Poland Update #8

Basztowa Center Childcare Rehabilitation

Have you been listening to NPR?

Clearly the Russians are attempting to eliminate the Ukrainians. Clearly, they just want the territory—they don’t care if there are any people there or not when they finish.

They are only waiting for the Ukrainians to leave due to cold, dark nights or to be killed off. So, for now, millions of Ukrainians continue to flow over the Poland border. The finishing touches on our final classroom in the Polish city of Przemyśl will be completed this month. This is a city close enough to the Ukrainian boarder to accommodate refugees walking out of the country, and at the same time close enough to hear the echoing of Russian bombs. Ninety percent of the refugees are women and children.

Our office has spent November designing and drawing places for young children to grow and be nurtured—in a setting that can only be otherwise described as chaos. As of today, too many children have died in Ukraine due to Russian bombs, artillery, tanks, and bullets. Moms and Dads are not going to let their children be a part of this genocide and are removing their children from these risks every day. These kids have already seen too much. While there, I saw that in their eyes.

After many conversations with Polish politicians, we introduced building childcare centers in Poland for the Ukrainian refugees last May. That is what politicians indicated as critical but not otherwise being provided. We have competent builders finishing this last classroom now, but our most significant volunteer, Ben Davies, returned to Poland last week for a couple of weeks to finish the furniture (lofts, platforms, bookshelves, cubbies, and art easels). More children will soon come over the border and many more childcare centers will need to be built.

While I’m not sure that I will go back after a month there—the need for architects there is vast, especially if you can get your hands dirty—like it will be in Ukraine when that whole disaster is over. And they will, as we did, be able to use volunteers of every sort. We have had 60 volunteers so far, and they were all essential. Your generous donations are what of course made all of this possible, and we are so grateful! 

So let your architect friends know that there is stuff to do in Poland—which will have a positive impact on these young, impressionable, and deserving lives.

The kids are ever present with our work in Poland. "Organizing, cleaning, hauling" and other fun stuff. They really love the new drawing above because now they know what their new environment is going to look like.

Oakcreek Celebrates Milestone

Cohousing Community in Stillwater, OK celebrating their 10-year anniversary

Oakcreek Community in Stillwater, Oklahoma just celebrated its 10th year in existence this past Thursday. Guests were invited to an anniversary party, and many of those who helped the community throughout the years were in attendance.

The senior cohousing community had much to celebrate, and Pat Darlington and Kay Stewart were eager to talk about the years they’ve spent on the property.

"Cohousing is everything I believed in all of my life ... interdependence, good neighbors, intentional design fostering community, helping, learning, being challenged to grow ... and these are all true at Oakcreek"

-Pat Darlington

Read the rest of the article HERE

Congress Progress

Participatory Design in Affordable (Subsidized) Cohousing

As you may know, we're making a push with the U.S. Congress to allow future residents of subsidized housing to play a role in the design and management of their affordable housing project (more like a cohousing community and potentially, in fact, cohousing). All 5 of the congressional offices that I spoke to in person said that they will need a lot more support from congress people in addition to those five (Adam Schiff, Mark Amodei, Ami Bera, Jennifer Wexton, and Jim Costa). While the lame duck congress is not the place to push right now, the New Year is (they have pressing priorities until January 2023). So please start your letters in January and bcc me.

In fact, if we are to push this through, we need to do so this now before the next congress. That is before January 2025 (the 118th Congress).

Find Our Updated Sample Letter for Your Congress Person HERE

I'm happy to report that a few people have already started writing letters to their congress people based on the last newsletter. I've had great success in the past with making the ask, and getting specific projects built locally by changing a specific local law. Laws are there to serve the people and we can make needed adjustments if we lobby hard, argue the point and get a number of politicians on board. Local politics are just a microcosm of national politics. With that in mind, I’m approaching this as close to protocol as possible. The congressional attorneys will in fact write the revised law

This issue is very much a bipartisan issue. If future residents can participate, they can bring the costs of managing a project way down. If subsidized residents can participate in the design, then the design will work much better and people will take better care of everything. The head and assistant head of the D.C. Housing Authority told me that they need to enhance the community and a sense of belonging and accountability to dramatically decrease those costs. Each dwelling in the Housing Authority projects costs $10,000 per year to manage. They are clear about that number, and they are equally transparent that the number must come down to make subsidized housing sustainable. In a well-designed and high-functioning neighborhood, that number can go down to zero."

