Co-Housing As a Possible Way to Reach Out to Your Neighbours
-- by G. Wiebe
There is a rather new type of community living developing in various places across the globe, including in the Fraser Valley, here in BC.
There are several local situations like
this in the region, such as WingSong
in Langley (Walnut Grove - Info on tours they have available on certain times/days:
http://www.windsong.bc.ca/tours.htm),
Cranberry Commons in Burnaby, Quayside Village in N. Vancouver, etc.
One of these co-housing situations is in
the process of developing a group of interested people for the N. Delta region:
The Urban Green.
Brent Unrau is a local believer/artist,
etc. who is currently facilitating this development, with a heart to reach
out to their neighbours that God brings to The Urban Green co-housing situation
they are moving towards developing. Some of the other members of the developing
team are also believers, but some of them aren't. They are all looking to
have a multicultural, multi-generational community and the believers are wanting
to reach out to their lost neighbours through authentic Christian lifestyles.
These co-housing communities are set up
so that there is a much greater interaction of lives throughout the communities,
as that is one of the main things that is drawing people - the desire to belong
to a community where their lives are interacting with their neighbours in
a much richer way than our normal housing situations afford.
Many of these also take into consideration
environmental and sustainable living concepts which help to protect the environment.
More about co-housing here: www.cohousing.ca
I thought some of you might be interested
in this type of scenario, and some of you may even wish to consider becoming
a part of this community?
Here are some excerpts from a fairly recent
email I received from Brent about this:
"...I am very excited about our involvement
with " The Urban Green" Cohousing project here in North Delta. In
many ways it feel like a grass roots, organic way to reach out to a lot of
our
neighbors about the need for living a more simple, relationally connected
lifestyle. A few of us in our group gather monthly to pray for the project
and that God may use it to draw people to himself. In many ways we feel like
the cohousing lifestyle addresses a need for us also on a personal level regarding
living a healthier lifestyle.
We are surprised to that so few Christians
seem interested in addressing the larger issue of sustainability, environmental
concerns, and the need for new architectural models to
help foster healthier ways of living in community. The following quotes catches
some of what catches me about the potential of cohousing.
"The idea of modest dwelling all our own, isolated from the problems of other people, has been our reigning metaphor of the good life for a long time. It must now be seen for what it really is: an antisocial view of existence. I don't believe that we can afford to keep pretending that life is a never-ending episode of Little House on the Prairie. We are going to have to develop a different notion of the good life and create a physical form that accommodates it." James Howard Kunstler, Home from Nowhere.I have a hunch that cohousing get close to a different notion of the good life and embodies a physical form the accommodates it, yahoo." If anything, there appears to be an inverse relationship between our growing obsession with the home as a totem object and the disintegration of families that has become the chief social phenomenon of our time. We worship this idealized container for family life, and yet it turns out that the family cannot be sustained without the larger container of community life". James Howard Kunstler, Home from Nowhere
The Urban Green is not a specific Christian
cohousing project but I think it is a great place for Christian to live and
to enjoy living out their faith in a more natural incarnational way…"
--
There is an upcoming tour of some local co-housing projects coming up which
you could consider, and here is a recent online interview with Brent about
co-housing, as well:
93.1 RED FM: Interview with Brent Unrau (MP3 - 2.21Mb) - http://www.theurbangreen.ca/html/inthenews01.htm
A couple upcoming events with the Urban Green:
"…The first event is our monthly common meal. It will be on Sunday, February the 18th at 5:00 p.m. at C's place (Delta - for more info contact Brent at the email addy below). This is a change from our usual second Friday of the month common meal time, so be sure to mark it in your calendar. As per usual please get a hold of C. to let her know if you are coming, that way she will know how many to prepare for. Also if you have any allergies or dietary limits please pass these on as well. If you have children you are more than welcome to bring them along. There may even be some new toys to check out. We look forward to seeing you on the 18th, it is always a highlight of the month. For those of you have not been to a common meal, it is an informal time to get to know each other better while at the same time catch up on what has been happening with The Urban Green project. You do not have to bring any food, we (equity and associate members) simply take turns preparing a meal for everybody.
The second event is an important Urban Green public presentation at the Kennedy Seniors Recreation Centre, (11760-88th,Delta) from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday February the 24th. We are hoping for a good turn out and are excited about the chance to share the vision of The Urban Green cohousing project with the community at large. I have included some information about the meeting that will give you more of a sense of what to expect. Be sure to tell your friends about it, better yet bring a few along.
The Urban Green is excited to be able to host an interactive informative presentation about our project on Saturday, February 24 from 1-3 pm. The presentation will give you an overview of what cohousing is in general and what the vision of The Urban Green is in particular. Given the lack of housing options here in North Delta and given the fact that we are seeking to create a multigenerational community that includes seniors as a vital part of the community we envision that this presentation will address a genuine felt need. Two elder cohousing members from Quayside Cohousing community in North Vancouver along with Alan Carpenter from Windsong Cohousing community in Langley will be present to tell you their experience of living in a cohousing community and answer any questions that you may have. Brian White a local Remax relator will also be present to lend his support. We welcome and value you curiosity and interest as individuals who care about North Delta who want to help create a better way to live, a way that celebrates a richer sense of community and contributes to a more sustainable world. Hope to see you on February the 24th…".
The Urban Green - Brent Unrau -
Contact if interested: Brent Unrau (email)
Marketing and Membership
The Urban Green
Great Commission Worship & Arts Center