Putting your own time and money on the line...

What does it take to for a new group to succeed? One key factor is for passionate people to muster the courage to put their own time and money on the line... and to not wait for it to somehow happen as "the group comes together." It is by witnessing others that we respect and trust that most become willing to take the plunge... to risk success. Today, I got an email from Chuck Durrett asking me to post the following:

Dear folks trying to get cohousing communities started in the United States,

Katie and I gave a slide show in Nevada City, California in 1989. Between 1989 and 2002, inspired by the presentation, six different cohousing groups came and went. Finally, impatient with the progress and wanting to move to Nevada City ourselves, we went to Nevada City and, in a week, secured a site (optioned an eleven acre site with the right to sign it over to a group). A couple months later, 25 households were deep into the site plan, common house plan, and so on. Today, 57 adults (21 seniors) and 37 children live in 34 different houses in a bucolic cohousing setting. That project probably never would have happened if we hadn’t stepped up, because the previous six group had become too discouraged.

This is a new service that we will provide starting August 2009. We will come to town, help evaluate sites and the possibility of a group locally, and, if we believe in the site, we will help secure it with the intent of signing it over to the local group. We will be paid with a small fee to sign it over, and we will do this with the participation of the other currently involved locally.

Let us know if you’re interested.

Thanks,
Charles Durrett, Architect
916-716-6721

In the current economic climate, it feels intimidating to take the same risks that we took without hesitation just a few years ago. I applaud Chuck for his willingness to risk failure and RISK SUCCESS and to do it alongside the many groups who are holding back. With the current depressed prices, now would seem an excellent time to purchase or control real estate.

McCamant & Durrett are not the only professionals willing to share in project risks. They happen to be the one that has explicitly asked me to openly share about their willingness. I invite other Cohousing Professionals (in the Professional Directory) to send me similar information and will share it in this forum.

Craig