Touchstone Cohousing

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  

We are currently accepting full-time residential volunteers. Join us for 6 months (or more) at our Tibetan Buddhist center. Volunteers receive their own private room as well as all meals covered. Volunteers also have full access to classes, workshops, events, and ceremonies. This is a labor-intensive work study program–volunteers work 6 days a week on a variety of tasks such as cooking, cleaning, house maintenance, gardening, It & Tech, event planning, administrative duties, and more. 

A rare home is available at West Emerald Cohousing, an established all-ages intentional community in West Seattle. For those considering a move to the Pacific Northwest—or hoping to join a mature community rather than one still in the forming stages—West Emerald offers decades of community life, beautiful gardens, shared resources and a peaceful setting within the city in a convenient location since 1999. This unit has a unique floor plan that is ideal for co-buying, co-living, or for one household. The home itself offers a flexible 3+ bedroom, 2.5 bath layout: Garden-level room with a separate exterior entrance and half bath—ideal for a home office, studio, guest space or client-facing business Main-level bedroom and full bath, laundry, making one-level living possible Open great room with large windows overlooking gardens filled with birdsong Well-designed kitchen with generous storage and pantry Two additional light-filled spacious bedrooms and a full bath upstairs Thoughtfully maintained and updated Located at the end of a common pathway for added privacy and garden views, Just feet from parking, which is out of view West Emerald community amenities include: Common House with gathering and activity spaces Community meals and events Mature gardens and shared outdoor spaces Workshop/maker spaces and bike barn Exercise room EV charging opportunity Excellent Metro access to Downtown Seattle just minutes away Nestled into a dell, it’s Seattle’s best-kept secret South Seattle College and lifelong learning, NW Wine Academy, the Seattle Chinese Garden are nearby, with easy access to Alki Beach, Lincoln Park, magnet schools, ferries, and the shops and restaurants of the West Seattle Junction. 6000 17th Ave SW, Seattle, WA Is a wonderful opportunity to have your own comfortable, private home while becoming part of a vibrant and well-established Seattle all-ages cohousing community. For more information contact the friendly Realtor at 206-579-9066, or at ki**********@**********te.com who will be happy to meet you there or do a facetime tour.

Old structures are crumbling. New ways of living are calling. We are answering that call. Wild Grace is an eco-spiritual community located in the Sierra foothills 30 minutes from Grass Valley, California. We recently completed new homes for those who feel called to our vision. Currently there are four of us living on this sacred 80 acres of land although we are a hub for an expanded neighborhood community. Many join us weekly for potlucks, expressive dance, Qi Gong, monthly musical gatherings, and seasonal celebrations in our temple, as well as tending to our orchard. We are excited to welcome others to join us on the land who are dedicating their lives to spiritual growth and ready to live in a more focused and intimate heart-centered lifestyle. Might that be you or someone you know? The fundamentals are simple. Spirit. We listen personally and collectively together most mornings, usually starting with a musical offering, a prayer, or a short reading, followed by about 40 minutes of what we call “sacred silence.” Heart Circles. About once a week we gather to share and listen. We are informed by authentic and compassionate communication practices. Nature. The land itself—an 80-acre oasis of field and forest perched above the wild and scenic South Yuba River—calls for our stewardship in the gardens, orchard, greenhouses, and general care. In turn, nature feeds us abundantly, both literally and spiritually. Interbeing. We join with others to share inspiration and connection as we host monthly gatherings of song, story and prayer that draws from the larger community in addition to other events we share with our closer neighbors. As we attend to these fundamentals, Grace flows to and through us—often in “Wild” or unexpected ways. Grace catalyzes through us, but is not something we possess. Because we all are connected, we feel that Grace actively transforms n

La Querencia is an established, multigenerational cohousing community of 28 private homes in northeast Fresno, California. Homes of different sizes are available for sale or rent, at prices well below those of many other cohousing communities—especially in California. We each have our own homes and lives while also sharing meals, gardens, celebrations, a common house, a pool, and the work of caring for the community together. See current homes, prices, photos, and details: https://www.laqcoho.org/available-homes We offer monthly virtual information sessions and in-person tours for people who would like to get to know the community. Tour information is available through our website: laqcoho.com.

