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Experienced coopers application for new house

Application for experienced cooperative members to live at new SCHA J street cooperative:

Solar community Housing Association (SCHA) is a non-profit dedicated to the development and maintenance of sustainable, affordable housing for low income members of the Davis community that has been working since 1979.  We are currently opening two new houses on third and J street. These two houses are meant to be joined together as one community of eight.  SCHA is currently looking for residents for this new house! This search will take place in two steps.  For the first step, we are looking for four people who have extensive experience with the cooperative model. Ideally, each of the applicants will have two or more years of experence in cooperative housing situations. These people will apply their co-op know-how to smooth out the birthing process and really cement the house as a working cooperative.  The next step of recruitment will be open to any member of the Davis community who is interested. These house members will be chosen by the already selected “experienced co-opers,” so that everyone is excited about the people they are going to be living with!
Intrigued? Please! Turn in your application in today!

The applications will be reviewed in order based on a lottery conducted on the due date.

People who apply to this house must make a one year commitment to living in the cooperative.  In addition, we expect there will be a bit more of a time requirement than that of living at an established cooperative, as the culture and some of the physical structure of the community will have to be built by the residents.
In keeping with the spirit of self-sufficiency, we at SCHA do as much of our own construction and maintenance as possible.  Residents formally organize at least one workday per month and participate in weekly household upkeep.  Residents are homeowners in every sense except monetarily... The houses are held in a trust by a non-profit organization that we all control, on land that we lease from the City of Davis's Redevelopment Agency.Likewise, members will probably be expected to attend house meetings every two weeks, cooking together five nights a week, and occasional house trips.  
If you have any questions, feel free to call or stop by one of the existing houses where you can also get to know the folks living there. Or, come to one of our OpCo work days and take part in making the new houses totally rockin.’

The application is in the box below.  Please scroll down... the application is quite long!


Applications for the four more experience co-opers will be reviewed in random lottery selected order starting on Friday August 27th . 
The deadline for more experienced application is 11:55 PM, Thursday September 2nd.  From these applications, a subset will be interviewed on the weekend of September 3rd and 4th. Final decisions will be made on September 5th.


Background:


Here is a website where you can check us out and sign up:
http://sites.google.com/site/schadavis/application-for-living-in-new-house

We are very excited about this new cooperative and feel that it offers residents the rare opportunity to create a new, dynamic community.  The new property is in downtown Davis, next to our current house at J and 3rd street, near the SPCA.  It will feature LEED certified buildings, permaculture design elements, and in general will be a pretty groovy place to live!  

SCHA is an Equal Opportunity Housing organization


Fact Sheet:


-SCHA, as an organization, is committed to providing affordable housing, in an environmental sustainable, self-sufficient, energy efficient, cooperative manner, and to serve as a model as to how such living situations can work. As a consensus based organization, run by a board consisting mostly of it’s members, you will have the opportunity to expand and redefine our ever changing culture, goals, and outreach efforts!

            -We are also striving for harmony, equality, and the ability to see past all differences, especially those generated by culture, age, gender, or sexual preference.  Our commitments to community living include: attending house meetings every two weeks, cooking together five nights a week, and occasional house trips.  We do not spend house resources on meat, and our communal meals are vegetarian with vegan options.  We have a garden and are committed to buying, when possible, local and organic food.  By working together and sharing our unique skills and experiences, we hope to have a smooth running household.

Rules and Responsibilities for

(existing) Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA) Members and Minors



·     Accept and promote community mindedness within house/houses; help create nurturing, respectful, and peaceful households.

·     Practice tolerance and active cooperation.  Be respectful of others, opinions, beliefs, and the consensus process.

·     Demonstrate environmental/consumer conscientiousness by recycling, reusing, repairing, sharing, composting, and conserving energy.

·     Pay rent and board in a timely manner (within 5 days of due date).

·     Participate in community meals at least once per week.  

·     Attend all community meetings (minimum of two per month).

·     Participate in the growth and maintenance of the co-op by contributing a minimum of 5 hours of chore time per month plus 8 hours of work party per month.

·     Keep living spaces and yard clean and maintained.

·     Cultivate self-sufficiency by having members and supporters of the community maintain the properties whenever possible.

·     Protect and promote the SCHA mission statement: SCHA encourages and creates community and respect for the environment through affordable, cooperative housing..

·     Review and observe SCHA Bylaws.

·     Work toward self-governance in each co-op.