Intentional Community Formation and Development
Building a resilient framework for community living
Intentional communities are groups of people who come together to live based on shared values, goals, and principles. These communities are deliberately structured to promote shared decision-making, sustainability, and social harmony, and the members work together to cultivate a sense of belonging and cooperation, often emphasizing values like sustainability, equity, and collective care.
Choosing the right housing arrangement for you and your community will depend on a number of factors, including your living preferences, community values, and financial circumstances, all of which will influence the appropriate legal structure of your project.
Services offered:
Consulting and planning: Guided by your mission, we work to determine the model that best suits your community, as well as supporting you in developing a strategy for achieving your goals.
Community formation: Forming a community involves choosing the appropriate entity and legal structure that best suits your long-term objectives. We incorporate these decisions into your founding documents.
Establishing governance: Your bylaws serve as the foundation for how important decisions are made in your community. We work with all of the necessary stakeholders to navigate these choices and draft them into the founding documents.
Areas of coverage:
Cohousing and Ecovillages: We work with groups to identify appropriate parcels, purchase land, and begin the process of developing a cohousing community. We also assist cohousing communities in creating effective bylaws and community guidelines that foster cooperation and contribute to the community's success.
Condos and housing coops: We help communities decide the appropriate legal structure for ownership of residences in their community. We also help develop governance processes that facilitate equal representation and shared ownership.
Community land trusts: We helps groups determine whether a community land trust is the appropriate form of land stewardship for their project. We also support groups in forming community land trusts, acquiring land, and developing the governance processes for their trust.
Leasing: Leasing in the context of intentional community takes on a different character than in traditional landlord-tenant relationships. The community members have a vote in decisions of the “landlord,” while also being the beneficiaries of the residential space. Leases can help communities define clear terms for member residence, ensuring respect for the premises and each other.
Learn more in our blog post:
The Road to Cooperative Living: Key Considerations in Establishing Community Housing
(coming soon)