Issue #205 Cover

Communities #205

Winter 2024

Note: You can order a copy of this issue here.

The stories in Communities #205 explore community Across the Generations. A founder reflects on her former group’s legacy among its grown children; grandparents celebrate helping raise their grandkids; one community sibling mourns another; an author reflects on “a generation betrayed” by radical changes in their community; a communitarian explores the value of long-term commitment to people and place; we read about coliving entrepreneurship, community networking, recent cohousing publications, Critical Race Theory, and more.

Notes from the Editor: Evergreens by Chris Roth

Celebrating game on (we hope), themes and subthemes, vigorous kicking, gratitude, and the Community, Consensus, and Facilitation book project.

Politics Revisited: Insights and Head-Scratches by Marianne Merola, Chris Roth

A reader and the editor reflect on Communities #204’s hits and possible misses.

Critical Race Theory: Another Viewpoint by Jahia LaSangoma

Racism is not theoretical. Racism is not a topic to be debated. The existence of structural racism cannot be a “political viewpoint,” as it has been made out to be in recent years. It is real.

Across the Generations in a Fluid Community: A Founder Reflects by Dianne G. Brause

Our “kids” have become young adults who are wise, skilled, considerate, self-aware, and busy exploring the meaning of life, relationships, and their future impact on the planet.

Generational Bonding by Kathryn H. Hug, PhD

I moved to community to help homeschool my grandson Harper. While many young people across the country suffered from broken connections during the recent pandemic, the two of us strengthened our bond.

The Benefits of Multigenerationality at Narara Ecovillage by Lyndall Parris

We get to play with our grandkids, contribute dinners, and help out generally, and in return, we have advice, help with our own needs, and lots of easy, spontaneous fun times.

A Brother Lost by Renay Friendshuh

Being born to community gave us so many avenues of curiosity, so many people to aspire towards and learn from. I am so grateful for the time we shared as siblings, too short though it was.

Remembering Ceilee by Laird Schaub

Long-Term Relationship Crucibles: A Model by Kara Huntermoon

Many of the ills of society originate in or are exacerbated by our lack of commitment to each other and to a specific place. We can reap many benefits by committing to both, imperfect though they may be.

Queer Elder by Laura-Marie Strawberry Nopales

If I’m ever at a table joking with my peers, I hope I’ll always invite in people who have different demographics and cherish their perspective and diversity.

An Interview with Uncle Willi by Riana Good

Each generation has something to teach and something to learn. Each generation has an energy that they can contribute.

A Generation Betrayed: The Spoiled Legacy of The Farm by Martin Holsinger

We were creating a generation of young people who were growing up immersed in the interpersonal skills and insights we had struggled to adopt as adults. Yet we failed to deliver to our children what we so wanted to give them.

Confessions of a Coliving Entrepreneur by Jay Standish

How would we do things differently if we did it again? What new approaches could nurture genuine community? Are business and community inherently at odds?

Access-1-Alliance: A Replicable Model to Make Things Better by Craig Lombardi

A charitable association such as our early-’90s club operates from the inside out, its members serious and dedicated to social change in a lasting, growing, expansive sense.

On the Occasion of the FIC’s 75th Anniversary by A. Allen Butcher

As FIC has evolved, so we have witnessed the evolution and transformation of the communities movement, related to the balance between commonly-owned and shared private property.

Diggers and Dreamers: Networking to build communities in the UK by Kirsten Stevens-Wood

Diggers and Dreamers holds a strange space of having no authority over communities (thank goodness) but is also seen as the pin that holds it all together.

Honoring Ecovillage and Sustainability Activist and Global Ecovillage Network Pioneer Liora Adler, 1946-2024 by Diana Leafe Christian, Albert Bates, Giovanni Ciarlo, Jennifer Morgan, Daniel Greenberg

As Liora demonstrated, we can do what we can for the Earth and still live a good life. And in that, like Liora, we can become the change we want to see.

Reviews: One Life, Live It!; Community Led Housing; The Regeneration Handbook by Søren Skovlund, Diana Leafe Christian, Galen Meyers

Two cohousing books break important new ground as resources not only for cohousers but also for communitarians and community founders in general; and a new book arising from the Transition Movement is a rich resource for those working toward personal and collective change.

REACH

Poem: The Writer on His Bicycle by Stephen Wing

…he rides gleefully aware of his influence / over generations to come…

Why Books Matter: A Case for Books about Community Making by Charles Durrett

In this era of information chaos, it’s time to bring a little balance back into our information consumption. Without the right books, the cohesiveness of the information about cohousing is gone.

ON THE COVER: Dianne Brause (right) reflects on her community’s history as part of a 35th anniversary “old timers” panel during a gathering of current and former community members, family, and friends. See her article, page 8. Photo by Chris Roth.