Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing vs "traditional" self-managed community

[Linda Hobbet (coho]

We run into that problem at Village Hearth in Durham, NC. We are an 
LGBTQIA+ and allies-oriented senior community. one of our core values is 
to create a space where people are comfortable being themselves in 
public. While cohousing communities in general are welcoming being in a 
place where LGBTQ+ people are the majority feels different to our members.

We are concerned about that focus changing over time, simply due to 
demographics, because we aren't allowed to say we prefer LGBTQ+ people 
when marketing available units. Probably the most useful tool is our 
website (currently under revision), which makes who we are very clear. 
That and general promotion of the community without it being linked to 
marketing a specific unit. Our orientation has attracted media coverage, 
especially at the beginning. For example, we are going to be featured on 
an upcoming CBS Eyes on America segment on the national evening news! 
Nevertheless, our population can easily swing to mostly allies 
(including myself) rather than actual members of the LGBTQ+ community, 
simply because 55+ LGBTQ+ people are a much smaller demographic.  We are 
currently about 50/50.

Linda Hobbet

On 6/4/2025 7:16 PM, Mariana Almeida via Cohousing-L wrote:
> Marketing a unit in cohousing is fraught in a fair housing context. You want to 
> know a lot about people, but the fair housing law essentially wants you to know 
> less (so you can discriminate less.)

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VillageHearthCohousing.com
706-202-7178
coho [at] lindahobbet.com

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