People enjoying a communal meal at a long wooden table in a cozy, well-lit kitchen.

cambia

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Ecological
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2015

What we do

We are forming an egalitarian and income sharing community. We are co-creating a culture of social sustainability and harmony that nourishes us as well as the earth. We focus on re-humanizing the scale of our lives. We do that with slower pace, balance in our lives, deep social connection, natural building, education, creativity, and intuitive structure to our time and space.
While we are focused on interpersonal and cultural aspects of our community, we are interested in building small, beautiful, natural housing, doing our best to be ecologically conscious, using new and old technologies, and upholding values of minimalism.
We want to continually learn about what works in community and do our best to integrate our lessons into our lifestyle.
We are planning educational programs in subjects including experiential natural building workshops, off grid technologies, crafts, and nature awareness. We are working on understanding what makes communities thrive through sociological research.

Our Mission

We aspire for a small and stable community with a high level of sharing and connection. We are inspired by the nature around us as we attempt to create human habitat that emulates the beauty and complexity of living systems. We seek to intertwine reason and intuition, aesthetics and efficiency. We are interested in increasing our skills and education through experience, mentorship, sharing and study, and growing as individuals. Within a thriving cluster of neighboring income sharing communities, we are creating a viable, regenerative alternative to the mainstream. We intend to strengthen the relationships between existing communities.

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Ecovillage
  • Commune
  • Sustainability practices
  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design
  • Natural / low-impact building
  • Activities
  • Farming
  • Education
  • Experiences

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2015
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2015
  • Started living together
  • 2 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
7

How to join

Contact us, email correspondence, short visit, longer visit/internship/provisional membership, then full membership. We can adapt this process for special cases.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

read through our website, then email with answers to the questionnaire on the visiting section of our website.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Full Consensus

Everyone must agree before moving forward.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Complete Income-Sharing

All member income goes into common pool for community use.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a labor obligation

Additional economic information

Labor: Yes (36 hrs/week)
we share all income. some work will have to be for dollars, some for local currency, some for domestics, we’ll figure it out as we go. you don’t have to have an existing job, we have access to paid work. we don’t really keep track of labor hours. but we have a schedule that we all agree on and are expected to fulfill.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Hot tub or hot springs, Outdoor Kitchen, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Approximately all meals

Dietary restriction

  • People can cook and eat what they want in their own residence

Community activities and engagement

  • School, Educational Institute or Experience
  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming
  • Festivals, Conferences, Events

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Religions
  • Buddhist
  • Jewish
  • Wiccan, Paganism, or Earth Religions

Gender composition

  • Majority cis (over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Multi-generational (all ages well represented)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Land Trust, Home Owners Association, or corporation

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

  • Commune

    Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities

Community type

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Sustainability approach

  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design
  • Natural / low-impact building

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Community type

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Some or all of the buildings are...

  • Partially built or remodeled with recycled or environmentally friendly materials, and/or using natural building methods

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Wind
  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • Up to 33%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Land area size
    15 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Virginia, United States

Needs and Offers

Offer
  • Communities with Openings
2 months ago

Community House in SE Portland Seeks Membership!

Ellis Street Community House is seeking kind, present, and engaged new housemates with experience in community living. We are currently 3 adults, one baby, and two cats living in a 6 bedroom, 3 bath house on ÂĽ acre of land near Powell Butte nature park and the Springwater Corridor bike trail. We expect to be joined by a shy and sweet 2 year old in the next few months. For us, living in community is a collaborative process, one that helps improve our quality of life. We’re able to eat great food, keep the place clean, maintain a garden, and hold a space large enough to host guests and events by working together. We have an extensive community library and art/craft material collection, as well as a great tea selection, stocked pantry, and functional kitchens ready for feast-making, canning, and fermentation dreams. We make kombucha, ginger beer, sauerkraut, bone broth, natto, and apple/pear butter on a rotating basis. With two fridges and two deep freezers we can save blueberries and blackberries we harvested from close by and get meat directly from farmers. We hold potlucks and other events like bonfires and game nights about once a month, and make a house dinner together weekly. We maintain a home free from artificial fragrances and voice-activated technology. The larger downstairs room is available for $740 per month. The smaller downstairs room will be available for $600 per month starting on September 1rst. The main kitchen is on the second floor. We also have private outdoor space for someone sleeping in their home on wheels available for $200-500 per month depending on the size of the vehicle. This would include membership in the community and use of the common spaces. Guest space is available for friends and relatives of residents – upstairs there is an office/guest room for longer visits, and the couches/pads in the common areas are available for shorter stays. The home has heating and cooling through an efficient heat pump, and we ju

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Communities

A residential project: people live here as their primary home.

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An institution, business, network, or project that isn’t a residence (e.g. a learning center, farm, or network with no one living there full-time).

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