Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Associate Membership. Does your community have this?

[Madeline Nelson (madilounelson]

At RoseWind in Port Townsend, WA, we have 2 versions of associate membership. 

The first, a “licensed associate”, is similar to what is described below— 
neighbors who own a home on an adjacent property. This structure has been used 
only once so far, for a household whose needs in a home changed, and they 
bought adjacent property and built a house that suited their current needs. 
Within the next year a 2nd household will enter into a licensed associate 
membership, as they sell their home and move to a smaller home adjacent to 
RoseWind. Licensed associates pay the same annual assessments as regular 
(owner) members, and have all privileges, including decision making, as well as 
responsibilities. The only exclusion is the formal once-yearly vote for board 
and officers— but the licensed associate is eligible to serve on the board or 
as an officer, as well as take part in committees.

The second is a “sponsored associate”. This is someone who lives in a member’s 
home but is not an owner of the home. It originated as a way for partners or 
family members who are not owners to have full participation in the community. 
The category has been expanded to include long-term renters in ADUs (separate 
quarters within the house) who want to fully participate in the community. Our 
requirement is that both the member/owner and the tenand must live at RoseWind 
(so, this is not for a renter if the owner doesn’t live here). A sponsored 
associate member does not pay separate annual assessments, which we consider 
covered on a per-house basis. Like licensed associates, sponsored associates 
can participate in all aspects of the community except the yearly formal vote, 
and can serve on the board or as an officer.

I see sponsored associate membership as a valuable path for people who want to 
be fully engaged in the community, but either there isn’t a house available at 
that time, or the people concerned currently don’t wish to, or can’t afford to, 
buy a house. It offers a possibility for a single person, or people with less 
financial means, to join our community.

Madeline Nelson


> Message: 3
> Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2026 20:34:13 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Joanna Allen <jowooallen [at] verizon.net>
> To: "cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org" <cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org>
> Subject: [C-L]_ Associate Membership.  Does your communmity have this?
> Message-ID: <1702077503.1860488.1786739653262 [at] mail.yahoo.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
> 
> 
> 
> I am very interested in the concept of Associate Membership and have 
> documents from Cherry Hill in Amherst MA and PDX Commons in Portland,OR, 
> showing how they manage this component of co-housing.? I am broadening my 
> research in order to better weigh the pros and cons.
> In brief, this system enables neighbors of your community, who don't live on 
> your campus or in your building, but may own a home a few blocks away, to 
> belong to your community and benefit, as well as bring benefits to the 
> co-housing community, especially as we age.Thanks,JoAnna Allen, Phoenix 
> Commons, Oakland CA415-307-2867
>