Tour Bellingham Cohousing, 1000 Meals, Snow in North Carolina
February 2018
CoVision Consulting was founded by Shelly Parks and is committed to the success of cohousing communities, especially for those over 55. For more information about Shelly and CoVision Consulting, go to her website: CoVision Consulting or follow on her Facebook page.
Aging Better Together in Community
Tour Bellingham Cohousing
You are invited to join me on a tour of Bellingham Cohousing. This tour is being sponsored by Skagit Cohousing and it will be a great time to connect with people who live and experience cohousing every day. Tour will include the common house and an individual home followed by lunch and a discussion. 

March 3, 2018
Saturday
10 am - 2 pm 

Space is limited so register early by emailing skagitcohousing@gmail.com

$10.00 registration fee is payable on the day and includes lunch

Details sent upon registration.
Photo by  Roman Kraft  on  Unsplash
In the News! Group seeks a Different Kind of Housing Development
Had a fun conversation recently with a reporter from a Skagit Valley paper about Skagit Cohousing, the forming community my husband and I have joined. To read the article, and learn how many neighbors I currently know in my condo building, click the link below.
1000 Meals
Imagine you arrive home after an exhausting day filled with errands, tasks, and a much too long to-do list with little crossed off. You are exhausted and really hungry. You had no time to stop by the grocery store and you realize there is little to eat in your kitchen. You resign yourself to another night of scrounging together a meal and it likely won’t be nutritious. 

Now imagine the same arrival. But instead, you walk by the common house and you smell something delicious. Could it be a savory roast chicken and fresh baked bread? Your spirits pick up because you remember you had signed up for the common house meal this evening and you send up a prayer of thanks for not having to figure out dinner tonight. Plus! No dirty dishes to clean up! You simply need to show up and enjoy a lovely meal with your friends and neighbors.

Here’s how common meals in a cohousing community often work: 
  • Typically a community will have 2-5 scheduled meals a week.
  • It’s YOUR choice. You can choose to take part or not. 
  •  To share the workload, you will be assigned a meal to prepare, maybe once a month. A fair trade I’d say – a month of meals for one night of doing the work. Think how much time this will save!
  • Plus, it is simply wonderful to sit down at a table and share a meal. I would venture to say that if we are not living in cohousing , we are not doing this enough.

I recently read a newsletter article from Wolf Creek Lodge , a 55+ Cohousing Community that has been open for a little over five years. They did some calculation and found that they had shared more than 1000 meals together. One thousand! This number sounded outlandish to me until I calculated it in my head. I thought back on the last five years of my life and to the times I’ve enjoyed a dinner meal with friends (maybe 25 times?). Those moments have created lovely memories and have enriched my life. I couldn’t help consider how much richer my life will be when I live in cohousing. 

As for me, I’m going to really love those common house meals!
It's Snowing in North Carolina!
Last month I had the opportunity to fly to Durham, North Carolina to work with Village Hearth Cohousing, an outstanding community that will soon begin construction. We spent three days together exploring ways to get the word out to those last few households they need to begin construction. We worked hard and had loads of fun. My only regret was I had looked forward to sunshine and instead was met with snow.
Intrigued by Cohousing?
If you have a group of friends who have talked (maybe jokingly) about creating community together, a professional group or club that likes to explore innovative topics, or just want to discuss your own thoughts over coffee, email me. I've been speaking with many groups and can tailor a talk to best suit your group's interests.
Watch for my next newsletter where I'll share the secret of becoming a better person in cohousing.



425-308-0639