be found in a cohousing community.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

Cohousing has been described as a return to village living. It is community designed for connection, with private homes surrounded by shared spaces. Cohousing communities are usually initiated, financed and managed by the residents themselves. Cohousers typically share periodic meals in a “common house.” While some cohousing communities are senior focused, most are multi-generational. What would be advantageous for kids and parents in such an environment? What would be challenging? What might senior members have to gain or lose?

With the help of some video clips, TCCN will be your guide for your questions and conversation on this topic. Also, a couple local groups that aspire to become cohousing communities or cooperatives will provide updates on their status and activities. The basics of what is cohousing will be provided.

A group of middlel-school aged children in a tight group smiling and taking a selfie together.
Photo by Norma Mortenson
A group of preschool-age children lying on the floor with their heads toward the center showing smiling faces.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

Dialogue with Alan O’Hashi on Cohousing

For those drawn to intentional community and cohousing, they will delight in viewing Alan O’Hashi at 7:00 p.m on May 8, 2024, on Zoom. 

A Meet the Professionals speaker event

O’Hashi is a newspaper journalist turned documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, author, nonprofit leader and activist. He works with groups and organizations to help them tell their stories.  For this event, Alan will speak from his experience as a board member of the US Cohousing Association and his time living in Silver Sage Village, a cohousing senior community in Boulder, CO. There will be time for Q and A.

Meet the Professionals:
Alan O’Hashi

Wednesday, May 8, 2024
7:00 to 8:30 PM on Zoom

Register for zoom

Registration is required to receive a Zoom link. Limit: 100 participants.

Register for hybrid group zoom

Group Zoom viewing at Unity Church Unitarian in St. Paul, space is limited. 

Alan O’Hashi
  • Cultural competency training and facilitation
  • Cohousing Community Process Consultant
  • Positions held: Cohousing USA Board of Directors; previously Boulder Planning Board, former Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity St Vrain Valley – Longmont, Colorado.

Alan’s presentation will include material from this book. It is available for purchase at Fellowship for Intentional Community and other booksellers.

Book cover for "True Stories of an Aging do-Gooder" by Alan O'Hashi. Text over an image of rolling green hills.

Picnic in the Park

Socialize in-person with others interested in cohousing at TCCN’s annual picnic held in St. Paul, MN.

FREE to attend
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Como Park picnic shelter
6:00-8:00 PM

Image shows a gathering of people at a hexagonal gazebo picnic shelter at Como Park near trees, grass, picnic tables and grills.
Shelter photo by St. Paul Parks and Recreation

Bring your favorite picnic foods, beverages and utensils for a picnic with Twin Cities Cohousing Network volunteers and other cohousing supporters and share in an evening of connection and fun at a quaint open-sided picnic shelter in St. Paul’s Como Park. (Map of west picnic shelter location.)

Look for TCCN’s banner at the picnic area on the west side of the park located at 1300 Midway Parkway, east of Hamline Avenue, near the mini golf course and children’s playground. Bathrooms are located near the picnic shelter. Picnic parking is first come first serve.

Families, friends, and children welcome! Meet and greet others with an interest in building and living in cohousing communities in Minnesota.

Register

So we know to expect you and can alert you in case of inclement weather.

Event Schedule

5:30 — Begin to gather at picnic shelter #50. Bring your own food, beverage, and utensils. Water will be available. (Share food items with others if you feel comfortable.)

6:00 — Picnicking and conversation. Discuss existing cohousing and efforts to start new cohousing communities.

8:00 — Clean up.

A child making a giant bubble at the Como Park picnic shelter 2021 event.

Rental costs for the picnic shelter were provided by our supporters. Twin Cities Cohousing Network is registered as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization.

What’s up with cohousing in Minnesota?

The Feb. 8 event features updates from groups working to create cohousing communities in Minnesota. Small breakout groups after the updates will allow viewers time to ask questions and engage with each other and our presenters.

Twin Cities Cohousing Network’s next virtual event features updates from groups working to create cohousing communities in Minnesota. Smaller breakout groups after brief group updates will allow views time to ask questions and engage with each other and our presenters. Topics that we have invited our speakers to address include: the ups and downs of forming a core group, working to agree on a common vision, the challenges of finding a suitable site, working with cohousing professionals and addressing challenges of affordability.

Wednesday, February 8, 2023
7:00-8:30 PM via Zoom.
Register in advance to receive your zoom link.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Minnesota outline provided by Suncatcherstudio.com

Fall work party and shared meal at Monterey Cohousing Community

Front of Monterey Cohousing Community building during fall with colorful leaves and grasses in the yard.
Monterey Cohousing
St. Louis Park, MN.
Photo by Rick Gravrok.

More than 20 volunteers completed a wide variety of repairs and other fall projects at Monterey Cohousing Community (MoCoCo) in St. Louis Park on Saturday, October 22. Volunteers included residents of MoCoCo, supporters of Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN), and members of Cedar Cohousing, a group working to create a new cohousing community in the Twin Cities area.

