Cohousing-L Mailing List: re: Seeking to attract households with children

[cynthia . e . carpenter (cynthia.e.carpenter]

We faced the same problem in Cambridge Cohousing.  We did lots of outreach
specifically designed to attract families with children, in schools and
daycare centers, at city events and festivals, etc.  Our brochures
emphasized indoor and outdoor play areas for kids, the pleasures of
community dinners for working parents, etc.  These helped to get families
with small children to come to a meeting, but we still had a hard time
getting them to join.

Eventually, the group agreed to reserve one-third of the units for families
with young children and hold them aside even when we had people without
small children  who wanted to join.  (We also held one-third for singles
and one-third for couples and other family forms, but these were easily
filled.)  This decision was often very difficult to adhere to, but everyone
wanted a diverse community and we could see ourselves filling up primarily
with singles in their 50's without it.   We also reduced the deposit
requirements for young families who couldn't make the full deposit (which
were made up by other generous members with more cash available).  My own
family was the first family with children to sign up and, being the first,
we felt very skittish about committing to a group that (at that time) only
had singles and couples for members.  After much negotiation, the group
agreed to an escape clause that allowed us to back out in some number of
months if the group didn't fill the slots reserved for young families.
When the clause expired, we still hadn't filled all the slots, but we had
enough other children that we felt okay and stayed.

My sense is that this pattern often appears in forming groups - it's hard
getting the first of any particular demographic group to join, then others
in that category feel more comfortable with the group's composition and
join up, too.

- Cindy
Cambridge Cohousing

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