Coho/US is initiating a National Open House Day! Whatever these words may bring up for you, one thing is for sure – just as cohousing itself is a collaborative process and group effort, a living example that the whole indeed is greater than the sum of its part, it will be with this event as well. We invite your community, whether a newly forming seedling, actively growing or an established forest, to open its doors and hearts and welcome public visitors. You will showcase your communities on the same day all across the country. Coho/US is offering a national platform for each individual communities to create a fun, educational and welcoming event for both those within and outside of the community to enjoy. After all, if it doesn’t draw your members in, how will it attract the public?

Why an Open House Day? A visit is worth a thousand words in explaining cohousing! An open house provides a great opportunity to attract the public to get a taste for themselves, ultimately helping you build a robust waiting list. When we started forming our communities, this goal was on our minds daily. For those that have lived in one 5, 10 or 15+ years, it may not be so much now. Now is the time to reignite that fire. Actively reaching out to like-minded potential new members will strengthen the dedication and vision for your community!
Want to participate? Simple. Any community can fill out the quick form to get themselves signed up with Coho/US and let the planning process begin! We will list and promote your community as “open for visitors” with links and info on your event. As participation is free, we encourage those interested to fill out the form early, even before all your details are in place, so we can start working to support you on a national level now. Simply fill out our form and we will be in touch with you to discuss more soon. As you come up with more details, tell us about it and we will update our information.

Won’t this take collaboration? Well of course, isn’t that’s what cohousing is all about! This will provide an excellent opportunity to strengthen our connections on a national level. As we prepare for, enjoy and recap the day on April 30th, let’s all tap into social media to quickly share the fun, ideas, pictures, and inspirations with others across the country. Connecting with our social media sites like FB, our website blog, Coho-L, and other, we can speed up the collaborative process and learn from each others’ efforts. Combining the national platform and reach of Coho/US with the local, feet-on-the-ground efforts of each community, the benefits of the National Open House Day will be magnified.

What does it cost? There is no cost to you to participate, nor will there be to the public at large. However, individual communities are welcome to ask for donations to help support their events. Similarly, Coho/US is supporting you on a national level by creating the framework, publicity and marketing tools, and collaborative platform for your event to be a success. We are covering the upfront costs, and likewise, are inviting you to help support our ongoing efforts to offer even more useful services and resources to you. Now is a great time to consider renewing – or beginning – your annual contribution to Coho/US, by which we are partially funded.

Now what? Join the fun. Let’s create, promote and connect together as we prepare for our National Open House. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

To sign up and for more details, go here: https://www.cohousing.org/openhouse2016