Unity Church Co-housing

Mission Statement:

We are an elder community dedicated to personal and spiritual growth, respect for the environment, mutual support, joyfulness and celebration.

This church has 22 acres, and are open to creating an elder-rich community on part of it – a beautiful slope beside a creek, with about 2-3 acres of floodplain for a garden.  Anyone is welcome. The group is seeking folks of like mind, but the Unity way is to welcome people walking all spiritual paths.

We will welcome volunteers to serve on Program Committee, and a Guiding Light group.

Unity Church, 2041 Old Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher, NC 28732 (828) 891-8700, 684-3798, www.unitync.net

DURING THE FIRST FEW MEETINGS OF THE UNITY GROUP THE FOLLOWING MATERIALS WERE USED TO ESTABLISH A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY AND OF WHAT THE UNITY GROUP WANTED.

DEFINITIONS

INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: “A group of people who have chosen to live together with a common purpose, working cooperatively to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared core values,” is one way the non-profit Fellowship for Intentional Community describes it. …

What most communities have in common is idealism: they’re founded on a vision of living a better way, whether community members literally live together in shared houses, or live near each other as neighbors. A community’s ideals usually arise from something its members see as lacking or missing in the wider culture. (Creating a Life Together by Diana Leafe Christian, page xvi).

COHOUSING COMMUNITIES are small neighborhoods of usually 10 to 40 households which are managed by the residents themselves, and which have usually been developed and designed by them as well (although increasingly cohousers partner with outside developers). Cohousers own their own relatively small housing units and share ownership of the whole property and their large community building (with kitchen, dining room/meeting space, and usually a children’s play area, laundry facilities, and guest rooms). Cohousing residents conduct their community business through consensus-based meetings, and enjoy optional shared meals together three or four nights a week. (Creating a Life Together by Diana Leafe Christian, page xvii).

“WHAT IS COHOUSING? CoHousing communities respond to contemporary needs by combining the autonomy of private dwellings with the advantages of community living. Initially pioneered in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Denmark</st1:place></st1:country-region> over 20 years ago, the CoHousing concept re-establishes many of the advantages of traditional neighborhoods and villages within the context of late 20^th century life. 

Each household has a private residence, self-sufficient with its own kitchen. The private dwellings are clustered around pedestrian commons with a central common house. Shared activities such as meals, gardening and childcare enhance the social connections among residents and often save time and money. (Westwood CoHousing www.westwoodcohousing.com) 

CONSENSUS decision-making is a group decision-making process in which all present must agree before action is taken. It’s based on the belief that everyone has a piece of the truth. The intention is that each person in a meeting is given the time and space to speak their truth, and is listened to with respect. If done correctly, this method can help to spread power throughout the whole group, and is the method chosen most often by contemporary community founders.

(Creating a Life Together, Diana Leafe Christian, page 56). 

ELDER-RICH Term first used by Dr. William Thomas in his book What Are Old People For? In terms of community development, “elder rich” refers to a community of multiple generations, where the elder is the focus & their contributions outweigh the energy expended to maintain them.

ELDER-ONLY - an age-restricted community i.e., “Senior Housing” generally means Residents must be “over 55” OR in some developments “over 62”

INTER-GENERATIONAL and MULTI-GENERATIONAL (adj) – of or relating to several generations; multiple generational interdependence within a living unit, regardless of blood ties.

Sometimes used interchangeably. In certain housing developments, the use of one is chosen over the other because of legal definitions within the particular jurisdiction. 

NORC Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities is an apartment building or housing complex that was not specifically built for the elderly in which many of the residents have aged in place. Many of these older residents now need support services to continue living in their homes. (Philip McCallum, Ph.D. www.albany.edu/aging/NORCPresentation.pdf)

The six defining characteristics of cohousing:

1 Participatory process. Future residents participate in the design of the community so that it meets their needs. Some cohousing communities are initiated or driven by a developer. In those cases, if the developer brings the future resident group into the process late in the planning, the residents will have less input into the design. A well-designed, pedestrian-oriented community without significant resident participation in the planning may be “cohousing-inspired,” but it is not a cohousing community.

2 Neighborhood design. The physical layout and orientation of the buildings (the site plan) encourage a sense of community. For example, the private residences are clustered on the site, leaving more shared open space. The dwellings typically face each other across a pedestrian street or courtyard, with cars parked on the periphery. Often, the front doorway of every home affords a view of the common house. What far outweighs any specifics, however, is the intention to create a strong sense of community, with design as one of the facilitators.

3 Common facilities. Common facilities are designed for daily use, are an integral part of the community, and are always supplemental to the private residences. The common house typically includes a common kitchen, dining area, sitting area, children's playroom and laundry, and also may contain a workshop, library, exercise room, crafts room and/or one or two guest rooms. Except on very tight urban sites, cohousing communities often have playground equipment, lawns and gardens as well. Since the buildings are clustered, larger sites may retain several or many acres of undeveloped shared open space.

4 Resident management. Residents manage their own cohousing communities, and also perform much of the work required to maintain the property. They participate in the preparation of common meals, and meet regularly to solve problems and develop policies for the community.

5 Non-hierarchical structure and decision-making. Leadership roles naturally exist in cohousing communities, however no one person (or persons) has authority over others. Most groups start with one or two “burning souls.” As people join the group, each person takes on one or more roles consistent with his or her skills, abilities or interests. Most cohousing groups make all of their decisions by consensus, and, although many groups have a policy for voting if the group cannot reach consensus after a number of attempts, it is rarely or never necessary to resort to voting.

6 No shared community economy. The community is not a source of income for its members. Occasionally, a cohousing community will pay one of its residents to do a specific (usually time-limited) task, but more typically the work will be considered that member's contribution to the shared responsibilities.