Re: Cohousing and local activism
From: Rob Sandelin (robsanmicrosoft.com)
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 94 10:59 CDT
 David G Adams  Asked about existing communities and local activism.

The potential is very much there. The very same skills of 
communication, cooperation and meeting process which make us successful 
in cohousing tend to make us cohousers, leaders in other movements.  
Many of my community neighbors are involved in leadership positions in 
various activist causes.

The caution to all this is that being a leader can paint you a certain 
color to other neighbors outside your community.  I took a leadership 
role in a growth issue in a neighboring small town and we very 
effectively won that issue.  Three years later my name is still cursed 
by some who would have profited and those same people talk ill of my 
community because of it.  Sharingwood had nothing to do what so ever 
with this issue but because I live there, these people see all of 
Sharingwood as being a bunch of hippy environmentalists. (which is not 
all that inaccurate actually, except perhaps the hippy part.....)

Another local environmental issue has come up (an airport) and 
immediately our local neighbors turned to us for help and leadership.  
Some of my neighbors are in the leadership in this issue and we have 
met many local community folks as part of that process, something which 
is a real positive aspect.  (Some of the same people who call us hippy 
environmentalists now are giving us money and help.....funny how that 
works out)

So, local activism is one of the best ways, for good or for ill, to get 
to know your neighbors in the larger community.  Many people in our 
area know of Sharingwood through the works of members in the local 
schools, foodbank, literacy programs and senior programs.  If we should 
ever have to deal with another land use hearing I think we could easily 
get a couple dozen local neighbors to speak well of us.

Margaret Mead once said something like:  "Never doubt that a small 
handful of dedicated, committed people can change the world, indeed, 
it's the only thing that ever has."


Rob Sandelin
Sharingwood Cohousing.

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