Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: How to build sense of community in condo complex?

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

Hi Bob.  If I were in your shoes here is what I would do.

1. Create a one page, easy to understand description of the social 
organization you would like to create.  Include in this description an 
initial meeting time and place.  Ask for help with refreshments and 
give your phone number.

2. Personally pay for copies and distribute this door to door. After 
work is best, between 6-8pm. Just say Hi, my name is Bob, I'm a 
neighbor and organizing a social club, here is the details.  You should 
be able to cover 200 units in 2-3 evenings.

3. Think about some activities to do at this initial meeting which will 
get people introduced to each other in some sort of fun way. (There is 
series of books called  Games trainers play  by Edward Scannell which 
have some excellent ideas for this kind of thing).  I suggest finding 
out what interests people share in common as this will be what brings 
people together later.

4. At the meeting, setup the next meeting time and place and make it a 
regular occurring gathering - Every second Tuesday for example.  Send 
reminders to those who attend.  It helps to get peoples names and unit 
numbers at the first meeting so you can distribute a reminder notice.

5. Once people are together, and know each other a little, break into 
small groups for discussion about creating your social network - get 
people to brainstorm ideas for things to do together: parties, potluck 
dinners, social gatherings, talking circles, TV show enthusiasts, etc.

6.  Those who come to the third meeting, are the ones most likely to 
follow through on ideas and commit some time.  This is the group you 
want to ask for donations to do a newsletter for.  Let those who are 
interested voluntarily pay for and create the things they want to do.  
A two page newsletter costs about $.50 in Xeroxing and mailing costs, 
although you might be able to skip the mailing costs. That's $5 for 10 
issues.   I have done several years of newsletters like this and can 
offer ideas of some things to put into them if you get this happening.

7. I would not bother "the management company" about this.  They could 
be allies but mostly they will just get in the way.  I think you will 
have much more success doing things "grassroots".  If the activities 
are fun and interesting there are people who will do them if they know 
about them.  You will build community in only a subset of the 
residents, but that is OK.  Those who want to join, can at anytime.  
You can call it the " name of your choice" social club, organize it 
within the people who live their and use the facilities of the building 
and also expand outside it.

8. True inspirational story.  A woman who lived alone in a local 
neighborhood decided she was tired of being anonymous and not knowing 
her neighbors.  She wrote a one page letter inviting everyone in her 
neighborhood to her house for a pot luck "get to know the neighbors" 
party.  Only a few showed up for this first gathering.  Those few 
organized another gathering, this time with more activities and more 
notice, including kids activities.  A bunch of neighbors came to this.  
Several neighbors starting getting together regularly, they set up a 
children's program, got a tool sharing and chore service going, put out 
a monthly neighborhood bulletin listing all the activities going on, 
set up a coop childcare system, and 6 families started a dinner club.  
All this (and probably lots more stuff which I  don't know about) all 
got started because one person took the initiative to make it happen.  
She didn't plan all this stuff, it just happening once people got 
together and started talking about what they wanted and needed.  One 
person catalyzed a community.  She went from knowing 2 neighbors to 
knowing almost all her neighbors in 4 months.

Rob Sandelin
Northwest Intentional Communities Association.