Membership

It takes many hands to build an amazing community - a powerful multiplier for the quality of your life and meaningful, lifelong relationships.

Tree Swing Cohousing is growing our group and searching for an amazing site for our community. Help shape the dream and make it real!

We have a phased membership model so you can explore if this is a fit and scale up your commitment gradually:

FRIEND

Start by getting to know us and about co-housing with no obligations or cost:

1. Fill out a short questionnaire so we can get to know you!

2. Watch this intro video about what kind of community we're building, our timeline, affordability and more.

3. Come to one of our seasonal in-person socials hosted at existing Bay Area co-housing communities.

4. Sign up for Pleasant Hill Co-Housing's monthly virtual tour to see what an established community looks like.

5. Learn more about co-housing (start with this short TED video and reading the first chapter of the free Co-housing Handbook).

EXPLORER MEMBER

Become an active participant to explore more if this is the right community for you:

1. Attend one of our biweekly work meetings as an observer.

2. Chat with one of our Core Group members to answer your questions and check in on vision and values alignment.

3. If both sides feels it’s a fit, you will be invited to join our biweekly meetings and contribute a non-refundable fee of $25 to support group activities.

4. Continue diving into the Co-housing Handbook, which contains accessible, valuable knowledge about best practices in turning co-housing into a reality.

5. Connect with our Core Group members to get to know your potential neighbors and learn what core membership entails!

Core Member

After three months as an Explorer Member you will have an opportunity to decide if you want to commit more deeply as a Core Group member:

1. Consistently attend biweekly work meetings (with flexibility for life events).

2. Serve on at least one of the Action Groups (see descriptions below)

3. Act as a decision-maker about Tree Swing’s development (both the physical building and its culture) with full voting rights and document access.

4. Participate in a transparent conversation about your finances with other core members in a safe and supportive environment for land and construction costs.

5. Contribute a larger sum to the common fund to be used for professional consulting services.

*Note: We plan to have a limited number of rental units and exploring potential government and other subsidies for folks with less financial means.

BENEFITS OF JOINING EARLY IN THE PROCESS:

• Guaranteed unit and order of unit selection

• Help shape the design and material selections of our homes and common spaces

• Contribute meaningfully to a kinder and more connected world

• All the perks and fun of having a community before the physical part is built!

Action Groups

Our current groups working to make the Tree Swing community a reality:

Community Building & Membership
Coordinate awareness building in our local region, engage with interested members, organize monthly meetings and social events.

Land Search
Research promising land sites, connect with knowledgeable realtors, coordinate members exploring potential neighborhoods and update the group on prospective properties.

Design & Build
Evaluate building options for prospective properties, map potential construction costs, identify and evaluate the experts we will need to plan and build our community.

Finance
Develop financing scenarios, work to secure loan options, evaluate developers as project partners as needed and coordinate with the Design & Build group to finalize estimated costs.

Governance
Develop the legal framework for ownership (HOA etc), organizing agreement and other guiding documents or processes to formalize our community.