Planned, socially-cohesive, residential community

An intentional community is a planned residential community designed from the start to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They typically share responsibilities and resources. Intentional communities include collective households, cohousing communities, coliving, ecovillages, monasteries, communes, survivalist retreats, kibbutzim, ashrams, and housing cooperatives. New members of an intentional community are generally selected by the community's existing membership, rather than by real-estate agents or land owners (if the land is not owned collectively by the community).

The purposes of intentional communities vary in different communities. They may include sharing resources, creating family-oriented neighborhoods, and living ecologically sustainable lifestyles, such as in ecovillages.[citation needed]

Some communities are secular while others have a spiritual basis.[1] One common practice, particularly in spiritual communities, is communal meals.[2] Typically, there is a focus on egalitarian values.[3] Other themes are voluntary simplicity, interpersonal growth, and self-sufficiency.[citation needed]

Some communities provide services to disadvantaged populations. These include, but are not limited to, war refugees, homeless people, or people with developmental disabilities.[citation needed] Some communities operate learning and/or health centers.[citation needed] Other communities, such as Castanea of Nashville, Tennessee, offer a safe neighborhood for those exiting rehab programs to live in.[citation needed] Some intentional communities are also micronations, such as Freetown Christiania.[4]

Many communities have different types or levels of membership.[citation needed] Typically, intentional communities have a selection process which starts with someone interested in the community coming for a visit. Often prospective community members are interviewed by a selection committee of the community or in some cases by everyone in the community. Many communities have a "provisional membership" period. After a visitor has been accepted, a new member is "provisional" until they have stayed for some period (often six months or a year) and then the community re-evaluates their membership. Generally, after the provisional member has been accepted, they become a full member. In many communities, the voting privileges or community benefits for provisional members are less than those for full members.[citation needed]

Christian intentional communities are usually composed of those wanting to emulate the practices of the earliest believers. Using the biblical book of Acts (and, often, the Sermon on the Mount) as a model, members of these communities strive for a practical working out of their individual faith in a corporate context.[5] These Christian intentional communities try to live out the teachings of the New Testament and practice lives of compassion and hospitality.[6] Communities such as the Simple Way, the Bruderhof[7] and Rutba House would fall into this category. These communities, despite strict membership criteria, are open to visitors and not reclusive in the way that certain intentional communities are.[8]

A survey in the 1995 edition of the "Communities Directory", published by Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), reported that 54 percent of the communities choosing to list themselves were rural, 28 percent were urban, 10 percent had both rural and urban sites, and 8 percent did not specify.[9]

The most common form of governance in intentional communities is democratic (64 percent), with decisions made by some form of consensus decision-making or voting. A hierarchical or authoritarian structure governs 9 percent of communities, 11 percent are a combination of democratic and hierarchical structure, and 16 percent do not specify.[9] Many communities which were initially led by an individual or small group have changed in recent years to a more democratic form of governance.[citation needed]

Excerpt from:

Intentional community - Wikipedia

Everyone Needs Someone Else

WHY Americans OF ALL AGES are coming together in intentional communities

By Jeffrey Kluger

Theres not a lot to do in Syracuse, N.Y. when youre living alone and a winter storm system dumps 3 feet of snow on the city. Theres no going outside, but theres no staying inside at least not for too long if you want to remain sane. A dinner with friends would be nice; so would a yoga class or a shared movie and a good long talk. And when thats all done, it would also be nice to have just a little bit of that wintertime solitude, watching the snow fall, all alone, from the privacy of your own home.

At one place in Syracuse, all of that happens on those long snow-filled nights. That place is Commonspace, a co-housing community on the fourth and fifth floors of a restored 19th-century office building. The community is made up of 25 mini-apartments, fully equipped with their own kitchenettes and baths, with access to a larger, shared chefs kitchen, library nook, game room, coffee lounge and media room. The 27 residents (couples are welcome) live together but only sort of in private apartments that are, once you step outside your door, un-private too. And theyre part of a growing trend in an increasingly lonely country: intentional communities.