The services that people require in the absence of community are much more costly. Having a community where people know each other, and support each other, reduces the costly care of less-functional neighborhoods considerably. We did a project for single moms years ago and designed it to be a high-functioning community. Mercy Housing says that it is the easiest project they have to manage out of 10,000 housing units. They have one manager there one half-day a week. In other projects, we started with a full-time police presence—and took it down to zero through community organizing.

People often ask me, “Chuck, why not make this congressional effort a committee?” While I have lived in cohousing for the last 32 years, where committees and consensus are the basis of our organization and management, I believe that some things are best done by individuals. I know committees are great for most things—writing your congress person in mass will come later—but for now, please just write them.

The goal is to create a ground swell of obvious interest in this movement for functional neighborhoods. One thing that political consultants have been telling me is that it is okay, and actually preferred, if we send the same letter out to congress people in order to get the ball rolling. And congress consultants have told me to send letters to your congress person, and every other congress person that you can." 

Please see these five explicit revisions that I am proposing to Title 6 & Title 24 HERE that will allow for better participation in the future.

A Solution to Homelessness in Spokane Presentation

November 3rd, Robinson Teaching Theater, Whitworth University Recap

Reducing homelessness in your town only requires three things—a vision that is doable, the will to pursue it, and a clear set of steps.

The first step consistently seems to be either a public presentation of consequence, where the public convinces themselves and everyone else that enough is enough. Spokane had 206 homeless deaths last year and 162 the year before. The public is ready to take initiatives and they want to be a part of the solution.

And here's the groundswell to prove it—all of these good people here on a cool November 3rd night.

The other possibility like American Canyon is that an enlightened public official has initiated it and taken it through the political process. That process is laid out in A Solution to Homelessness in Your Town.

There were 200 attendees on Thursday night for our public presentation, and 40 on Saturday morning ready to discuss the next steps and become part of the New Hope Task Force and part of the solution.

Watch the presentation by clicking  ► above or click this link HERE

For more information, contact: New Hope Housing & Homelessness Task Force, email newhoperesourcehhtf@gmail.com

Charles' Trip to Washington, D.C.

Participatory Design in Affordable (Subsidized) Cohousing

My Oct 17–18, 2022 meetings with five congress people and their staff, navigating how HUD subsidies could be used for cohousing projects, homeless projects, and other low-income projects, went very well, but they were just the first step.

The Problem: Currently it is difficult to work with the future residents when working on projects that use public funds. The current writing of Title 6 & Title 24 of the HUD guidelines discourage it.

The Solution: I met with the staff of five congress people in Washington, D.C. to encourage them to encourage participation. It facilitates community and therefore accountability and personal growth when they live in a high-functioning cooperative-by-nature neighborhood.

I met with the staff of Mark Amodei NV (R)/John Quinn, Adam Schiff CA (D)/Jamie (Legislative Assistant), Ami Bera CA (D)/Emma Bruce, Jennifer Wexton VA (D)/Chris Gibson, and Jim Costa CA (D)/Kit Devine.

While they were all very supportive of revising Title 6 and Title 24 of the HUD guidelines, they were also all hesitant to take up the gauntlet without more congressional support with their fellow congress people on board or at least a bigger coalition. While cooperatively designed subsidized housing is very common in countries like Denmark (it saves the government a lot of money to have projects be self-managed), it is not known in the US.

This is why I am asking you to write a letter to your congress people to show your support on this issue.

Once there are obviously a few dozen or so congress members that support this language and these revisions, I will encourage one of them to sponsor the revisions, then others to co-sponsor a bill to support high-functioning affordable neighborhoods that depend on the feedback of future residents to be the supportive (cohousing and the like) neighborhoods that are necessary to facilitate a viable society, but might require some subsidies to make them work. This will be a process, but the time to begin is now.

Find Our Sample Letter for Your Congress Person HERE

Please modify this draft letter, make it your own, and send one to your congress person (if by email please bcc me) by Nov 15. Now we must go with the momentum and support community at the congressional level. Please write your congress people as fast as you can, refer to my personal meetings with the staff if you desire. The following is the weight of influence and ratings of the effectiveness of the different types of communications to the congress people:

1. Have a personal visit as I did

2. Send a handwritten letter delivered by USPS

3. Send a typed letter delivered by USPS

4. Give them a call on the phone

5. Send an Email

Please let me know who you have connected.

Please see these five explicit revisions that I am proposing to Title 6 & 24 HERE that will allow for better participation in the future.

For full story of what I’m trying to accomplish these days, please consider picking up:

Cohousing Communities: Designing for High-Functioning Neighborhoods

For this holiday season, give a gift of cohousing to your loved ones by ordering the book through our website. For a limited time only, we offer signed copies and customized message when you order Cohousing Communities from our website.