Newsletter August 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.
For weeks, it’s been so hot and there have been days when the air is filled with smoke from forest fires so we’ve spent more time inside than we’d like, staying in the rooms with AC as much as we can. Thankfully we have lots of community spaces in our building that we can enjoy, including the music parlor where the children have been spending lots of time working on music that they plan to perform in a few weeks.
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.
July Online Drop-In - Wednesday, July 29 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.
August Potluck - Sunday, August 2 5:00-7:00pm
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.
August Online Drop-In - Wednesday, August 26 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.
September Online Drop-In - Wednesday, September 16 12:00-12:45pm
September Potluck - Saturday, September 26 5:00-7:00pm
Use this link to RSVP.
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.
A Family Visit to Twin Cities Family Cooperative
Our family of five does a lot of little road trips, but this one was our biggest one yet! This summer we hit the road for an almost 12 hour drive to Minneapolis to visit the cooperative. We packed up from Central Kentucky in a rental and headed North for a long weekend. Along the way we got to stop and celebrate a family member’s birthday in Madison, WI and then received a warm welcome at TCFC just before the monthly community potluck was about to start. Beautiful timing.
Sam and I have been researching communal living as an option this past year. (Though I’ve known for life I wanted to live in a commune!) Originally, being from the beautiful Bluegrass State, we pictured a more rural type of intentional community. But honestly, I’m so tired of fighting nature full-time just to maintain access to walkways or use the yard, and not responsible enough for nightly tick checks. Finding an urban, family-focused cooperative really sparked a unique interest! As well as finding a community that was upfront and outspoken about their values and dedication to social justice issues on the front page of the website.
We had a great visit and got to meet most of the members and residents and our kids got to meet the other kids that live in the house. It was nice how well they all got along together so quickly. They had a lot in common, especially a love for board games. We only stayed for one night but it was filled with conversation and connection. After we shared a graciously cooked meal and cleaned up, and the other dinner guests left, we all took a walk to the local playground and talked about the neighborhood and got to know each other better. Our family went for a longer stroll to see the local businesses and grab a little treat. It’s such a nice area with a lot of people out walking and plenty of neighbors enjoying their yards and giving a wave. I’m so into the prospect of walkable neighborhoods, bike lanes, and public transportation; things we do not have much of in KY outside of Louisville and Lexington.
The actual cooperative house is huge and old and quirky and I loved it. They picked a really cool space! My husband and I stayed in the guest room very comfortably with an open window and a cool breeze. Our three kids all slept snug and sound in the library, spread out over an air mattress and the couch. And they really enjoyed delaying bedtime with all the books within reach lol. The next day we shared a great pancake breakfast thanks to Beka and got back on the road headed South and stopped to see more family in Chicago on the return. It was such an amazing and emotionally fulfilling weekend with all these wonderful people, old and new.
We are really excited to be moving forward with our exploratory membership with the cooperative now. If anyone is interested in visiting, even just for funsies to see what it's like and learn more about cooperative living, I highly recommend it! Maybe one day soon I will be there to help host you too and we can talk about the awesomeness of living in an intentional community.
-Amanda
Pride at TCFC
“We are queer-affirming, gender-inclusive, and multicultural.” - TCFC Vision
June was a busy month for us at TCFC but celebrating our queer identities is an important part of TCFC so we decided to have a little pride celebration of our own in July. Malik read the children’s book ‘Twas the Night Before Pride, and he gave a little history while we rainbow popsicles in our front yard. It was small, but it was an opportunity to intentionally highlight one of our core values. At TCFC, we represent a variety of queer identities. We embrace our own diverse identities and are working hard to raise our kids in a safe and positive environment where they can explore and discover who they are and value people whose identities are different from their own.
Cooperative Culture: “Conscious Power”
This month Nancie reflects on “Conscious Power,” one of the Cooperative Culture keys in Yana Ludwig’s and Karen Gimnig’s book “Cooperative Culture Handbook: A Social Change Manual to Dismantle Toxic Culture and Build Community.”
Power in mainstream culture is typically assigned to roles and claimed by those in those roles. While many believe that power is earned, in reality it is often the result of privilege and connections one’s family has. And while some may seek to exercise that power in positive ways, most often it is exercised at cost to those with less privilege.
Counterculture seeks to give equal power to all and to build it into their structures. In fact, some still do have more power than others, but it is not recognized and becomes “denied power” and there is resistance to acknowledging it or addressing the impact on others.
Recognizing that power, in various forms, and acknowledging its impact on the group as either helpful or not, is the goal of cooperative culture. One way power is shared in Community is by recognizing the skills and expertise of various individuals, acknowledging when that information is useful in specific situations, and the respectful give and take of feedback when it is not helpful.
At TCFC we seek to build into our structure some ways to share power. Our consensus process begins with each person giving their input on any issue, and allowing our perspectives to be shaped by each other and by the best interest of the group. There is no blocking option, but proposals can be amended, or if necessary, tabled until further information is obtained or additional discernment happens. How the agenda for business meetings is formed is another area; the co-chair sets forth the agenda and others can add to it issues they want discussed. At the end of the meeting, topics for the next meeting are suggested. We seek to be aware of inherent power imbalances and be open to looking at their impact. Full members do have more power in some areas (e.g., fiscal responsibility, membership decisions). In all things we try to stay true to our vision. Exercising conscious power will always be an ongoing process, with mistakes made and corrections implemented.
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 and ways of relating.
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.
