Upcoming Public Presentation in Ramona, Neurological Diversity in Cohousing, & Other Important Updates
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No Power – No Problem.
That just means a perfect ski day with the neighbors here at Nevada City Cohousing
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Ramona, CA Public Presentation
March 16th, 2023 6PM at Ramona Community Center
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"At Elliott Pond, you’ll see a lot of people. Our town square, with its restaurants and events, will be Ramona’s social center. It will also make Ramona a place to go to, not just go through."
Please spread the word to anyone you know (your email list) who might be interested in joining a new community in Ramona, CA, or just wanting to know more about cohousing.
Location: Ramona Community Center
434 Aqua Ln
Ramona, CA 92065
Date & Time: March 16th, 2023 @ 6:00 PM
For more information, please email jim@redleafvillage.com or visit https://elliott-pond.com/
We look forward to seeing you there!
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Other Updates in Cohousing: Table of Contents
March 2023
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- Neurological Diversity in Cohousing
- Ground Source Heat Pumps in Stillwater Cohousing
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Antioch Continuing Education Class in 2023 DATE CORRECTIONS
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Neurological Diversity in Cohousing
Lessons Learned from Solheimar EcoVillage
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Oakcreek Community Sustainability
Ground Source Heat Pump as the future
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The future is ground source heat pumps.
When the ground is circa 55° F, there is a great deal of heat that can be extracted from it.
In Stillwater, OK, we built 24 houses using ground sourced heat. It has saved the residents thousands and thousands of dollars over the last 10 years ($100 per house per month x 12 months x 24 houses = about $28,800 per year of savings)
This heat system works best in cohousing, because people know how to cooperate. In other words, not every house has to be metered to be cheaper and make sure that everyone saves plenty. This is a typical scenario in cohousing.
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Antioch Continuing Education Classes 2023
DATE CORRECTIONS
Now open for registration
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How to Address Homelessness in Your Town
Professional Development Certificate
Wednesdays Apr. 5 - 26, 2023, 9:30 – 11:30 am (Pacific)
In this 4-week course, Durrett will impart his decades of experience so that you understand the dynamics of addressing homelessness in your community. This course is for legislators, municipal employees, architects, planners, designers, urban volunteers, and all good citizens.
Sign Up Here
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Poland Update #9
Last Set of Photos from the border
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The last photos from the front.
Ukrainian kids, some orphans, getting a little bit of the love right across the border in Poland. The forth and last classroom in three different buildings.
I cleaned out the bank account today at Chase there was ten dollars and 94 cents left.
My month in Poland was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. But as you can see looking at these kids, how absolutely gratifying it was and is. Thanks for all of your support
Please visit our website to see more photos of this classroom HERE
Love, Chuck
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Books have played a major role from the beginning in terms of getting cohousing to this country and built in your town, starting with our first book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves (The European Story). Bookstores normally play a key role in culture change in general, and cohousing is no exception.
Many groups have contacted the publisher (New Society Press and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) directly to get bulk discounts, and I find that successful projects get started when lots of folks do their homework. I usually need to give a dozen copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities, Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living and Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods away to planners, banks, neighbors, mayors, new residents, local architects, builders, and so on—to give them context. It saves the group thousands and thousands of hours, dollars, and delays.
Cohousing is more than a sound bite; it is cultural pivot, and it takes folks doing some fun research first. Seattle and the surrounding areas have about a dozen cohousing communities largely because the bookstores in town have sold more than 1,000 copies of Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities and the San Francisco area has over 20 cohousing communities because the book have sold more than 2,000 copies.
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