HEARTWOOD COHOUSING - GETTING INVOLVED
Getting Involved:
Move-In Information
Congratulations and welcome to Heartwood! This web page is designed to help you with your move to Heartwood and your transition to the community. Please feel free to stay in touch with your Buddy and/or Sandy Thomson (970-884-2196, house #16), our Welcome Wagon host to help get your questions answered and make your transition more enjoyable.
Move-In Day
We have a tradition here of helping each other with moving in. Most of us received help from our neighbors unloading the moving truck and even unpacking some boxes, so don’t be shy about posting to the chat when you plan to move-in and asking for help. We’ve all got busy lives, so don’t expect the whole neighborhood to show up (although we’d like to!), but even a few helpers can make a big difference. That said, you may find it worthwhile to hire movers to unload the truck, especially if you have lots of heavy furniture, a piano, etc.
Please be aware that our pathways are somewhat fragile and narrow. It’s OK for your moving truck to pull up in front of your new home, but be sure to inform the driver about the pathways. It’s probably best for you to meet the truck on the road and then escort it onto the pathways to make sure it’s not causing any damage. The edges of the pathway are prone to breaking away so you really need for the driver to be careful to keep the truck tires off the pathway edges.
If you’re moving in at the beginning of the week, don’t forget to call ahead to sign up for the Tuesday and/or Wednesday common meals if you’d like.
Settling In
Like moving anywhere, moving to Heartwood is a big change. Take your time getting settled in and don’t feel obligated to jump right into community life. If you want to jump right in, go for it, but if you prefer some time to adjust slowly, don’t pressure yourself. Maybe start by attending some community dinners and other fun social gatherings. If you’re so inclined, invite a neighbor to go for a walk, play some tennis, or just come over for a chat and a cup of tea.
If you have kids, they will probably jump right in and begin getting to know all the other Heartwood kids. They will no doubt love the freedom that living in a pedestrian oriented, rural community allows them. Not many neighborhoods are are safe as Heartwood so you may not be used to them having all that freedom. You may notice that you haven’t seen your 5 year old for over an hour and experience a small panic attack, but not to worry. They are most likely down at the S.S. Ponderosa (play structure in the village green) or at a new friend’s house. You’ll soon learn where their friends live and know to look for them there.
We all have different personal boundaries and expectations when it comes to living in community. Some of us are happy with neighbors knocking and walking right into our homes (the norm). Others are more private and would like neighbors to wait at the door after knocking (the exception). Some parents are OK with their kids playing video games; others are not. We’re all different and we all fit into community differently, but the only way that our neighbors know our boundaries and expectations is if we communicate them. So don’t be shy about communicating yours by sending an email to the chat, posting a note on your door, talking to the parents of your kids’ friends, etc. Proactive, compassionate communication is THE thing that makes our community thrive.
Getting Involved
Once you feel comfortably settled into your new home, you are strongly encouraged to get involved in community life, both the social aspects and helping with the work that it takes to make our community thrive. From experience we know that the people who put the most into the community get the most out of it. Eat at common meals and potlucks, join a team in an area that interests you (see Teams agreement), come pitch in at a work party, just walk the pathway and chat with your new neighbors on a sunny weekend day, and sign up to cook common meals. All of these will integrate you into the fabric of Heartwood.
Getting to Know Your Community and the Area
We’ve created several pages in our Resource section to help you:
Greenhouse & Chickens Orientation
In addition to those pages, the following agreement, guideline, and resource pages may be of particular interest:
If there’s anything that would have been helpful in your orientation to Heartwood that wasn’t included here, please let the Membership team know. We appreciate your feedback.