Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Sweat Equity

[Casey Morrigan (cjmorr]

Dear Liza:

Have you considered renting a place in a cohousing community for an 
extended length of time to see if the nitty gritty reality matches your 
expectations?  I know of at least one that has collaborated with Habitat 
for some of the homes on their site (Rosewind) and there may be others.

Casey Morrigan
Two Acre Wood
Sebastopol, CA


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elizabeth Cobb [mailto:lizacobb [at] earthlink.net]
> Sent: Saturday, July 05, 2003 11:33 AM
> To: cohousing-l
> Subject: [C-L]_Sweat Equity
>
>
>
> I am a recent fan of cohousing -- as soon as I discovered its
> concept, etc. less than a year ago.  Co-housing seemed an
> answer to my growing concerns about sustainability, putting
> one's money where one's mouth is vis-a-vis activism, and
> community.  I joined the co-housing network, subscribed to
> this list serv, and have been trying to do as much reading as
> possible on the subject.
>
> But as I read people's messages, I began to be afraid that
> co-housing was less successful at addressing the big gap
> between the haves and havenots -- it seemed to me that at
> worst, co-housing was just a new way for middle class people
> to secure their own piece of the pie.  That's when I became
> interested in the possibility of finding a group of people
> who'd be interested in working for Habitat for Humanity a
> couple seasons, not only for the sake of activism, but also
> to learn how to build our own houses in community.  This
> would make mortgages something less than a lifetime
> commitment (or jail term), and it would also make for housing
> affordable to people "less fortunate" than the middle class.
> I'll be almost 60 by the time I will be able to commit to
> Habitat for Humanity (I hear there are special groups of
> housebuilders made up of women!), but I think it is something
> I really want to do.  I hope I'll be able to find others who
> put special emphasis on sustainability, economic diversity,
> and activism; who want to live in the same geographic
> whereabouts (I'm undecided:  I think about Canada, upper
> state NY, northern Arizona, North Carolina, Russia!).
>
> I also see co-housing as a way to develop the ability to
> visualize a society that is non-hierarchic.  We are
> indoctrinated at every level to believe that a system needs
> someone on top to make the decisions, to lead the way, to
> prevent chaos.  And really, the scale of present-day society
> is so huge (huge corporations, huge cities, huge populations)
> that anything other than hierarchy seems hopeless and wishful
> thinking.  But in co-community, people practice consensus
> every day.  People practice living out a non-hierarchical way
> of life in relatively small groups.  It seems to me that our
> co-communities, springing up all over the world, with
> emphasis on sustainability, human relations, activism, might
> well be the precursor to a badly needed new way of life, our
> "new story."
>
> What do you think, readers?
>
> Liza Cobb
>
>
>
> Message: 3
> From: Sue Pniewski <SPniewski [at] Habijax.com>
> To: "'cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org'" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Subject: RE: [C-L]_Sweat Equity and affordable housing
> Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 16:44:06 -0400
> Reply-To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
>
> This sounds similar to Habitat for Humanity, which has also
> worked together
> with a couple of cohousing groups.  We require 300 hours of
> sweat equity in
> the homeowner's and other people's houses.  It gives the people a real
> feeling of ownership and pride in their homes and allows many
> people who
> would otherwise be unable to afford homeownership
>  to realize a piece of the american dream.  For more
> information please see
>
> www.habijax.com   or
>
> http://www.habitat.org
>
> -------------------------------------
> Susan Pniewski, Esq.
> General Counsel
> Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville
> 904.798.2712  x202
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jessica.E.Morey.02 [at] Alum.Dartmouth.ORG
> [mailto:Jessica.E.Morey.02 [at] Alum.Dartmouth.ORG]
> Sent: Friday, June 27, 2003 4:38 PM
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: [C-L]_Sweat Equity and affordable housing
>
>
>
> I just read an article in the Anchorage Daily News about a USDA Rural
> Housing Service Program called SELF HELP HOUSING, which
> requires the home
> owners to work 30 hours a week on the houses, pouring
> concrete, hammering
> nails... everything cohousers seem to want to do.
> The home owners qualify by being low income and having low
> debt.  There is
> one developed community like this in Palmer Alaska and
> another just breaking
> ground in Settler's Bay.
> Sounded very much like cohousing- an added benefit described
> was knowing
> your neighbors by the end of the project.
> All those folks wondering about affordability should check this out.
> Jessica
> _________________
>
>
> --
> ?Ia??a
>
>
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