Intentional Community

The term "intentional community" means a group of individuals sharing responsibilities and resources. There are many different types of intentional communities, including rural land trusts, urban group houses, cohousing neighborhoods, student co-ops, ecovillages, and communes. Housing may be individual or shared, simple or elaborate, in the country or in the city. Politics may be a major theme or a non-issue. Spirituality may be a group focus or an entirely personal matter. A few communities pool all their money, while others rely on independent incomes. Some share gardens, orchards, businesses, and even vehicles. The variety makes it possible for many different kinds of people to find homes in community.

Intentional community can offer friendship and mutual aid in times of trouble. Cooking dinner may turn into a delight instead of a chore when you only have to do it once a week. Childcare exchanges can provide parents more free time and give non-parents an opportunity to develop warm relationships with kids. Lives can be integrated instead of fragmented into work and play, job and family. Sharing resources allows everyone to live more lightly on the Earth.

More information about Intentional Community(ies) is available at the following websites:

• Intentional Communities Web Site
• Fellowship for Intentional Community
• Federation of Egalitarian Communities

Intentional communities have been in the news recently:

• An article about intentional communities from ABC news
• This article about cohousing appeared recently in the AARP newsletter