Neurological Diversity in Cohousing

Lessons Learned from Solheimar EcoVillage

Cohousing has got so much going for it...

However, on the outside it might look like it has one shortcoming ­– that is dealing with neurological diversity. For the most part, cohousing appears to be chock-full of the ultra-responsible’s in society, people who want to get the most value out of life, I sometimes feel guilty because I feel as if, with a few exceptions, we took the coolest people in the county and put them in one neighborhood. The people who know how or want to learn how to cooperate, share, give, take, grow, and live lighter on the earth, all the while being happier. I feel like we made a cool people hub.

So, when someone comes around who was picked on throughout their youth because of a glitch, not the most well-adjusted, for one reason or another, they can sometimes feel invisible, prejudiced against, and on occasion express aberrate behavior.

But what encourages me the most about cohousing, and Solheimar Ecovillage specifically, is their deliberate attempts to address neurological diversity, physical disability, classism, racism, sustainability and more.

The neighborhood level is just one place to address these issues, but it works well, especially in influencing children about tolerance, empathy, and developing healthy social connections with others.

Something just happens in cohousing....

People have one opportunity after another to learn something or more likely a whole bunch of things that they would have learned earlier if they had extraordinary parents or grew up in a supportive village. They become a little happier, and they prosper.

Over and over again, folks who had rough lives because of their neurodivergence and look at their shoes when they first move in, then just a few months later look you in the eye, smile, converse, tell stories, make dinner for everyone and all the rest.

The project above, Soleheimar Ecovillage, which currently has an approximate population of 100 people, many of whom deal with learning difficulties.

Now powered with thermal and solar energy, the village is fully sustainable, boasting a greenhouses, an arboretum, egg-laying facilities and forestry programmes.

Here’s to putting the pieces together, and here’s to making a more viable society.

SB 9, ADU, Affordable Housing, & Community

An Opportunity for Creating Community within Single-Family Fabric

Sixty-nine percent of housing in America is single-family housing—the epitome of separating people.

The new Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) in California encourages infill and more affordable housing development. This will result in a more walkable towns—making places close to each other and allowing commerce to prosper and community to flourish. SB 9 reintroduces a more historical type of land use where people fit into affordable housing—literally stitching it right back into the fabric of the town.

Nevada City, the town I live in, had 10,000-16,000 residents in 1900, according to historical records. And it was one square mile then. Now, it’s two square miles, and right at 3,000 residents. The town once had a hardware store, 2 drug stores, a grocery store, but now it has none of that. Single family housing took over, leaving the city underpopulated and unaffordable. Supply & demand is real.

Now, thanks to SB 9, things can start to shift back. Imagine in this elegant little neighborhood you add a common house and clustered parking, and soon you’re well on your way to a high-functioning neighborhood. SB 9 allows owners to subdivide their lots into 2 lots. Then it allows each lot to add on an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), sometimes known as a granny flat or a mother-in-law unit.

These additional units will do a great deal for the neighborhood.

First of all, the kids who grew up in this town might be able to afford to move back to town. The housekeeper that I used to have would like to live in the town that she grew up in, Nevada City, instead of Roseville, which is 50 miles away. Almost all of our service workers, baristas, restaurant workers, and more, currently drive from considerable distances to work in town. So infill will also mitigate the ridiculous traffic into our town every morning, and lessen global warming.

Some of the towns around San Diego have the same problem, so we are proposing a cohousing community in Ramona, San Diego County, that not only provides entry level housing there, but will also ultimately helps revitalize that charming town, both economically and culturally, as young people who work in the town will be able to afford to live and stay in the town.

I suspect that Nevada City will never have a population of 10,000 people again, but it might get to 3,500 someday which would be a step in the right direction when it comes to people having an affordable place to stay in our town and other suburban towns like Ramona, and many more.

The State and the Future of Cohousing in America

New Educational Video Series

This is a new educational video series we are doing to demystify what cohousing is, how it got started, and where we want to see it in the future.

Have you been following our social media accounts? If so, you might notice that we have started a new educational video series, where Charles Durrett reflects on his 30 years experience designing cohousing and talks about The Current State and the Future of Cohousing in the United States and Beyond.

The video above is our first video of the series, where Chuck introduces what cohousing is, and what its benefits to the resident and their social and physical wellbeing.

You can find and follow the rest of the series by following all of our social media accounts below. This is also an amazing to stay in the loop of what's going in the cohousing and intentional community world.

Poland Update #8

Basztowa Center Childcare Rehabilitation

Have you been listening to NPR?

Clearly the Russians are attempting to eliminate the Ukrainians. Clearly, they just want the territory—they don’t care if there are any people there or not when they finish.

They are only waiting for the Ukrainians to leave due to cold, dark nights or to be killed off. So, for now, millions of Ukrainians continue to flow over the Poland border. The finishing touches on our final classroom in the Polish city of Przemyśl will be completed this month. This is a city close enough to the Ukrainian boarder to accommodate refugees walking out of the country, and at the same time close enough to hear the echoing of Russian bombs. Ninety percent of the refugees are women and children.

Our office has spent November designing and drawing places for young children to grow and be nurtured—in a setting that can only be otherwise described as chaos. As of today, too many children have died in Ukraine due to Russian bombs, artillery, tanks, and bullets. Moms and Dads are not going to let their children be a part of this genocide and are removing their children from these risks every day. These kids have already seen too much. While there, I saw that in their eyes.

After many conversations with Polish politicians, we introduced building childcare centers in Poland for the Ukrainian refugees last May. That is what politicians indicated as critical but not otherwise being provided. We have competent builders finishing this last classroom now, but our most significant volunteer, Ben Davies, returned to Poland last week for a couple of weeks to finish the furniture (lofts, platforms, bookshelves, cubbies, and art easels). More children will soon come over the border and many more childcare centers will need to be built.

While I’m not sure that I will go back after a month there—the need for architects there is vast, especially if you can get your hands dirty—like it will be in Ukraine when that whole disaster is over. And they will, as we did, be able to use volunteers of every sort. We have had 60 volunteers so far, and they were all essential. Your generous donations are what of course made all of this possible, and we are so grateful! 

So let your architect friends know that there is stuff to do in Poland—which will have a positive impact on these young, impressionable, and deserving lives.

The kids are ever present with our work in Poland. "Organizing, cleaning, hauling" and other fun stuff. They really love the new drawing above because now they know what their new environment is going to look like.

Oakcreek Celebrates Milestone

Cohousing Community in Stillwater, OK celebrating their 10-year anniversary

Oakcreek Community in Stillwater, Oklahoma just celebrated its 10th year in existence this past Thursday. Guests were invited to an anniversary party, and many of those who helped the community throughout the years were in attendance.

The senior cohousing community had much to celebrate, and Pat Darlington and Kay Stewart were eager to talk about the years they’ve spent on the property.

"Cohousing is everything I believed in all of my life ... interdependence, good neighbors, intentional design fostering community, helping, learning, being challenged to grow ... and these are all true at Oakcreek"

-Pat Darlington

Read the rest of the article HERE