Becoming A Member Of Groundswell Cohousing

Inquiry Phase

You make contact with us, wanting to know more. We begin to interact, by email, in person, by phone. You begin to get a sense of what we are about, who we are, and how your values resonate with ours. We provide some basic information, schedule tours, and provide opportunities for you to ask questions about what it is like to live in Groundswell Cohousing as part of Yarrow Eco-Village.

Exploration Phase

You’ve decided you want to explore further. We ask you to provide us with a letter of interest, letting us know what appeals to you and what you bring to becoming a member of Yarrow Eco-village and living in Groundswell Cohousing. You ask more questions and we do our best to provide clear and complete answers. We get to know each other. We invite you to participate in the life of our village by joining us for a community dinner, a business meeting and a work bee of some sort. You get the scoop on life in intentional community and how we work at resolving conflicts and strengthening our communication with one another. You go away and mull over what we offer, what you want, and how it all fits with your life at the moment.

You come to decisions about continuing to explore for a while, saying it isn’t for you at this time, or proceeding with membership in Yarrow Eco-Village.

Application Phase

You are ready to say, ‘yes’ to joining our Yarrow Eco-Village community! We go over with you all of our community agreements (pet policy, consensus decision making; all of our policies and procedures and agreements). We set up a time for you to meet with the Yarrow Eco-village Membership (YES) Team to go over history, values, and member responsibilities. The YES Membership Team also receives your $250 member share and $500 joining fee (for each adult 19 years and older). We also set up an Expectations Meeting with a small group of community members to discuss your expectations of us, and ours of members to facilitate a good transition for you into our intentional community.

Joining Phase Now it’s time to sign up for your property purchase and make your $10,000 deposit to secure your new home! You meet with our Property Manager and one of the Groundswell Directors to review and sign legal agreements. You discuss time lines for building and interim housing possibilities in the village. We link you with our internal email communication (YESR = YES residents), so you get all notices of meetings, and community dinners, and spontaneous fun events in the community.

Your membership is affirmed by the YES Co-operative Board of Directors. We introduce you at a community business meeting as a new member and celebrate our new neighbors–You!

Owning/Renting a Home

Owning a completed home at Groundswell is no more or less complicated than owning a home anywhere else. Legally, Groundswell Cohousing operates under a Strata agreement, which means that we each own our own individual homes, plus a share of common spaces and facilities such as driveways, the common house, and the backyard gardens. Each household is responsible for paying a monthly strata fee that depends on the size, the appraised value and the number of residents in that unit. Anyone who qualifies for a bank mortgage can obtain a mortgage to purchase a home at Groundswell.

There are occasional rental opportunities that arises in groundswell.