Monan’s Rill Association

Description:

Monan’s Rill is a 414-acre intentional, intergenerational community in Sonoma County, California. We hold a shared commitment to the land we live on, to a set of core community values, and to one another.

Most of us have come of age in a society that emphasizes competition, materialism and self-enhancement. We feel that this has encouraged isolation, alienation, and also the devastation of our beautiful earth. We see cooperation and a spirit of mutual support as crucial alternatives. We try to recognize and cherish the different skills and insights of each individual. We are committed to helping and encouraging one another. We believe that successful community requires an intentional commitment. We have all made a long term commitment to this place and one another. We have concerns about social injustice, climate change, and the health of the environment and all its beings. Each of us tries to reach out from our relative security to do what we can.

Core Values
Monan’s Rill’s Core Values are: Honoring Every Voice, Caring for Each Other, Stewardship, and Stability.
These values are held in common by the entire Community and help guide our community life, communication, and decision-making process. Monan’s Rill’s Core Values also let others know who we are and what is important to us as a Community. Our Core Community Values reflect care for the individuals within the Community, for our land and infrastructure, and for the greater world of which our Community is a part. We share an experience of rootedness, feeling both deeply connected to the land and belonging to the group.

Monan’s Rill honors the long tradition of Quaker consensus practice – taking the time to work towards understanding each other’s perspectives, encouraging those with minority opinions to speak up, and listening for intuition and emotion as well as for information. We seek the collective wisdom of the group, recognizing that each member’s perspective is important and needed in order to understand “the whole story.” We acknowledge and honor differences, and aim to create better solutions by exploring differences and disagreement when they arise. In order to create a culture of safety and respect in which everyone feels heard and understood, we attempt to honestly address power dynamics through good communication and facilitation skills. We continually seek to improve our communication and decision-making processes.