Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: What Makes community

[Martin Tracy (mtracy]

The Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE) has its <Annual Networking 
Event> at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, July 20 - 23, 1995.  For more 
information, write or call:

Jonathan Lange
PO Box 181 Woodbury, VT 05681
800 336-8323

Much of the FCE activity has been on the East Coast, although they have slowly 
extended to the Midwest, and south to Texas.
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I would like to talk more of <Community> and its manifestations and degrees, 
but 
we're off to Sharingwood for the weekend.  Bye for now.

>Jared writes: 

>I'd like to add a somewhat different perspective on community, which might
>address some of why Rob at Sharingwood is hearing from a number of co-housing
>groups that there is a lack of community at them. 
>Community, in my mind, is never about structure. It is created by who we are
>in relation to others. Some structures can facilitate that (as I believe
>co-housing can) and some can impede it, as our typical atomized housing
>patterns do, but no structure can create that sense of belonging, being seen
>and valued that we crave.  The only way to create community is to do the
>incredibly difficult work of being open and honest and sharing of who we
>really are, apart from all the facades we present to the world and to
>ourselves. 
>Far and away the best book I know that describes this is Scott Peck's A
>Different Drum which I urge upon everyone who has any interest in community. 
>There is also an organization which sponsors workshops based on Peck's work
>called the Foundation for Community Encouragement. There are lots of problems
>with this organization, in my opinion, and they present worthwhile work.
>Their address is incorrectly listed in the Different Drum, it is FCE 109
>Danbury Rd. Suite 8 Ridgefield CT 06877 203-431-9484 I believe that someone
>who has done a lot of work with FCE worked with one of the North Carolina
>Co-housing groups. That would be another possible resource, if someone could
>provide more info.


-- 
Martin Tracy, Los Angeles
mtracy [at] ix.netcom.com