Newsletter May 2024
Building a community that brings a more equitable society, better quality of life, and a harmonious life with nature.
It’s finally spring in Minnesota! There’s new life emerging and the promise of good things to come. Twin Cities Family Cooperative is excited about our growth and what the future brings as well!
Upcoming Events
THIS SUNDAY, May 5th noon-2pm - Lunch at the Park (Powderhorn Park playground at 34th St and 15th Ave in Minneapolis). Open to everyone, very family friendly, show up anytime. Anyone who wants to can go to the Mayday Events nearby as well (more info below).
Sunday, May 19th noon-4pm - Potluck at the Herzog House (email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com for address). Open to everyone, very family friendly.
May TBD - Online Conversation - Buying a Property this Fall (email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com for link). Open to those who have attended at least one online or in-person event (more info below).
May TBD - Online Conversation - Starting to Live Together and Develop as a Community (email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com for link). Open to those who have attended at least one online or in-person event (more info below).
May Day in Powderhorn!
May Day has always been about community in the Powderhorn neighborhood of south Minneapolis. Sunday, May 5th, Reverie Cafe and Modus Locus are throwing an In the Spirit of Mayday Block Party from 2-9pm. Here's info on that event. Another group will be hosting a drumming and dancing event over by the lake at 2:30. Here’s info on that event. Our group will meet up at Powderhorn Park at noon to hang out as a group and then people can join the festivities if they like. Bring your own lunch and show up whenever it works for you. Kids can play on the playground while adults chat. There may even be face painting for anyone that wants it (or on your hand or arm if you prefer).
Buying Property and Living Together this Fall
Join us for this 2-part conversation! This conversation is open to anyone who has already attended an online or in-person event. If you are interested and you’re not sure if this applies to you, reach out to us.
Our first conversation will focus on the possibility of making an offer on a property and moving in this fall. If this is something you want to be a part of, we want to know what is your ideal timeline and what you would be looking for in terms of personal living space. If we have time, we may also start the conversation about the financial aspects of buying a property.
The second conversation will focus on what needs to happen for us to start living together (besides having a place to live). What do we need to know about living in community and what steps do we need to take together?
These conversations will happen online so that they are accessible for people who cannot come to an in-person event at this time. Please let us know by this Sunday evening if you want to be in these conversations so that we can find a date and time that works for everyone that wants to participate. If you aren’t able to give a definite answer by Sunday, let us know that you are thinking about it. We would like to schedule the first conversation in the next week or two.
Membership
We have loved getting to know so many fabulous people over the last couple months! There are different stages of becoming a member and different people move through those stages at different speeds. At each stage, we are looking at two main criteria: Compatibility and Contribution.
Compatibility - All members need to feel like they can live and work alongside the others, that our values and goals align sufficiently to live in harmony. This goes both ways, which is why we share our founding documents with you, which reflect our communal vision. For everyone’s sake we aim to avoid mismatches. As we get to know each other - through the membership questionnaire, conversations, and time together - we can reflect on how well each aspiring family’s goals, needs and expectations align with the community’s.
Contributing - As we build and live in community, each members’ willingness to show up and put into the group what they can, in terms of labor (cognitive, relational, and physical) and funds is paramount. Aspiring members must show up regularly and contribute to the formation and functioning of our community. We recognize people have different capacities and financial status, and we value different forms of contribution. We do, however, require some financial contribution because we want all members feel ownership and have a stake in our communities’ success. For those facing financial hardship, we are again happy to discuss a financial arrangement that makes sense for you.
STAGES OF MEMBERSHIP
Introductory Stage - you are checking us out and we are checking you out. At this time, some things you do are come to some of our online and in-person events, read about intentional communities and cohousing if these are new for you, and work through the membership questionnaire.
Exploratory Stage - you have made some level of commitment to us and we have made some level of commitment to you. At this time, we dive deeper into relationship together. Exploratory members are expected to contribute time and energy in the community by showing up to community meetings and training. These meetings and training are where we gain a common understanding and language and also where we do the work of creating our community. Exploratory members participate in the discussion phase of consensus to contribute ideas and solutions, but do not participate in the decision-making phase. There is also a small financial contribution at this stage. At this time, that money will go towards things like childcare during meetings and possibly some other small expenses.
Offer and Acceptance Stage - the community agrees to grant you full membership and you accept full membership. From here until you leave the community, you have all the rights and responsibilities of a full member of the community including participation in the governance of the community as a decision-maker.
What does “living out of a place of abundance” mean?
In our vision, we say that “we strive to live out of a place of abundance, working to dismantle the systems of racism and oppression in our society.” What does this mean and why is it a part of our vision?
According to Stephen Covey, who popularized the idea in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, mindsets are often centered around either scarcity or abundance. To have an abundance mindset is to believe there are enough resources to go around. The scarcity mindset, on the other hand, is defined by feelings of competition and lack. If you're operating from a place of scarcity, you might believe that someone else achieving something means you've somehow lost something. (Google)
As neuroscientist and author of The Source Tara Swart, M.D., Ph.D., explains…, "An abundance mindset means taking a risk. An abundance mindset is positive, optimistic—you believe there are enough resources out there for everyone." Scarcity, she adds, is the opposite. "There's a balance, or you could even say a struggle, in our brains between abundance and scarcity all the time," she notes. (Google)
We look forward to discussing ways that we can live this out in our cohousing community and in the larger community and world.
Our Vision
We are an intergenerational community, raising families together: committed to connection with each other, environmental sustainability, and living in harmonious relationship with the land. We share governance and work by consensus decision-making. We are queer-affirming, gender-inclusive, multicultural, and multigenerational individuals, couples, and families. We value the spectrums of the human experience and each individual’s diverse abilities. We strive to live out of a place of abundance, working to dismantle the systems of racism and oppression in our society.
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