Tag: Stories


Elephant Journal Talks Community and Cohousing with Steven and Bryan

Submitted by Jenny, Coho/US Outreach Associate on
The U.S. Cohousing Association is a national organization but strives to acknowledge relevant happenings in the wider world related to cohousing. Last week, Elephant Journal, a grassroots news organization with a focus on mindful living, interviewed Steven Ablondi and Bryan Bowen about their work with Memel.Global based in South Africa. Of course, cohousing principles radiated... Read More

Housing That Lessens Lonelines

Submitted by Jenny, Coho/US Outreach Associate on
A recent article on aging investigates cohousing’s potential to address the loneliness dilemma many older adults encounter when faced with the prospect of aging in place, isolated. “What if your housing choices in later life could mitigate that isolation? What if loneliness were to be replaced with meaningful connections?” the piece asks. These days,1 out... Read More

What does it feel like to move into a cohousing home you’ve been building for years?

Submitted by Ann Lehman on
7/31/17 On moving day. What does it feel like to move into a cohousing home you’ve been building for years? Exciting! The movers were friendly and right on time and carried all my boxes and furniture down three flights of stairs to the waiting truck. As the rental apartment I was leaving slowly emptied out,... Read More

Thankful To Be Living In Community

Submitted by Karin Hoskin on
There are many of you that I do not yet know and this is a personal story, but I feel comfortable sharing because we are in community, so each one of you is like my distant second cousin three times removed 🙂 The end of May and all of June has been a whirlwind for... Read More
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Twenty-Six Years into our North Carolina Experiment with Cohousing

Submitted by Becky Laskody, Arcadia Cohousing (Chapel Hill, NC) on
Arcadia is a vibrant community 26 years into our central North Carolina experiment with the co-housing concept. The mix of woods with the portion that we disturbed to build upon has morphed into a magnificent suburban oasis, nurturing many species of flora and fauna, holding our little village. We adopted our covenants and by-laws in... Read More

South Africa’s Memel Global community: A challenging place to walk your talk

Submitted by Alan O'Hashi, Silver Sage Village (Boulder, CO) on
When I cleared customs in Chicago, the Homeland Security guy was more interested in how my visit to South Africa went than the packaged beef Biltong – potential contraband – I had in my bag. Biltong is sliced spiced meat, similar to jerky. Click on the image and check out my pilot episode about my... Read More

Fertile Soils for Cohousing in Africa

Submitted by Mark Mugarura, Memel Organics Cohousing, South Africa on
A few days ago, to my amusement, I learned that cohousing shares a lot of principles with many African cultures. This happened over (way too many) drinks with a filmmaker called Alan O’Hashi following a dinner party at a cohousing community in the small town of Memel, amidst the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa. In... Read More

Thoughts on American Cohousing and Being the First in Nevada

Submitted by Marta Keen Thompson, Southern Nevada Cohousing on
While tackling the long and sometimes daunting list of tasks required to start a cohousing group, I draw daily upon every prayer, affirmation and inner trick I know to keep the faith and grow the vision. As our core group grows closer, steadily inching toward this goal, we fine-tune ways to share the vision with... Read More

Grace Farm: in community, we are inspired to be better than we are individually

Submitted by Nicholas Vergatos, Grace Farm (Noblesville, Indiana) on
Grace Farm is a group of friends, with an average age of about 35, who have been exposed to community living through a few different experiences and have been motivated to potentially start our own cohousing community. The 10 founding members of Grace Farm have experienced community living most notably from our time at Bethlehem... Read More

We Enjoyed National Cohousing Open House Day 2017

Submitted by Alice Alexander, Durham Cohousing (Durham NC) on
We were surprised but pleased when a boat load of people arrived just as we opened our doors for the Cohousing Open House Day on April 29th. We had steady visitors for most of our four hours. Nobody was counting, but we estimate 50-60 folks came, which was great! Showing off our Durham Cohousing elicits... Read More