Young family with valuable skills looking for a community!

Hello, my wife and I (both 30) and our son (4) are looking to join a community this coming summer. I am an HVAC technician and have a very good understanding and experience with both ac and dc electricity as well as controls. I also have about 6 years in the carpentry trade and a very strong back as well as a rock solid work ethic. We have our own small solar setup with battery bank that I put together myself. Pictures of the solar setup can be found on my profile. :2thumbsup:My wife has a degree in wooden boat building and makes all sorts of things, concentrating mostly on the refurbishing of furniture. She also makes beautiful needlework wallets which she sells around here. Our son is the happiest 4 year old you will ever meet. We are looking for a community that could use our skills and is willing to barter them at least somewhat for food and lodging. We are not looking for a free ride, we are not against buying into or renting as part of the agreement. If this sounds interesting to you then please let us know. Thanks!

 

Wait until February/March. Thats when you will see 10-15 new communes start up. Unfortunately about 75% don't make it a whole year so choose wisely. Do you have any solar cell equipment? That would be a useful bartering item to get you into a tight-knit commune (the tighter, the better).

As you have a toddler, I don't think roaming like me is a good idea. You will want a place to integrate him into the community and raise him within. Being a "gypsy" is tough on kids.

I also have a 4 year old (today Happy Birthday Buddy!). He won't be joining me for a few years. I'll let the grandparents spoil the shit out of him first.

 

Hello. Yeah, we are going to be choosy about where we join. We need stability and will have to join a place that has a little history. As far as solar equipment I have panels and a battery bank if that's what you mean. Happy B-day to your son!

 

Hi

With your electrical/solar skills and your wife's woodworking skills you might look at Earthaven in Black Mountain North Carolina...beautiful, well-established, 60 people some with kids....your skills might help you avoid some of their cost structure...worth a look and a huge website....320 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

They have all kinds of housing, internships, entrepreneurial small businesses going...and a long history. I've been there and it is impressive....micro-hydropower, solar, organics, cob, permaculture, tourism...all kinds of stuff going on. The longtime past editor of COMMUNITIES magazine from ic.org lives there...a real dynamo for Intentional Communities.

Best of luck.

matapeake

 

Earthaven....... 2 things.

Very close to a coal ash dump, nasty stuff, that.

Also they paid somebody at Google to airbrush the satellite maps so their compound isn't visible on Google earth..... Hiding something much?

Sorry, but I never trust big money. To each their own, but I wouldn't trust these guys. They use their high cost of entry to weed out the "riff raff".... That's called elitism.

 

I looked at the website for that Earthaven place and they talk about money, money, money. Not so much about community!

If I were looking for a commune, I'd try Twin Oaks in Virginia:
http://www.twinoaks.org/

But I think the major issue there would be whether your outlook matched the group's. They seem to be a pretty tight-knot bunch, and you'd have to think about how much independence you need.

Ironically, they make a point of living without air-conditioning. But I'm sure someone with technical skills would be welcomed.

 

We are thinking like you guys, we are not sure about joining a group, we looked at East Wind Community in Missouri, but we kind of want our own tight knit group. Look Us up, we are starting out, and need more people... On facebook Serenity Oaks Village...

 

Thanks everyone. Earthhaven is nice, but it seems like they are way too much about money and not quite enough about getting down in the dirt and doing community they way I imagine it. Twin Oaks seems like more what we are looking for, but they may not welcome things like firearms (hunting) and the whole income sharing is a little odd to me, but that's not to say I am not still looking at them. Cliff and Tab I have sent you an email and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again everyone!

 

Are you interesting in traveling to NW Massachusetts on 156 acres in the rolling hills. The original owner of the property is here, my husband and I with our 3 year old daughter have just arrived from Michigan and a woman from Oregon with her 6 year old daughter as also just arrived. We are involved in starting a new cooperative community here that is semi-established already, with lots of income producing opportunities, but we need more people to get it going quicker. Please call if you might be interested to hear more. 413-624-5555

 

if you would be interested in northern BC, please contact me!!