In cities and towns across the U.S., individuals and families are coming to the conclusion that while the commune experiment of the 1960s was overwhelmed by problems, the idea of living in close but not too close cooperation with other people has a lot of appeal. An intentional community is a very different beast from the more familiar planned communities, which can be big, unwieldy things hundreds or thousands of families living on small parcels across hundreds of acres of land. While there may be some common facilities a swimming pool or golf course or community lake the communities are really just villages writ large or cities writ small, easy places to be anonymous.

Intentional communities, by contrast, are intimate: a couple dozen apartments or single-family homes, built around central squares or common spaces. And theyre operated in ways intended to keep the community connected with weekly dinners at a community center or other common area, shared babysitting services, shared gardens or games or even vacations. If you dont want to participate, fine; no one will come pester you to play a pick-up game you dont want to play or join a committee you dont want to join. But when you need the community because a spouse is away or a baby is sick or youre just plain lonely and would like some companionship its there for you.

Its that business of relieving loneliness thats key to the popularity of intentional communities. Human beings may not always get along, but the fact is, we cant get enough of one another. There are currently 7.6 billion of us in the world but we inhabit only about 10% of the planets land, and roughly 50% of us live on just 1% of that land.

We evolved to depend on our social connections, says Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Surgeon General. Over thousands of years, this got baked into our nervous systems so much so that if we are feeling socially disconnected, that places us in a physiologic stress state.

According to a study by AARP, over 40% of American adults suffer from loneliness, a condition that, Murthy warns, is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and more. Worse, loneliness is a condition that makes no demographic distinctions; it affects millennials just starting their careers, widowed boomers just ending theirs, empty-nesters, new divorcees, first year college students a thousand miles away from family and high school friends. Social media, which ostensibly draws people closer, in fact may be atomizing us further, creating virtual connections that have little of the benefits of actual connections.

A gusher of studies since the early 1990s have established the health dividends of social ties. Among people with cardiovascular disease, those with more social connections have a 2.4 times lower risk of mortality within an established period than those with poor social ties. Social connections lower the risk of cancer, speed recovery among people who do contract the disease, and reduce the risk of hypertension and other cardiovascular illnesses. Even wound-healing improves with social connections. Multiple studies suggest that part of this may come from the psychological boostincluding the sense of responsibilitythat meaningful relationships provide. When friends and family members are counting on you to be around, you make better health choices, even if theyre unconscious. Other studies have shown that similar brain structures control both physical pain and social painand that pain relief, through analgesics in the first case and relationships in the second, operate similarly as well. Being socially connected doesnt simply make you healthier, it just plain feels good.

Intentional communities are about creating attachment, the feeling that someone has your back, says Harvard University psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a decades-old survey of the health of a population of Harvard graduates and their descendants. We often ask people in studies, Who would you call in the middle of the night if you were really sick or scared? Intentional communities can help you have an answer to that question.

Its not easy to come by a firm count of how many intentional communities are out there. Only about 160 of them have been built from the ground up with co-housing in mind, but the regularly updated Fellowship for Intentional Community lists 1,539 communities in all 50 states that have also used existing housing stock to establish co-housing arrangements.

There are urban communities like Commonspace in most major cities. There is Milagro in Tucson, Ariz., 28 single-family homes on 43 desert acres built around a central green space with a shared community center and other facilities. There is Village Hearth Co-Housing, a similar set-up in Durham, N.C., but one intended for singles, couples and families in the LGBTQ community. There are other communities for seniors or artists or veterans; there are even rural communities for people who want the independence of owning their own homes but the collective experience of farming the same land.

For each of the communities, the relative compactness of the population is what creates the feeling of togetherness. You cant possibly know three hundred people, says Troy Evans, real estate developer and the co-founder of Syracuses Commonspace. But you can know fifty. What we try to do in Commonspace is create a neighborhood in a building.

