Cohousing-L Mailing List: Helping Families Get and Stay Involved

[Christina_Hilliard-LCH005 (Christina_Hilliard-LCH005]

At Commonweal, we're brainstorming ways to better attract and keep families who 
have children.  We want to make it easier for them to be part of the group, 
without overwhelming them or putting up unnecessary roadblocks.

I'm talking about factors like: 
- Convenient meeting times and conditions
- Committee work obligations

We're considering a Sunday-afternoon general meeting, for this and other 
reasons.  Mostly we meet on weeknights now.  We're also looking for ways for 
them to be involved, but without the committee time commitment.  Right now we 
ask one adult in each household to serve; most couples actually serve on two or 
more in practice.  But we don't think parents of toddlers could manage that. We 
provide  babysitting at meetings by advance reservation.

What requirements do other groups make of parents?  Do you consider their needs 
 
more than other "busy subsets?" What meeting times work out best?  Do you offer 
special services or assistance?  Other modifications?

Best,
Christina Hilliard
Commonweal Village at Forest Hills   <-- our latest name-permutation
Grafton, Massachusetts
> Prelim site plan established; hitting our timeline milestones.