Newsletter March 2026
Building a community that enjoys a rich quality of life for all ages, brings a more equitable society, and a harmonious and responsible relationship with the natural world.
As the season changes from winter to spring, some things are changing and some stay the same. While we enjoyed the beauty of winter and playing in the snow, we’re also enjoying the warmer weather and getting out on bikes to the local ice cream shop. We’re continuing to make connections with our neighbors and be a part of building a strong and caring community beyond our walls. A community that helps each other and can do great things together
Upcoming Events
In an attempt to not fill your inbox with unwanted emails, we don’t send out reminders throughout the month. If you would like to receive email reminders before each event, email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com and say “sign me up for reminders.” You can specify if you only want reminders about online events and not in-person events.
March Online Drop-In - Wednesday, March 18 12:00-12:45pm
A time to drop in and ask a question or just say hi. Life can be busy but this is an easy, informal opportunity to connect. No need to register ahead of time, just put this link on your calendar and show up.
Open House - Sunday, March 22 1:00-4:00pm
421 6th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414. See below for more details.
March Potluck (NEW DATE) - Sunday, March 29 4:00-7:00pm
Join us for good food and good company! We’ll provide a vegetarian main dish, drinks, and dishes. Bring your kids, bring your friends, we can’t wait to see you! Use this link to RSVP.
April Online Drop-In - Wednesday, April 8 12:00-12:45pm
April Potluck - Sunday, April 19 4:00-7:00pm
Check our website or facebook page for events in the coming months. If you can't make it to these events and you want to connect, email tcfamilycoop@gmail.com. We’d be happy to connect in person or online.
Open House
Come see Twin Cities Family Cooperative first hand and learn more about life in our community! We’ll take you on a tour of our current community property, a 7-unit apartment building, and share our future plans for growth. Hear 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. If you have questions about our community, this is a great opportunity to get answers. We’ll provide light snacks. Join us in-person anytime 1pm-4pm on March 22nd. We look forward to seeing you!
Our 1st Winter
We made it through our first winter! Heating the building with a somewhat functional system was our biggest struggle. Some rooms were very toasty, while others were very cold. Here are some of the highlights, though. Playing outside in the snow, making snow sculptures, sledding, ice skating, and so much shoveling! Coming inside to warm cups of hot chocolate, holiday baking, and birthday brownies. Learning to make balloon animals and homemade sushi. There was also lots of music and snuggling up to read books together (and alone). We’re looking forward to our first spring!
Get Your Veggies (and Cookies) Here!
We are still working on becoming a pick-up site for Community Homestead CSA. For this to happen, we need enough people to sign up for their CSA and choose us (Marcy-Holmes) as their pick-up site. Here is the link to sign up for their CSA. Please share this information with people you know and help us get enough people signed up! If you missed what we wrote about it last month, check out last month’s newsletter here.
Cooperative Culture: “Skillful Hearing”
Cooperative Culture Handbook: A Social Change Manual to Dismantle Toxic Culture and Build Community
“If you can’t accurately hear, you can’t accurately care” Yana Ludwig. This month’s key is Skillful Hearing. It isn’t enough to listen to each other, one must hear accurately.
In Mainstream Culture, the focus is more on giving powerful speeches, less focused on hearing. Individuals who are often revered are those who speak articulately, especially those who share our worldview.
In Counter Culture, people may become more passive in an attempt to not overvalue speaking. Not wanting to dominate with speech, good ideas may be withheld. Intimacy can be blocked as people don’t share about themselves, their thoughts and feelings.
Cooperative Culture seeks to embrace both speaking and listening, where listening is not a passive activity, but one where the speaker is being heard accurately. “This means stepping into the world of another and suspending response, correction, and advice.” (p.25) This often involves checking back with the speaker to make sure that what I think I am hearing is, in fact, what the person is intending to communicate.
The benefits of this are enormous. A person’s sense of worth is enhanced as being accurately heard and understood can be a powerful experience. Rather than having conflict over perceptions, one can discuss real differences, which makes finding solutions to problems much more effective. It also deepens relationships.
One of the ways TCFC seeks to use accurate hearing is in decision-making and our use of a consensus process. We do several “go-arounds” where each person starts with their thoughts/feelings about the issue, and listens carefully to those shared by others. We work toward finding what is best for the community, seeking to also balance individual needs.
Our Vision
We are an intergenerational community of individuals, couples, and families. We are queer-affirming, gender-inclusive, and multicultural. We value the spectrums of the human experience and each individual’s diverse abilities. We support each other in raising children and throughout all stages of life.
We strive to live out of a place of abundance. We develop internal economic policies that actively push back against capitalist expectations.
We are committed to nonviolence and environmental sustainability. We believe in the potential for radical transformation of society and see communal living as an element of that change. We strive to make meaningful contributions to society, engaged in dismantling the systems of racism and oppression in our society.
If you would like to learn more about Twin Cities Family Cooperative, please watch a virtual tour of our community, visit our website and facebook page, attend our events (online and in-person), or fill out our Interest Form to connect. All past newsletters can be found here. If you would like to be removed from our email list, please email us and let us know.
