Community

Here are some great resources for understanding, connecting with, and building community.

Creating Community Anywhere:
Finding Support and Connection in a Fragmented World

by Carolyn R. Shaffer and Kristin Anundsen

Available from the Intentional Communities Store at http://store.ic.org/ I couldn’t summarize the value of the book better than they did.

“Whether you live in an urban or rural area, are single or married, reside near or far from your family, you will find the many opportunities explored here to be exciting sources of community. Covers support groups, workplace teams, new forms of residence sharing, social clubs, neighborhood associations, discussions groups, spiritual communities. Profiles successful communities in the United States, offering modes of what works and solutions to overcome difficulties.”

Reading this book is a great way to start exploring the possibilities of community.

Fellowship for Intentional Community

http://fic.ic.org
"Promoting community living and cooperative lifestyles across North America"

This site is an all purpose location to start learning, planning, or participating in community. There are many organizations and sites supporting different facets of the community’s movement, but this site more than any other works to tie all the community efforts together.

They have several key resources for people seeking and building community including:

• An online list of communities with a web presence that are sorted geographically or alphabetically.
• A print directory with many more communities listed than in the online list because many communities don’t have their own web site.
• An extensive online bookstore covering a wide range of subjects related to community.

Check out their site for additional resources.

Northwest Intentional Communities Association

http://www.ic.org/nica/
"Building a better society, one neighborhood at a time"

This group shares information and resources about community living in the northwestern United States.

If you live in this area, check out the site. They sponsor multiple events each year, and work to connect communities in the region, and so it is a great way to find out what is going on.

They send out a paper newsletter to help keep you informed of current activities. The only requirement is an interest in community to join the distribution list, or to attend events. There is information about all of this on their web site. I hope to see you at our local events.

Connecting with Community in Northwest North America

Joining this email discussion list is a good way to start connecting with community in this region:
http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/nwcommunities

Here is their description of this list:
Discussion & announcements for intentional communities in the Pacific Northwest (focusing on Oregon and Washington). Sponsored by the Northwest Intentional Communities Association (NICA).

The Lost Valley Educational Center at http://www.lostvalley.org is probably the northwest community most active in providing educational programs to the public. Their subtitle is "Hands-on training for cultural revolutionaries". Participating in their programs would be a good way to start meeting community oriented people from the northwest. This informal information will complement the more formal information you will get from the directory, from informational packets, or official visits to communities.

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Last Updated: October 30, 2002