Co:Here Housing Initiative
For the past 10 years Co:Here Housing Initiative has encouraged intentional communities shaped by solidarity with the poor, hospitality, friendship, prayer and simplicity. This is done with an emphasis on providing vulnerable people with affordable, supportive housing.
Currently, Co:Here supports three intentional community homes. These are single-family dwelling homes in which a variety of people share life together, seeking to create a place of welcome and friendship to the poor, marginalized, and those who normally don’t have a place of welcome in the neighbourhood. Anywhere from five to eleven people live in these houses, which are located within a few blocks of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church.
Co:Here has developed an effective model of live-in community builders forming the base of communities which are able to offer long term support through committed personal relationships. Many individuals in the community work part-time in their jobs in order to free up time for volunteering and involvement in the community. Living in community lowers the costs of living so that this is possible. In addition, community provides the framework for addressing and resisting consumer culture which is difficult to do on a more individual basis.
Practically speaking, intentional community in Co:Here houses takes the form of shared accommodation or adjacent housing units where various resources and daily life are shared. With the current housing crisis in our city, we have found that sharing a house is a viable alternative to other housing models. In addition, where isolation is a hallmark of North American urban poverty, common daily rhythms of life is one way to nurture connectedness with a person whose world may be quite different and unknown. Close proximity to one another allows us to live past strengths and weaknesses towards an appreciation for one another in our humanity. The greater numbers that form intentional community households also provide a broader liveliness and context into which strangers can be welcomed. Finally, whereas the powerful forces of consumerism and individualism are nearly impossible to resist on one's own, community provides both the encouragement to resist and the fertile ground for creative alternatives to spring up.
As image bearers of the Triune God, we believe that as humans we are created for community. Simply living together, however, does not ensure that community is grown. For this reason, community is not only the context in which we live into other practices but a practice in its own right. As we grow in all aspects of life together we discover glimpses into the kingdom of a relational God.
Rhythms of Life
While each house organizes their life together differently there are some common threads that run through the houses.
Hospitality
Hospitality takes many different shapes in our houses according to vision, architecture, and seasons of life.
Community Housing Project - Documents for download:
Community Housing Project with All Appendices - This contains all the documents and appendices listed below in a single pdf.
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