Winslow Cohousing: Joining Our Community

The Process

To ensure that prospective new members understand who and what we are, our membership application and orientation process must be completed before the community will consent to the transfer of shares to a potential new member. We do a criminal/credit check, but otherwise have no selection process. We do expect members to participate in running the community, as we are self-managed. Current members and the community as a whole do retain rights of first refusal on a home for 15 days after a purchase and sell agreement has been signed. For more specifics, see Community Information.

Next Step: How to Join Winslow Cohousing Group

When you join the Winslow Cohousing Group as a member/owner, you are doing much more than just buying a house. Before joining WCG, purchasing shares and signing a lease for your home, you must get to know us and become familiar with how we operate. We ask that you complete the following steps.

1. Every adult member of the household, within the year before the signing of a purchase and sale agreement, should complete the following steps:

Take a community tour. Tours are held by arrangement. Call the WCG office at (206) 780-1323. If, after taking a tour, you want to take further steps to get to know us and become a member when a unit becomes available, then inform the tour guide of your interest and the tour guide will give you the name and phone number of a contact person.

Attend one General Meeting of the community. Meetings are held monthly, usually on the second Saturday or Sunday of the month, starting at 9:00 a.m. Meetings last about three hours. You should plan to stay for the entire meeting to learn about our process. Child care is usually available, but we need to know your needs in advance.
Attend a cluster meeting of your choice. Every adult member is required to participate in the work of a cluster. Clusters meet at different times and in different places. To find out where and when just talk to the seller or leave a message on the WCG office phone for the Cluster Coordinator.
Attend a common dinner, or other community-wide social event. Dinners are held 5 times a week—Sunday through Thursday—except in summers. The schedule varies in summer. Attending a party or celebration can also meet this requirement.

2. If, after completing the above four steps, you are seriously considering purchasing a home when one becomes available, then the next step is to purchase the $100 Joining pack. The cost of the Joining pack is not refundable. There will be an additional charge to pay for credit check and profile when you start the process of purchasing an available home. The Joining pack contains:

Joining pack cover sheet with Checklist for Membership
Membership Application and Credit Profile
Clearness meeting information
Cooperative Identity
WCG Articles of Incorporation
WCG Bylaws
Sample copy of Proprietary Lease
Sample Agreement of Sale of Cooperative Unit
Guidelines and Regulations for Expansion and Remodeling of Homes
Disclosure Statement
Community Participation Manual
Subletting Guidelines, Policies and Values
Sample Rental Agreement
Who's Who (adopted 5/1/94): classification of participation in/affiliation with WCG
WCG Pet Guidelines (adopted 3/1/98)

After you have read the material in the Joining pack you will be asked to meet with some members to discuss the material in the pack.

3. Participate in a Clearness meeting.

We ask persons weighing the decision to become residents to explore and clarify their understanding and expectations in joining this community in a Clearness meeting after reading the materials in the $100 Joining pack and taking the other steps outlined above. We also recommend that you read Cohousing, a Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by McCamant and Durrett if you have not had a chance to do so yet.

A Clearness meeting brings you and several members of the community together in the setting of a private home. This meeting is a chance for you to hear answers to any questions you may have and a chance for us to provide you with facts, ideas, impressions and accounts of our experience in order to make clear the nature of life in this community. We believe that people who are suitably informed will decide wisely for themselves whether or not to make their home here.