Nickel City Housing Cooperative was founded in 2001 after the original group of cool folks stopped breaking in through the third floor window, and ended up actually buying the 110 year old mansion on Elmwood and North and fixing it up. It was named OI’ Wondermoth, and its DIY attitude has lived on through the years to today, as persistent as the ghost of the original owner that still floats around the house, Edmund Granger. 5 years later, in 2006, Ol’ Wondermoth’s sister house, Plankton, would be established at 126 Fargo.
Today, Nickel City Housing Cooperatives’ members still live together, cook together, eat together, work together, and navigate co-ownership and management of a home via consensus-based decision-making and non-violent communication practices. We also double our home as a venue and active community presence, hosting and organizing many events throughout the year, from avant-garde art festivals to free concerts, educational workshops, potlucks, poetry slams, and more. Our members have come from all walks of life and are of all different ages, we’ve had babies, kids, teens, and some in their 60s living at the house! We are non-discriminatory, and welcome people of all creeds, genders, orientations, etc.
We like living here because it’s our home, and we own it! We love guests, too, so come to one of our events, or send us an email if you want to come hang!
NCHC has a stated mission statement in our Articles of Incorporation as being one for affordable housing, and education for the community. Particularly on cooperative ownership, empowering the lower class, and sharing resources. We also strive to be an active presence our community, hosting many public events throughout the year.
PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBERS (Approved 11/20/2016, Amended 8/18/2019, Amended 5/18/2025, Amended 8/17/2025)
Definitions
Prospie: A prospective new member who has applied for both membership to Nickel City Housing Corporation and housing accommodations at one or any building managed by Nickel City Housing Corporation.
Membership Application Process: A Prospie will be considered for membership and housing accommodations only after the Prospie has completed the following Membership Application Process:
Prospie completes and submits a Membership Application either digitally through the Nickel City Housing Corporation website or in person, and the Membership Application is received by a Membership Coordinator or their designee.
Prospie attends at least two house social gatherings that are not meetings. Prospie must also attend a meeting at the house where the Prospie would like to be considered for housing accommodations. If a Prospie has a valid reason for being unable to attend potluck/dinner/meeting, the Prospie must participate in three remote interview sessions which will be recorded: two “get to know you” sessions, spread over 4 days to a week, as well as a remote interview at a house meeting, where they remotely attend the entire meeting.
Prospie’s completion of attendance requirements for social gatherings/meetings/remote “get to know you” sessions shall be tracked independently for each house the Prospie is applying to.
Prospie is not considered to have completed the attendance requirement of an individual social gathering/meeting/remote “get to know you” session until 2/3rds of the house’s total members for which that requirement would have been completed votes positively that the requirement has been completed.
Membership Interview: Prospies will be interviewed by the members of the house to which the Prospie has applied, after completing all parts of the above Membership Application Process. The interview will be conducted at a house meeting and may be conducted at the same house meeting that fulfills a Prospie’s Membership Application Process, if filling a vacant room is deemed urgent by the members of a house.
Interview questions: Prospies may be asked questions about things like conflict resolution, diversity, cooking and cleaning, and their interests or skills. Membership Coordinators will maintain a list of questions pre-approved by the full membership of Nickel City Housing Corporation, and interviews will only include questions asked from this list, in an effort to ensure fairness in the application process.
Reverse-interview: The interview should also include time for the Prospie to ask questions to members of the house (“reverse-interview”). At the discretion of members of a house, the interview may be broken into two separate activities (an interview and reverse-interview) which may span two separate house meetings.
Membership interview queue: Prospies will be interviewed and put up for vote based on the order in which they have completed the Membership Application Process.
Room availability: Interviews will only be conducted when a room is available. A room is available when it is vacant, or when the room will be vacated by a known date that is not more than 30 days from the date of the interview.
Voting on new members: Members of a house to which a Prospie has applied will vote to approve or deny membership to the Prospie, after the Prospie completes both the Membership Application Process and Membership Interview as described above. The vote is based on a 3-point voting process, with a supermajority of 75% affirmative votes of all members residing in the house required to approve membership and housing accommodations for the Prospie. Regardless of the number of affirmative votes, one “thumbs down” vote will deny membership and housing accommodations to the Prospie.
Results of the vote: While individual member votes will remain private in minutes of record, the overall outcome of any negative vote must be documented and an explanation as to why the members have refused membership and housing accommodations must be included in this documentation. A formal letter must also be drafted and provided to the Prospie, including the explanation as to why the members have refused membership and housing accommodations.
Send us an email or come to a public event listen on our instagram!
The whole membership decides collectively.
More than 50% agreement needed.
Members elect leaders who make decisions within defined roles.
Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.
Join fee: Yes
Regular fees: $580.00
Labor: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
Income isn’t shared, though house expenses/purchases are voted on.
Common House, Garden(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Large Scale Kitchen, Stage or Auditorium, Fire pit, Internet
Within city limits with access to urban amenities and infrastructure.
Shared living spaces with private bedrooms/bathrooms and communal
kitchens, dining, and social areas.
Cooperative housing primarily for students, often with shared chores,
meals, and democratic decision-making.
A residential project: people live here as their primary home.
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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