Vision Statement

True community is not simply an aggregate of people...but a people which have made a commitment to communicate more authentically, more intimately, more vulnerably. -- M. Scott Peck, The Different Drum

Goals:
First, to live in harmony with our deepest selves and with nature.

Second, to establish a life together, adults and children alike, so that:
we learn to respect and celebrate the similarities and differences in our points of view,
we learn to share and fully celebrate our gifts and successes,
we learn to trust one another with our vulnerabilities,
we learn to develop an understanding of one another.
Third, our shared resources include the earth as a whole and the land where we live as our most precious material resource.
Therefore, we will use that land in an ecologically sensitive and sustainable way,
we will live a lifestyle based on our commitment to preserve dwindling global resources.

COMMUNITY SIZE AND COMPOSITION This community will include a mix of families, intimate partnerships, and people living on their own in fifteen distinct households. Households will be clustered on the land, some in attached housing units, others with greater space between individual units. We will preserve the greatest amount of undeveloped land while accommodating people's needs for privacy and quiet through careful location and design of housing. In addition there will be non-resident members who may buy into the use of community facilities.

COMMUNITY FACILITIES AND ACTIVITIES This community will build a common house and other common facilities to provide a large common kitchen, dining and meeting area, laundry, workshops, library, guest rooms, meditation room, art and crafts studio, darkroom, home education center and other spaces as desired by members. In addition, this community will develop outdoor spaces to provide for a sizeable organic vegetable garden, fishing and swimming pond, playing and celebrations field, volleyball court, nature trails, stable, and other areas that fit with the natural environment and can be shared and enjoyed by community members. The community will devise a planning and review process to ensure that all development, buildings, drives, pathways, etc. are compatible ecologically and aesthetically with the natural environment and with the purposes of the community. In addition, this community will make available to its members opportunities to produce income through use of its common holdings. Possibilities include construction of office space, a retreat facility, a nursery or other light agricultural ventures. Use of common holdings for commercial purposes by community members will be agreed upon by the community to balance the needs of the community as a whole and those of individual members. One central activity of this community will be voluntarily shared evening meals. Members will also plan other shared activities such as celebrations, work days, sports, games, etc. In addition to the value of community life, we acknowledge and support members' needs for privacy, quiet, and individual and family time.

FINANCES AND LEGAL RELATIONSHIPS Members will form a corporation to plan and oversee development of the land, to govern the community, and for ownership of common land and facilities. Legal arrrangements will be made to discourage financial speculation in the community while not handicapping members who may need to leave and realize an increase in their investment. Legal arrangements will accommodate individual member's needs to secure financing from banks or other lenders for construction loans. Members will hold their own private assets apart from the community's assets. The community may decide to purchase and own in common some resources such as vehicles, equipment, tools, etc.

DECISION MAKING Major decisions will be made by the full community, with each adult member having equal decision-making responsibility and power. Children, as they show interest and ability, will be supported to have a voice and to attend community meetings. In addition, the community will devise a process by which young people may choose to demonstrate their ability to function as full members of the community, sharing responsibilities and being fully included in decision making. A process of soft concensus will be used. A decision will be considered made when 75% of the members agree and all others, while perhaps not liking an action, can agree that they can live with it. In the case that one or more members say they cannot live with a decision, the matter will be tabled for further reflection and consideration. After further consideration, if only one member maintains the position that they cannot live with the decision, the rest of the community may or may not decide to go ahead and act according to the soft consensus. The community will appoint and entrust committees and individuals to make lesser decisions in order to facilitate smooth day to day functioning of the community.

INTIMACY, PROCESS AND GROWTH This community recognizes that its size will prevent close interactions or even superficial contact between all members on a daily basis. There will be closer day to day connections formed between individuals who because of interests and temperament are naturally drawn together. At the same time, members agree that learning to be open and vulnerable, to develop a deep understanding of one another, is the most effective way to resolve conflicts and meet people's real needs for love and acceptance. The community will hold community-building retreats with the expectation of everyone's participation to provide the time to create a safe place for intimate sharing as one way to promote this kind of understanding.

CHILDREN Seeing that children's needs are met must primarily remain the responsibility of their parents. A supportive community is an ideal place to share the work of meeting children's needs with other families and other nurturing adults. Shared childcare, educational experiences, apprenticeships, and just plain hanging out together are some ways that people can support each other with childrearing. Although discipline must ultimately remain the responsiblity of parents, community members are supported to give clear, loving feedback when children's behavior is disruptive or disturbing. The well-being and guidance of children is important to the whole community and so will be the focus of community discussion as needed.

RELATIONSHIP TO THE LARGER COMMUNITY Community facilities will be made available to organizations and individuals from the outside community for events and activities that the members agree are in line with community purposes and goals. So long as the natural environment is protected and preserved, community life and individual needs for privacy amd quiet respected, the community will strive to make the beauty of the land and the use of its facilities available for outside individuals and groups to enjoy. -------- Revised 1/4/97