To all appearance, theyve succeeded at that. The communitys 25 apartments rent for an average of $850 per month, which is admittedly pricey for a tiny, 200 sq. ft. space, though services like thrice-weekly cleaning of all of the common spaces and the costs of activities like the weekly farm-to-table dinners are included. And the social benefits which are impossible to measure in dollars and cents are included too.

We set everything up with a town square feel so when you come out of your door theres not a long, dark hallway like in most apartment buildings, says Evans. Town squares, of course, can be noisy not to the liking of even some people who choose to live semi-communally. Thats why one of the floors has fewer apartments built a quiet lounge where locally roasted coffee is always on offer.

The mini-apartments are cleverly laid out, with a platform bed built atop storage cabinets and floor-to-ceiling windows that create an open feel. The bathroom is complete though it has a shower without a tub and the kitchenette is limited only by the fact that is has two electric burners instead of a full stove, because local regulations forbid open flame in such small quarters. The apartments are all equipped with TVs and high-speed Internet, and a Slack channel allows residents to stay in touch without having to remember 26 other email addresses.

Still, its the 6,000 shared square feet, not the 200 private ones that really defines the Commonspace experience, providing what Evans describes as a lot of collision space, which is something people who would otherwise be living alone often crave. What weve found is demand from people who were landing in Syracuse for the first time and not knowing anyone, he says. Weve got people from eight different countries and seven different states. Its a really cool, diverse group.

That diversity is not only cultural but temperamental. Rose Bear Dont Walk, a 23-year old Native American studying environment and forestry at the State University of New York, Syracuse, moved in to Commonspace over the summer and soon grew friendly with another resident who works in computer coding. His mind operates arithmetically, hers works more emotively, and they took to talking about their different ways of approaching the world.

Hes always building something or talking about building something or listening to podcasts, she says. One day, when she was weaving decorative strands out of plant fibers, she decided to make him a bracelet. It was just this way that our worlds connected, she says. He is very logical and mathematical and was very excited about this little tiny rope bracelet that I was bringing home.

Meaningful as those kinds of connections can be, Commonspace residents dont always have a lot of time to make them. Millennials can be transitory characteristic of most people early in their careers and the average length of tenancy is just eight months.

Things are very different at other intentional communities, like Milagro in Tucson. There, the buy-in is typically for life. The 28 homes in the landscaped desert space are sometimes available for rent, but are typically owned by their residents and have sold for anywhere from $175,000 to $430,000, depending on the market. The investment in house and land means an equal investment in the life of the community.

Brian Stark, a married father of two, has lived in Milagro since 2003, two years after the community opened, and considers himself a lifer. For him the appeal is not so much the community-wide dinner in the dining room every Saturday, or the happy hours or the stargazing sessions or the shared holiday parties. Its the easy, collegial pace of the place, unavoidable when neighbors all know one another.

You almost have to assume that someone may stop to chat with you when youre coming or going, he says. It took some getting used to but when were in a hurry for school or a meeting, weve learned to explain our rush and connect another time.

Even more important are the benefits that accrue to any communitys most vulnerable members: babies and seniors. For families with very young children, we do baby care trades, Stark says. And having a supportive community to help as you grow older is also a wonderful alternative to assisted care living.

Intentional communities are not without stressors. Stark recalls the decade of committee meetings that went into the simple business of deciding whether there should be path lights in the community important for safety, but murder on the deserts spectacular nighttime sky. Even when the community agreed that lights were a good idea, there was continued wrangling over cost, wattage and more. A similar struggle ensued when it came time to have all 28 homes painted, as residents debated color schemes for the homes stucco, trim and side boards.

Still, the long meetings and compromises are a small price for those suited to intentional communities. Thats true of diverse, cross-generational communities like Milagro, and it can be even more so when residents come together with a particular shared need for a particular kind of solidarity as in the LGBTQ or aging Boomer communities.

