Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Development Phase

[S. Kashdan (skashdan]

A few of our founding members were generous and trusting enough to provide 
loans to some other members that made it possible for them to move in and 
become long-term residents and participate in creating the cohousing 
community.

Sylvie Kashdan
Jackson Place Cohousing, Seattle, Washington
where we will be celebrating our tenth anniversary of living on site this 
coming weekend

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Craig Ragland" <craig [at] songaia.com>
To: "R.N. Johnson" <cohoranda [at] yahoo.com>; "Cohousing-L" 
<cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2011 4:43 PM
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ Development Phase



It goes the other way as well - being part of some forming groups has helped
people get their financial act together so that they could purchase homes.

My wife and I joined Songaia (now expanded from 13 homes on 10.6 acres to 19
homes on 12.5 acres, near Seattle) in 1992. At the time, it was quite
unclear how we could qualify for a mortgage once the homes were built. At
the time, we had a negative net worth as we were digging out of debt. We
moved into a shared household on the Songaia property. Living in the shared
house lowered our cost of living, and allowed us built up a little equity.
Most importantly, it made it easier to learn from our older, founding
members. At the time, I was in my mid-30s and was clueless about the value
of eldering.

Fred Lanphear, now deceased, helped me better understand how to manage our
money - and to make the hard decisions required to increase our income and
further decrease our cost of living. Most importantly, he helped me clarify
my priorities. I left a small business I started for more lucrative work,
trading a lot of freedom for more money.

Fred passed away a couple of years ago, but his impact on my life continues.
For others who might like to learn from this remarkable man, here is Fred's
memorial website:

http://elderfred.wordpress.com/

Craig Ragland

P.S. I look forward to seeing some of you this weekend at the FIC's Art of
Community conference in the bay area. There are still tickets available:

http://www.artofcmty.com/


On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 2:19 PM, R.N. Johnson <cohoranda [at] yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> People with financial limitations, or physical limitations who participate
> early on will have an easier time motivating their communities to make the
> decisions that allow those with limitations of one sort or another to join
> the community in its built form and participate fully.
>
> Randa Johnson
> New Brighton Cohousing
> Aptos, CA
>
>
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