Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: associate members

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorlizm]

Diana, Mosaic does actually have an affiliate who is in a relationship
with one of our members--they (the affiliate) live in Camelot (the
other coho community on our land).

Alan, that affiliate would be a member if the person who lives in our
community were to say "[name] is in my household and is a member."
Then they'd be a member. But they haven't said that, they've instead
had them join as an affiliate. (Which required that a second household
*also* be the sponsor.)

Maggi, residents *choose* whether to be members. Each household says
"these are the members that live in my house".
For renters they may be considered part the of the home they live in,
or they may be members as their own household--usually the landlord
decides which way that goes.
For people who live here part-time (college students, partners,
parents, etc.) the person who lives here all the time says "these are
the members in this household".

But a renter could not choose to be an affiliate. Affiliates don't
live here, people who choose to be members are "members" if they live
here.

To be clear this is much easier than it sounds.

I do not believe we have a way to remove members? Maybe Diana is
avoiding work even more than I am and could look that up.

Liz

On Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 11:01 AM Maggi <librarymaggi [at] gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Diana, you say that residents are automatically considered to be members.
> Are there any situations in your community where a resident would not be
> considered to be a member, or could have their membership revoked?
>
> On Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 10:41 AM Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > No, by definition, affiliates are non-residents.  Residents automatically
> > get full membership.  Affiliate membership has limitations, like they can
> > come to meetings and participate in discussion, but if something comes to a
> > vote, they don't get to vote.
> >
> > Like Liz said, we do not try to decide who is a resident. That's up to the
> > household. In fact, once a year we survey -- who do you consider part of
> > your household for the purposes of membership? We don't consider it our job
> > to verify or second guess. No one really cares -- you are who you say you
> > are.
> >
> > As far as I know, we have never had the situation of a romantic
> > relationship where the partner was an affiliate. Doesn't mean we wouldn't
> > do it, but it just hasn't been a thing. We've had non-romantic family
> > related memberships (moms are popular :D ), but I think, if memory serves,
> > that those family members lived in Camelot, our "sister" community who
> > shares our land, so that's a different situation.
> >
> > Diana
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 10:26 AM Alan O'Hashi <adoecos [at] yahoo.com> 
> > wrote:
> >
> > > Diana et al. - Thanks for your responses. Do Affilliates / Associates
> > live
> > > in your community or do they live elsewhere and participate in your
> > > community?
> > >
> > >
> > > I'm also interested in learning how a community decides that an
> > occasional
> > > guest such as a boyfriend or girlfriend who stays overnight regularly
> > > becomes a resident.
> > >
> > >
> > > Are your associate / affiliate membership categories tied to household
> > > romantic relationship status (do personfriends ever join as associates /
> > > affiliates to 'test drive' community life)
> > >
> > >
> > > Thx
> > >
> > > Alan O.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > *Alan O'Hashi **Get Up Off the Couch*
> > > www.alanohashi.com
> > > www.getupoffthecouch.com
> > > CO: 303-910-5782 ....
> > > WY: 307-316-2113 ..
> > > NE: 402-327-1652 ....
> > >
> > >
> > > On Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 01:52:42 AM MDT, Diana Carroll <
> > > dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > Adding on to what Liz said about Mosaic’s affiliates.
> > >
> > > Alan asked how we decide when someone has crossed from visitor to
> > > affiliate. Our policy (after lots of discussion) is that an affiliate is
> > > proposed by two “sponsors”. So it’s an active decision by the potential
> > > affiliate and their sponsors. Also while that transition sometimes is as
> > > you describe— they hang around for awhile and then find they want to.be
> > > more involved — in fact the majority of our affiliates are people who
> > used
> > > to live here, and/or residents of our “sister” cohousing group with whom
> > we
> > > share land.
> > >
> > > Here’s the actual policy.
> > > https://www.mosaic-commons.org/affiliates
> > >
> > > On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 10:25 PM Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] 
> > > gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > In terms of people who sometimes live in the community, it is up to
> > > the owner to decide who is a member of their household. So if they say
> > > someone is part of their household and are members then they are
> > > members.
> > >
> > > For people who don't live here, we have a category called "affiliates"
> > > for people who want to have the privileges and responsibilities of
> > > membership. They pay 5% of our average dues (we have a sliding scale)
> > > and help with work and with the fun.
> > >
> > > We have called this thing associates, and then we changed it to friend
> > > and now it is affiliate. Calling it a "friend" was a mistake, some
> > > people thought that everyone who was their friend should be made
> > > one---really, we want everyone to feel free to invite friends anytime.
> > > Affiliate status costs money and has a [slight] commitment.
> > >
> > > Liz at Mosaic commons, Berlin, MA.
> > >
> > >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> >
> >
> >
> >
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>


-- 
-Liz
(The Rev. Dr.) Elizabeth Mae Magill
Pastor, Ashburnham Community Church
Minister to the Affiliates, Ecclesia Ministries
www.elizabethmaemagill.com
508-450-0431