Shortly after the opening of Village Hearth, the North Carolina LGBTQ community, one of the founders explained to a local reporter that she was tired of hearing about this or that intentional community that has a nice lesbian couple or a nice gay couple. She and her wife didnt want to be a curiosity in even the friendliest surroundings, so they founded a community in which nothing would be remarkable about them at all.

There is little science so far that explicitly addresses the medical benefits of co-housing arrangements, but the benefits of the human connections the communities provide are being powerfully established. In one recent meta-analysis of 148 studies gathered from around the world, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Brigham Young University, compared subjects reported state of loneliness with their overall life expectancy. The total sample size was more than 300,000 people and produced sobering results: Adults who are socially isolated, she found, have a 50% greater risk of dying from any cause within a given time frame than people who are more connected.

In a follow-up study in which she used census data to assemble an even larger sample group of 3.4 million, the results were a bit less stark, but no less conclusive, with social isolation and loneliness leading to a 30% increase in risk of mortality on average. Of course, being alone is not the same as being lonely, Holt-Lunstad stresses. Many people enjoy their solitude, and other people can feel lonely even in a group. The key is the subjective experience. If that experience is bad, thats when health can be affected.

More often than not, social media falls into the category of bad rather than good experiences. Even without being trolled or cyberbullied, people can suffer merely as a result of having replaced real relationships with virtual ones. Murthy does not believe social media is all bad, provided its often used as what he calls a way station rather than a destination, helping to establish real-life connections.

Using social media as a way station might mean that if Im traveling to a different city, in advance of the trip I look on Facebook or LinkedIn to see if I have any friends there, he says. Then I reach out to them and we get together.

The exact mechanisms that make loneliness so physically damaging are not easy to tease out, but chemical markers in the bloodstream, like cortisol, a stress hormone, or c-reactive proteins, indicators of inflammation, are considered worrisome signs. They indicate a weakened immune system and metabolic disruption, says Waldinger. This is when you start to see signs of illness like rising lipid levels and blood pressure.

Residents of intentional communities also see another kind of benefit to health and happiness in co-housing: as a way of alleviating transitions that can be both stressful isolating. Stark, the Milagro resident, recalls that when his older daughter, Maia, was born 12 years ago, the Milagro community was still new. Unbidden, the neighbors pitched in to help the family, cleaning their house, making them meals, even doing their laundry so that he and his wife could have the luxury of doing what few parents can do: focus their attention exclusively on their new baby. Since then, the Stark family has returned the favor, making food for people recovering from surgery and offering to make a pickup at an airport.

Everyone at some point needs someone else, Stark says. Intentional communities, in their quiet way, are helping to make sure that powerful human need gets met.

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Why Americans of All Ages Are Embracing Communal Living

From tree house villages in Costa Rica to yoga communes in Hawaii, these 10 intentional communities are havens of peace, creativity and sustainability.

Imagine waking up to the sound of bells from a temple to share in a morning yoga ritual overlooking the mountains of Peru, or the glittering Pacific Ocean in Hawaii. Picking fresh vegetables from your neighborhood garden to cook in a community-wide meal in a spacious, shared kitchen. Building your own non-toxic, mortgage-free cob house in a low-impact neighborhood of like-minded nature lovers. Stepping out of your very own treehouse to gaze at a network of aerial walkways that look like something out of a sci-fi movie. These 10 intentional communities, from utopian eco-villages to cute historic houses in urban Los Angeles, bring people together with common goals of harmonic living, artistic exploration and sustainability.

Polestar Yoga Community, Big Island, Hawaii

What could be more relaxing than a yoga community in Hawaii? Polestar offers an energizing lifestyle of daily yoga and meditation, karmic yoga or service projects, and outdoor adventure opportunities. Though it bills itself as a spiritual community, people of all faiths are welcome at this cooperative living retreat which is home to full-time residents and also open to visitors and apprentices. Awakened each morning by the sound of music from the temple, a shrine dedicated to the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda, guests enjoy daily routines involving organic food grown on site, volunteer service, art and lots of community involvement.

