Sara Ross, the co-coordinator of two workshops being held this evening (August 4) by the Vancouver Collective House Network, has lived in the Beehive for two and a half years.
She explained that while reducing their environmental footprint is an important focus for the Beehive tenants and those in other similar homes in the city, the main value that collective houses share is a sense of “community mindedness”.
“Compassion and care for other people, thinking about others—that’s one of the foundations,” Ross described. “And I think out of that comes a sense of belonging.”
“There’s a lot of isolation in the world,” she added. “I think people are looking for a deeper connection and more meaning in their lives, and this is one way to do it.”
Another benefit of collective living, Ross noted, is the reduced cost. In addition to splitting the price of most food in the house, the Beehive also features income-adjusted rent that’s evaluated on a monthly basis.
But the goal for people like Ross is to achieve much more than splitting the rent.
“There’s all these professional, interesting people that are finding that living collectively supports their work out in the world, and that’s a big benefit,” Ross said. “By sharing our values in our home, it affirms us so that we’re stronger people to go out and work in our communities.”
She noted that for people interested in the concept of collective housing, it’s “not just as simple as moving in together”.
Ross explained that those interested in moving into the Beehive go through a process of writing a letter, doing a phone interview and then a dinner with the residents of the house to determine if they’re the right fit.
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