Washington DC Area Cohousing Meet
UP. Meet Up is a social networking site that helps people with
similar interests find each other and actually MEET! Did you know 84 people
are on this Meet Up and they are looking to find others with an interest in
building community, green and sustainable living, new urbanism, zero energy
building, ecovillages, and oh ... lots more? If YOU are interested in
actually building a community and you want to meet others in the extended
DC area (extends all the way to Vermont!!) then join the Meet Up.
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| Three Groves Ecovillage |
| Three Groves Ecovillage is an organization of individuals living near
the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware who are establishing an
environmentally and socially sustainable neighborhood. They are planning
this community in partnership with nationally acclaimed green building
professionals. |
| Ecovillage Will Offer: |
- A fantastic location on 7.5 acres across the street from the
planned London Grove Community Park. Downtown West Grove, PA, and the
SCCOOT bus stop are within walking distance.
- Individually owned, complete units with 1, 2, 3, or 4 bedrooms at
prices competitive in the local market.
- Net-zero energy. On-site solar electric and geothermal systems will
provide all electric, heating, and cooling needs, resulting in no
energy bills over the course of the year.
- Durable and Quality construction using recycled and/or low/no-VOC
materials
- An inter-generational, friendly atmosphere that is safe for
children and conducive to visiting with neighbors.
- A large Common House, for optional shared meals and other
activities.
- A pedestrian village that is clustered around walkways and the club
house.
- Parking on the periphery of the site for safety and to maintain
open, natural space.
- Seeking LEED® • Platinum Certification
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| Visit our website at www.ThreeGrovesEcovillage.org or
call us at 610-643-4411 |
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Why I Like Cohousing by Sharon Villines of Takoma Village
Cohousing, Washington DC. |
| Why I like cohousing: |
| 1. Because a single mother of a 3 and 6 year olds knows that if she has
an emergency illness or an accident, there are 12 homes where her children
would be welcome and taken care of for at least 24 hours -- and that the
children would not only be happy but would think it was a real treat. |
| 2. Because when a single man got a call at 2:00 in the afternoon asking
if he would consider one-year-old twins instead of one 3-year-old and to
think about it over the weekend, he could send out a notice out that night
that he had one hour to prepare for twins because they had been taken into
custody earlier than planned and needed what ever babies needed. And even
though no one had even known about the 2:00 call, three people saw the
email and went to basements and closets and set up a nursery in 45 minutes
with beds, blankets, clothes, diapers, toys, etc. Even a changing table,
bottles, and milk. |
| 3. Because when the caseworker arrived at 11:00, there were 5 people
waiting at the curb. The boys turned out to be 18 months old and severely
neglected. Everyone played with them while the case worker gave us their
background. One twin was not walking and had been reported to social
services for failure to thrive. Neither could talk and barely made sounds.
And at midnight someone could show the father how to give them a bath and
for several nights rocked one boy to sleep because he kept his twin awake
and the father needed to do laundry and prepare for the next day. And then
two young women with no children became substitute mothers and helped him
for months. |
| 4. Because six-week old babies could be dropped off for naps in a quiet
house to rest their bottoms on my desk and sleep against my shoulder while
I worked on a book. |
| 5. Because six-year-olds consider my house theirs and burst in to play
with my bookcase of toys. Some things their parents won't allow because
they end up all over the house -- a box of miniature rubber and plastic
animals, another of finger puppets, and and big box of alphabet letters.
Flashlights they can play with under the bed and in the bathroom. |
| 6. Because when people get cancer, meals are organized at the drop of a
hat each evening with left overs for lunch. And everyone can be told what
not to say to an 8 year old girl about her mother's illness and everyone
doesn't. |
| 7. Because from the ages of 8-12 a boy could arrange his own birthday
party and invite everyone to come and tell a joke. And almost everyone from
3-75 does. And that one year he had a pun contest with winners in several
categories. And some people wrote their own and they were very funny. |
| 8. Because at every party, I can ask Naomi to sing the green stamp song
and I had forgotten all about green stamps. |
| 9. Because when the daughter of one of our residents, who had only
lived here one summer while she studied for the bar, lost a baby a month
before it was to be born brought it back to be buried, expecting only her
immediate family to attend the service, 45 people showed up. And in the
following month women shared with her their own experiences of losing
babies so she could see that she could survive and have other
children. |
| 10. Because there is always a party going on somewhere that I can drop
into for 15 minutes or an hour. And go back to my quiet house and my
writing without feeling isolated. |
| 11. Because when someone adopts two boys from Yugoslavia, he is given
as many kids DVDs as he can carry so the boys to begin learning English
while he waits there for weeks while the paperwork is done and the judge
lets them go. |
| 12. Because an 80-year-old woman who lives in a unit too small to have
a dog can walk the dogs of people who cannot walk theirs. And when she
slips and falls on the ice and dislocates her shoulder there is a person
passing by who can take her to the doctor and another who knows where the
dog lives and can take him home. And there are others to keep her
entertained and see that she has lunch during the following weeks because
her son doesn't want to leave her alone while he is at work. |
| 13. Because 35 people will sit in a room and listen to a 7-year-old
play a violin when he has only been taking lessons for a two months and
only knows one song and plays it three times and it sounds as terrible as
violin can sound. And everyone applauds -- three times. |
| 14. Because there is always a puzzle set up in the corner of the
commonhouse where people gather, and the kids can practice putting pieces
in the wrong place. And no one complains. |
| 15. And because we have a former resident who came back last week to
stay in the guest rooms on his way across America to demonstrate his
electric car and believes electric cars will be here momentarily, if not
sooner. |
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