After a deep clean of the kitchen, which was one of the work tasks to be completed, a shared vegetarian meal was organized by Becca Brackett (Cedar Cohousing, TCCN secretary) and cooked with the help of volunteers from MoCoCo and TCCN as other volunteers completed work tasks outdoors.

Two men kneeling on a sidewalk with tools on the ground around them adjusting a latch on a fence post.
Paul Wehrwein (TCCN volunteer) and Fred Olson repairing a gate latch and post. Photo by Rick Gravrok.
A group of four adults and one child sitting at a round table enjoying a shared meal cooked by volunteers after outdoor work tasks were completed.
Enjoying a shared meal in Monterey Cohousing Community’s dining room. On the left are Jon Haftek, his partner and child, MoCoCo resident Ellen Thomas in back, and Becca Brackett of Cedar Cohousing group on the right. Photo by Rick Gravrok.

TCCN picnic report in the news

TCCN’s July 20th summer picnic was attended by local writer John Horchner who wrote about his experience talking with attendees about their interest in creating and living in cohousing communities. His commentary, “Can cohousing solve Twin Cities’ economic inequality,” was published in the September 2020 issue of the Park Bugle, a local newspaper serving a number of St. Paul’s neighborhoods near the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.

The picnic was attended by about forty people who included representatives of newly forming groups, groups that have been meeting for a while, and people who were interested in learning more about cohousing.

For more information about cohousing groups forming in Minnesota, subscribe to TCCN News, an almost-monthly electronic newsletter.

Author John Horchner with TCCN volunteer Paul Wehrwein at TCCN’s summer picnic.

Getting It Built workshop offered by Chuck Durrett, et. al.

When and how does a core group start figuring out the location of their future community?

A fast-track local group is forming to bring experienced cohousing architect Chuck Durrett and his associates to the Twin Cities for an intensive weekend-long “Getting It Built” workshop.

Anyone who is interested in being involved in creating a cohousing community sooner rather than later is encouraged to express interest by emailing the address below. Details will be provided to you. The goal of the workshop: to vet and explore the possibilities of a particular site for a cohousing community. Tentative dates for the workshop are Mar. 4-5, 2017.

If you are interested, you MUST email John Kalmon john@jpkalmon.com to get all the details and receive updates. Include your name, phone number and comments/questions.

The information you provide to John will only be shared with Durrett, The Cohousing Company associates, and the other individuals who sign up.

Please share this information with others who might be interested in the workshop.

Potluck next step after the Durrett talk

by John Kalmon

We had a great turnout for the presentation on cohousing by Charles Durrett, who took us through a verbal tour of many cohousing communities, accompanied by great photos and punctuated with stories that were engaging and enlightening. He described how cohousing improves peoples’ lives by bringing a new level of social connection into their day-to-day activities.

As an example, Durrett recalled an elderly woman who moved from the home closest to the parking area to the furthest away because it improved her relationship with her neighbors, which she described as more important than her relationship with her car.

The idea of resource sharing was explained—not only lawn mowers and common-house amenities, but more importantly the opportunity to share one’s time, knowledge or emotional support. All this can and does happen easily because of the arrangement and design of the structures, and because the people who have chosen to live in cohousing recognize that their social well-being and connections are among their highest priorities.

durrett_talk_lynns_photo_fb_sept2016_even_smaller

Durrett spoke of “social tax” as well, the work a community needs to put in to assure long-term success. This needs to be addressed early in the formation of a core group by establishing their goals and values, and learning how to make decisions as a group, often by some form of consensus. Stories of specific challenges faced by groups and how they overcame them were very informative.

The audience asked good questions. Stimulating conversation continued among attendees long after the presentation, and many pitched in without hesitation to stack the chairs!

To learn more about what is happening locally in cohousing, please continue to check our website and sign up to receive TCCN News, our e-newsletter, which will bring you all the latest news and events. We hope to see you at our next event on October 20th.

Cohousing community potluck dinner: the next steps

Join us!

Individuals, couples and families interested in further exploring cohousing in the greater Twin Cities (MN) area are invited to a potluck dinner and program designed to get to know one another, and to deepen the conversation about community and how we might envision the cohousing place where we’d each feel comfortable and happy. Register here.

Core Groups

At least one person from each of the core groups will be there so that you will have an opportunity to talk with them.

TCCN has rented the fellowship hall at St Frances Cabrini Church in the Southeast neighborhood of Minneapolis. Please bring an item for the potluck, along with an ingredient list. Admission to this followup event will be by donation at the door to cover hall rental, photocopying, and other expenses. Suggested: $5 TCCN members; $10 non-members.

RSVP

If you know you plan to attend, please RSVP so we can have some idea of how many to expect, but don’t let that stop you if you decide at the last minute to show up. See you there!

st_francis_cabrini_church_image

St Frances Cabrini Church, 1500 Franklin Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414