” . . . This may be the most propitious moment in history to join an intentional community.”
—Richard Heinberg, Peak Oil activist and author of The Party’s Over and PowerDown, in his Foreword to Diana Leafe Christian’s book, Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community.
A Pod is a legal entity that owns the land for one or more neighborhoods. Each type of Pod (such as Housing Cooperative or LLC) defines membership differently. For example, in a housing cooperative, a member is a shareholder with a residential site and unit.
A person interested in Earthaven may go through an educational and orientation membership process conducted by the Earthaven Community Association (ECA). There are several options for membership in the ECA for both Earthaven residents and nonresidents.
Supporting Membership is for people who want to support and feel connected to Earthaven. Supporting Membership is a good option if you want to support Earthaven’s mission from afar or are considering joining Earthaven. To become a supporting member, click here
Contributing Membership is the formal channel for our local friends and neighbors to acknowledge the mutually supportive relationship that already exists with Earthaven. Contributing Members share Earthaven’s vision and commitment to re-learning how to live well in community and in close relationship with the land.
New Root Membership is for Earthaven residents who are not Full or Provisional Members. New Roots include renters, work exchangers, interns, people exploring Full Membership, and other people who live at Earthaven. New Roots pay fees and contribute four hours a week of community service to approved projects; after the first year, the requirement is reduced to three hours a week.
Provisional Membership is the step between New Roots and Full Membership. It’s a six-month or longer period when they can better understand what Full Membership in Earthaven means, and community members can get to know and assess the Provisional Member better. Provisional Members participate in community governance and are preparing to join a Pod.
Full Members (“members”) have joined a Pod at Earthaven, where they can live and enjoy our beautiful mountain forest and our village social life. They take physical, cultural, and financial responsibility for developing our aspiring ecovillage — a decades-long, maybe lifelong, ecological and cultural project. Members may choose to live at Earthaven or elsewhere.
Membership at Earthaven is individual. Your partner can also apply for Provisional Membership or seek New Root status (and apply for Provisional Membership later). If your partner didn’t want to become a Full Earthaven Member, they might consider becoming a long-term resident.
If you have children who will live with you at Earthaven, they will be taken into account when we consider your membership. In other words, we would want to feel good about your children too. Children are not charged fees until they become adults.
It’s possible to have a dog or cat at Earthaven; however, we do have restrictions on pets. While Full Members may have dogs or cats on their homesites under certain conditions, New Roots may not have a dog or cat unless a Full Member takes full responsibility for it. A Provisional Member who wants to bring a pet to Earthaven must get permission from the Pod and comply with all rules regarding pets in Pods and in common areas.
Supporting Members contribute dues on a sliding scale of $100 – $150 for a year for an individual or $150 – $300 for a year for a family.
To become a supporting member, click here.
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