Newsletter July 2024
Building a community that brings a more equitable society, better quality of life, and a harmonious life with nature.
Summer is in full swing and so is our community! A small number of households have been meeting 1-2 times a week to work on building our community and enjoy each other’s company. We’re getting to know each other on a deeper level and it feels great to spend time with people who want to build a different way of living in our society.
Upcoming Events
July has only 1 social event. We will be attending the Twin Cities Cohousing Potluck. Saturday, July 20th 10:30-1:00pm at Como Park West Picnic Grounds.
Fun, conversation and a little connection with cohousing--
Twin Cities Cohousing Network's annual Summer Picnic!
Bring your own food and utensils; share if you like but this is not expected. Ice water will be provided.
Chatting and activities!
The shelter is near Como Park's mini golf and children's playground, as well as amusement park, zoo and conservatory.
Parking is free and close. Bathrooms are nearby.
PLEASE help us welcome you by registering TCCN Picnic Page
Kids truly welcome!
Free and open to all (including folks who have never heard of cohousing!)
If you want to connect in July outside of this potluck, email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com. We’d be happy to connect in person or online.
What We’ve Been Up To in the Last Month
June was a pretty busy month! Here’s some of what we’ve been up to.
We’ve continued looking at properties and we’ve chosen a property to pursue making an offer on. It will allow some people to move in right away and has room for future construction of additional apartments. Stay tuned!
Four families have been meeting weekly, with another family joining more recently, to work through 15 modules in “Starting a Community” by Yana Ludwig. We are learning about vision and mission, cooperative culture, consensus decision-making, conflict resolution, membership structures, financial planning, and more.
We’re working on writing our bylaws so we can become a cooperative corporation!
What is Cooperative Cohousing?
TCFC is choosing to be a Cooperative Cohousing entity. This means that the Cooperative will own the building/s, the land, and the business on the property. Households will own a Member Share which entitles them the right to live on the property and participate in the governance and maintenance of the property.
Self-governance is carried out by a Member Board of Directors. Policies are set cooperatively and tend to lead toward greater satisfaction by Members. Cooperatives tend to have lower operating expenses as Members share in the upkeep and maintenance of the property.
A Cooperative Corporation has financial and tax advantages. Rather than paying taxes on savings (as with an LLC), a Cooperative can have savings in a Reserve Long Range Plan for upkeep and long-term maintenance on the property, without being taxed on it. It can also accumulate savings in a Capital Fund for Buy-Out funds to repay Members upon leaving the Community.
Member households can move between units as their needs change, without having to sell real estate to each other. Shared interest/values/vision can be used as member eligibility criteria. Therefore, Membership is controlled by the Community, not by the ability to “purchase a unit.”
TCFC will be a Limited Equity Cooperative. This means that members will earn a small percentage of equity on the capital that they put into the cooperative (i.e., buy-in funds, not operating expenses, rent, etc.), keeping the memberships affordable into the future. Owning a share in the Limited Equity Cooperative is not a profit making venture. This is congruent with our vision of resisting traditional capitalistic methods of ownership, in favor of the collective community. While this may not be a value for some community-seekers, it is important to who we are as a Community. Reach out to us if you would like to understand what this means to our Community and why we choose it.
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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