Author: Lynn Englund

Twin Cities Cohousing Network director. Retired University of Minnesota instructor.

Monterey Cohousing – What a village raising children can look like.

I had many questions about raising children within cohousing: how does it work? Does co-housing come with co-parenting? Can community be an answer to the child loneliness epidemic? A couple of seasoned Monterey Cohousing Community members graciously lent me their time in order to find out. 

February 17, 2024
Reported by Maria Delwiche

Image showing the front entrance Monterey Cohousing Community with tall pillars flanking the entryway and fall grasses and colorful trees in the foreground.
Monterey Cohousing Community, front entrance.
Photo credit: Rick Gravrok

What I found interesting is that both parents and children may exercise a great deal of autonomy from the group. While Monterey is gathered around the idea of community, it does not step over the line of dictating behavior or values associated with parenting or the behavior of any one child. Children are not forced to do chores for the community, this function of behavior regulation falls to caregivers. While there have been formal and informal groups dedicated to the affairs of children in which certain issues are discussed, they are constantly changing and being reformed with the new people who move in to Monterey; furthermore, the only baseline standards which do not change have to do with children’s safety (using the elevator or the woodshop). 

Is this a solution for the loneliness epidemic? Not necessarily… Like any neighborhood, there are children of different ages inhabiting at different times. While some years there may be many children of similar age groups, there may be other years where there are very few children. On the other hand, being connected through the wider community there is ample space for spontaneous connection with residents of a variety of ages. Through shared meals, passing each other in halls or yards, or learning how to garden or use the wood shop they are open to conversation and mentorship from a wide variety of perspectives. People of any age may never feel lonely here, as long as they are open to connection. 

Parents said the experience of growing up in the community was very important to their children. More than anything, children who grow up in cohousing spaces learn important values and skills: sharing, conflict resolution, respect, and empathy. A few different times were shared with me when both children and adults were involved in problem solving so that all community members felt they were heard and understood. This is not an easy skill to learn, but it is needed most now! While their children haven’t gone on to cohousing communities of their own, they are all aware of the importance of community and have implemented it in their lives in their own way. 

We will discuss these topics and more in our upcoming information session on the 22nd of February! If you would like to learn more please join us! 

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.

Feb. 21 Listening Session

Twin Cities Cohousing Network has big ideas for 2024. Please join us Wednesday, Feb. 21 on Zoom event for a special listening session. We want to hear to your feedback about ideas we are considering for 2024 and your suggestions for how to get cohousing communities built!

Twin Cities Cohousing Network has big ideas for 2024.

Wednesday, February 21
7:00 to 8:30 PM

Register
Ethnic man wearing a yellow shirt is holding a paper cup to his ear. The cup has a string attached to the bottom of the cup. The string is taut and the man is listening very hard.

Registration is required to receive your Zoom link

The volunteers who organize and run Twin Cities Cohousing Network are seeking your input on how TCCN can best assist groups aspiring to build new cohousing communities. Here are two new ideas we are considering:

The first is expanding our scope from the Twin Cities to all of Minnesota. Get a peek at our proposed new name and let us know if you think this change is a good idea and how we should start connecting with others across the state.

Second, would small in-person discussion circles with friends, and friends of friends, be more likely to build energy for cohousing than large Zoom events? Learn about a proposed program that could take place among small groups of people located anywhere in Minnesota. Provide your feedback to help it succeed.

There will be small group discussions, and your questions and will be addressed. And please bring your ideas for future topics!”

Woman of color in a room with many books is listening to headphones while looking at computer screen.

New CohoUS Access

Twin Cities Cohousing Network (TCCN) continues to support CohoUS, our national cohousing association. Last year’s Community Partner program has been renamed the Community Member program for 2024.

Being a CohoUS Community Member provides TCCN with access to a valuable array of free and discounted CohoUS recorded programs, online events, trainings, and other offers that can be accessed online at CohoUS and the Cohousing Institute. 

You can access all the features mentioned above by making a charitable gift to TCCN of $60 or more during a calendar year.

TCCN Access is limited to residents of Minnesota who are not members of an existing cohousing community. Please complete and submit this form to confirm your eligibility and to see options for making a secure donation.

Twin Cities Cohousing Network is a nonprofit charitable 501(c)(3) organization. Tax ID number: EIN 41-1668910. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. No goods or services were given in exchange for your gift.

Top 10 Reasons to Live in Cohousing

Why do people want to live in cohousing? Karen Gimnig has experienced cohousing as a resident and is professional facilitator who support groups forming and living in cohousing . She is also an author, making her October 11th presentation one you won’t want to miss.

Meet the Professionals:
Karen Gimnig

Karen Gimnig is a relationship coach with a particular focus on group process and community.  She has lived in cohousing communities in Georgia and Oregon. In her role as a professional facilitator, she offers classes and workshops to support cohousing groups across the country as they build and learn to live together in cohousing. Karen worked for several years for the Cohousing Association of the US. In addition, she co-authored The Cooperative Culture Handbook with Yana Ludwig, making many of the concepts and skills she teaches in her classes and workshops available in book form. Karen currently lives in Anacortes WA with her husband Jamie. They enjoy hiking and sailing through all the beauty of the Puget Sound.

Meet the Professionals:
Karen Gimnig

Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023
7:00 to 8:30 PM on Zoom

Register

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

Head shot of featured event speaker Karen Gimnig, a middle aged woman with short dark hair and glasses wearing a black shirt standing in front of dark green leafy bushes.
Karen Gimnig
(Photo used by permission)

Learn more about Karen Gimnig.

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.

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 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.

Volunteer Paul Wehrwein featured in StarTribune “Inspired” section.

Committee and member of Twin Cities Metro Senior Cohousing, a cohousing group in formation, was recently featured in the StarTribune’s Inspired section.

Paul Wehrwein, a volunteer on Twin Cities Cohousing Network’s Events Committee and member of Twin Cities Metro Senior Cohousing, a cohousing group in formation, was recently featured on June 10, 2022 in the StarTribune’s Inspired section. Reporter Gail Rosenblum interviewed Wehrwein about his dreams for cohousing, where cohousing exists now, and how the cohousing movement started.

Read the full article.

Family-friendly picnic date changed to Wed. July 20

Socialize in-person with others interested in cohousing communities at TCCN’s annual picnic. Originally scheduled for July 27, the date was changed based on the shelter’s availability.

FREE to attend
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Como Park picnic shelter #50
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 and beverages to picnic with Twin Cities Cohousing Network volunteers and other cohousing supporters for an evening of connection and fun at a quaint open-sided picnic shelter in Como Park.

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

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. (Map of picnic shelter location.)

Please register for this free event so that we know who to expect and allow us to alert you in case of rain.

Event Schedule

5:30 — Begin to gather at picnic shelter #50. Bring your own food, beverage, and utensils. Water will be available.

6:00 — Picnicking and conversation. 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.

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

Grace Kim, architect

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.

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.

Daybreak Cohousing, Portland, OR

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

Photo by Beth Macdonald on Unsplash

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.