Curious about life at Twin Cities Family Cooperative? Join us for this online event, packed with information. We’ll take you on a virtual tour of our current community property, a 7-unit apartment building, and share our future plans to double the size of our building. We’ll talk about who we are, what life is like in our urban family-focused and intergenerational community, and what to do if you are interested in joining our community. We’ll also have plenty of time for questions.

Mellow Cogumelo is seeking 2–4 motivated individuals or couples interested in helping develop two food businesses and a small, cooperative rural community on 30 hectares of off-grid land in southwest Portugal.We’re looking for long-term partners, not short-term volunteers or visitors interested only in learning mushroom cultivation. This is an opportunity to help shape a project with substantial facilities and equipment already in place. TWO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Artisan Neapolitan PizzaOur mobile pizza operation includes an equipped professional kitchen, pizza trailer, and wood-fired oven. We’re particularly interested in someone with pizza-making experience who would enjoy developing and eventually managing this business.Specialty Gourmet MushroomsOur mushroom facility includes a dedicated laboratory, production equipment, and controlled growing environments. Mushroom cultivation or farming experience is welcome, but initiative, practical skills, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn are just as valuable. MORE THAN A BUSINESS Our wider vision is a small rural community built on independence, cooperation, mutual respect, and care for the land.Future projects include vegetable gardens, orchards, regenerative agriculture, and further improvements to our off-grid infrastructure.This is rural living, with its rewards and challenges. The property is reached by approximately 2 km of dirt road. We generate our own electricity and manage our water systems.We maintain a non-smoking, drug-free environment. Reliable transportation, or a realistic plan for it, is important. HOW IT COULD WORK We hope to meet people who want to create lasting livelihoods by gradually taking greater responsibility for developing and operating the businesses.We envision operating partnerships with increasing profit participation, based on mutually agreed responsibilities, milestones, and business performance.These are developing commercial opportunities; immediate income cannot be guaranteed. Financial and working arrangements would be discussed individually and established through appropriate agreements.On-site accommodation may be possible as part of an agreed arrangement. WHO WE HOPE TO MEET Practical, dependable, independent-minded people who like hands-on work and want to contribute to something for the long term.Experience in food service, cultivation, agriculture, construction, mechanics, or business development is welcome. Shared values and commitment are most important.If this speaks to you, please tell us about your background, skills, and what you’re hoping to build over the next few years.Learn more on our Join Our Team page at mellowcogumelo.com.

This might be a little hard to explain, but I’m going to try. I’m 28, Colombian-American, and I have a seven-year-old daughter. Our life is a little unconventional. I travel, my work is not a normal 9–5, and I’ve realized I don’t want to keep building our life around temporary housing, hired help, and having to recreate a support system everywhere we go. I keep wondering whether there is somewhere we could actually belong. Not necessarily an “intentional community” in the formal sense. It could be a farm, a group of families, cohousing, an intergenerational household, or something I don’t have the language for yet. What I want is for my daughter to grow up around people she really knows. Other children. Adults who become familiar and trusted over time. A place where people notice when someone needs help, where meals or childcare or work sometimes overlap naturally, and where community is more than everyone living near each other. And for myself, I want people I can actually think and build with. I care a lot about spirituality, inner work, land, education, caregiving, and learning how to live differently. But I also care about power and about whether the communities we create reproduce the same things we say we’re trying to get away from. I need to be around people who can acknowledge things like racism, class, gender and systemic inequality without becoming defensive or treating those conversations as inherently divisive. I’ve been developing some of my own thinking around all of this through a framework I call Conscious Colombia, Participating Wisely, and Contemporary Sādhana. A lot of it comes down to a question I keep returning to: how do we become people who can participate in community wisely, while also creating structures that remain accountable and open to correction? I don’t have a fixed location in mind and I’m not looking to rush into anything. I’m really just trying to find the people and places where this kind of life is already being attempted — imperfectly, seriously, in real life. If you’re building something like this, living in something like this, or even asking similar questions, I’d love to talk.