The Denver Post reported on November 3rd that the September floods in Colorado "took nine lives, damaged 26,000 homes, destroyed more than 1,800 homes, damaged 765 businesses, destroyed 203 businesses, damaged or destroyed almost 500 miles of road" as well as causing significant damage to other infrastructure and croplands.

Six weeks after the floods, the small town of Lyons Colorado was still without utilities, with 20% of its homes damaged, most businesses shuttered and all the roads in closed to the general public.

In 2010, a Task Force of the Cohousing Association of the US identified a need for more affordable cohousing. In response, a group of professionals from around the country came together to work on the problem. With backgrounds in law, economics, finance, business, community development, design, architecture, and planning, we had the internal resources and experience to tackle tough issues.

We formed a non-profit organization, Partnerships for Affordable Cohousing (PFAC), so that we could effectively and cooperatively use these skills to deliver specific services to clients. Today we work with existing, new, and expanding cohousing communities by incorporating both public and private finance, as well as securing the participation of agencies and other non-profits to make cohousing communities BUILDABLE, SUSTAINABLE, AND AFFORDABLE.

Donate now: Select "PFAC" as the Type of Donation

Wow - we did it! Cohousing enthusiasts came together on Sept 28th in Cambridge MA to network and learn from each other and our outstanding presenters. Existing communities learned more about work systems, maintenance of facilities, getting along and aging well together. New folks and forming groups learned about development, group formation and dynamics, and the design process. We also ate well and enjoyed strolls between our two hosting communities - thank you Cambridge Cohousing and Cornerstone Village!

On Sunday open house tours were held in 11 New England cohousing communities! The fall foliage made for a great Sunday drive between hosting communities - and many completed their tour with a potluck at Nubanusit Neighborhood or fire-roasted pizza at Katywil Farm Community.

With so many good reports on both days our planning committee thinks it might be a good idea to try to do this every other year! Until then - see you at the National conference in 2014!

Dear Cohousers & Friends,

I have submitted my resignation to the Board of the Cohousing Association, effective 1 November. This decision has been in process for some time. As many of you know, I spent much of my spring and summer in treatment for uterine cancer. I'm happy to have had a relatively straightforward journey thus far, and to be cancer free, while I undergo regular monitoring for the next five years. As often happens, facing a serious illness gives one pause, and when I was recruited into a dynamic Seattle based organization, I said yes.

The Board will be in touch regarding a long term organizational transition plan. In the meantime, Operations Manager Michelle Rasa will be the day-to-day management. As a virtual organization, Coho/US has many amazing volunteers around the country who keep it going. These lovely people will continue to support operations, and I thank them for this!

"Every once in a while, a film comes along that can transform the way we live. A New We by the Austrian filmmaker Stefan Wolf is such a film..."

- Will M. Tuttle, Ph.D., author, The World Peace Diet

I'm excited to announce that we've kicked off the project to revise and update cohousing.org. (And there was much rejoicing!)

I'd love to hear from you - What information or resources do you use on the cohousing.org website today? What do you wish was there that you can't find? What do you love and hate about today's site?

Do you want to volunteer on the website revamp team? Later on, would you be interested in testing it?

Email me at webmaster [at] cohousing [dot] org and I'll collect the info for the team. Thanks!!

Well, here it is nearly 2 years later and we’re still trying to find a place
in a Cohousing Community where we can grow and prosper. We’ve really been
trying hard. I just posted a message in the Cohousing List Server, which I didn’t
know anything about until recently. I wish I had done it before! I’ve gotten so many
responses…nothing has worked out yet, but I’m still hopeful…..
It doesn’t help when you see a new frightening trend which I’ll call
“Developer Driven” Cohousing. Why do I see this as frightening? Because it’s getting
away from “The People” coming together and creating Cohousing. Developers have
sort of been the “enemy” of Cohousers, at least that is how I’ve seen it. Developers
are certainly my enemy! I do believe still, that we are not going to survive as
humanity until we come together and plan our own neighborhoods with like
minded people who care about the environment, our footprint on the earth,

http://blog.hud.gov/index.php/2013/07/24/message-hud-secretary-shaun-don...

The following video message from Secretary Donovan provides more information about the Affordable Care Act and its importance to the people HUD serves, HUD employees, and friends and family.

Helping the more than 48 million Americans who are currently uninsured has been a priority for President Obama. Many of those uninsured individuals are low-income Americans that rely on HUD services; that is why HUD committed to our mission of building strong and healthy communities across the country and promoting information about the Affordable Care Act with the people we serve.

The Affordable Care Act that President Obama signed into law in 2010 has – and will continue to go a long way in helping us achieve this mission and will benefit working families gain access to quality care, while strengthening their financial future.

While the country was celebrating our Independence earlier this month, the founding members of CHUC celebrated our inter-dependence as we finalized our Operating Agreement and made celebratory toasts to successfully reaching this milestone. Our recent “friend-raiser” was a huge success, collecting more than $400K. This means the clock is now ticking to ground-breaking and move-in! Hip-Hip-HOORAY! There are still opportunities to invest as we gather our last $50K. If you've been contemplating a 2 year loan of any amount at 5% interest please do let us know.