Cohousing-L Mailing List: What are your Forming Group's needs that an Established Community might help meet?

[Craig Ragland (craigragland]

Since I'm visiting a bunch of established Cohousing Communities over the
coming months, I have another question for the Coho-L participants that are
members of Forming Groups.

If an established Cohousing Community (or its individual members) were
willing to help your Forming Group, what would you, as a Forming Group
member, like them to provide or help with?

Donna, the Cohousing website editor, is also a Forming Goup member. She
responded to this question in the mail I'm forwarding below.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: donna freiermuth <donna [at] organic-design.net>
Date: Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Subject: Forming group needs
To: Craig Ragland <Craig [at] songaia.com>


 You asked me to brainstorm on what existing communities could provide
forming groups. Here goes:

   1. Share your documents -- especially the ones forming groups need early
   on
   2. Tell your stories to give forming groups hope
   3. Be available to answer the occasional question, especially the dumb
   ones (in the members area?)
   4. Offer encouragement -- it feels like such a vacuum
    5. Share your secrets:
    1. Tell us your best practices
       2. Tell us your worst practices -- things we should absolutely avoid
      3. What would you say sets the groups that succeed apart from those
      that fail?
       4. What were the critical components that allowed your group to
      succeed?

Remember a forming group's need is most critical before they buy land (after
that they'll probably have professionals involved) and that's when they have
the least knowledge.



-- 
Craig Ragland

Coho/US executive director
http://www.cohousing.org
craig [at] cohousing.org

Please try email first, include your phone number (w/time zone) - or give me
a call: 425-487-3550 (Pacific)... communicate!