Eco Truly Park, Peru

It looks like something out of a fairy tale: adorable little cone-shaped buildings topped with colorfully painted spires, dotting the hillside on the Pacific coast of Peru. This ecological and artistic community, an hour north of Lima, was founded on principles of non-violence, simple living and harmony with nature. Both the architecture and the values of the community are inspired by traditional Indian teachings and lifestyles. Eco Truly Park has a goal of being fully self-sustainable, and currently boasts a large organic garden. Open to volunteers, the community offers workshops in yoga, art and Vedic philosophy.

Synchronicity Artist Commune, Los Angeles, California

Embodying the laid-back lifestyle of sunny Southern California, Synchronicity is a relaxed and welcoming intentional living community in the historic West Adams District of Los Angeles. Though its small nowhere near the size of the rest of the communities on this list Synchronicity is a great example of the thousands of similar shared households around the United States. Synchronicity has eleven residents and focuses mostly on artistic actions and holding monthly artistic salons that are open to the public.

Earthhaven Ecovillage, Asheville, North Carolina

Located in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Earthaven is just one of many similar intentional communities focusing on sustainable living. Youll find virtually every type of natural building here, including earthships, cob houses and rustic cabins, with construction methods that eliminate toxic materials, logged timber and mortgages. Set on 320 lush acres 40 minutes southwest of Asheville, Earthaven frequently holds natural building workshops and welcomes the public to learn about permaculture, organic gardening and other sustainable topics. They offer camping and visitor accommodations as well as live-work arrangements.

Milagro Cohousing, Tucson, Arizona

Twelve minutes from downtown Tucson, Arizona, Milagro is a co-housing community with 28 passive-solar, energy-efficient adobe homes on 43 acres. Set against the Tucson mountains, Milagro is simply a community of people who want to live a green lifestyle, surrounded by like-minded neighbors. Each resident has access to 35 acres of undeveloped open space, as well as the 3,600-square-foot Common House, which has meeting and dining space, a library, a playroom and storage space. Gardens, workshops and a solar-heated swimming pool make it even more enticing.

Finca Bellavista Treehouse Community, Costa Rica

If youve ever watched Star Wars and wished that you could live with the Ewoks in their magical tree house community, take heed: such a thing actually exists. And its in Costa Rica. Finca Bellavista is a network of rustic, hand-built tree houses in the mountainous South Pacific coastal region of this Central American nation, surrounded by a jungle that is brimming with life. The off-grid, carbon-neutral tree houses are connected by aerial walkways and include a central community center with a dining area, barbecue and lounge. Gardens, ziplines and hiking trails make it even more of a tropical paradise. Prospective community members can design and build their own tree houses. Additionally, some of the tree house owners rent out their homes, and there are visitor accommodations available.

Tamera Peace Research Village, Portugal

Aiming to be a totally self-sufficient community, the Tamera Peace Research Village is in the Alentejo region of southwestern Portugal and is home to 250 coworkers and students who study how humans can live peacefully in sustainable communities, in harmony with nature. It includes a non-profit peace foundation, a SolarVillage test site, a permaculture project with an edible landscape, and a sanctuary for horses.

Dancing Rabbit Eco Village, Missouri

Another showcase of the beauty of natural building techniques, the Dancing Rabbit Eco Village is a sustainable community located near Rutledge, Missouri advocating low-impact living and dedication to social change. Everything from members diets to the way they use water is dictated by a commitment to living lightly on the earth. The village is on 280 acres including six ponds, a small creek and 40 acres of woodland, plus 30 acres where they have planted over 12,000 trees as part of a restoration program.

EcoVillage at Ithaca, New York

What would the ideal sustainable community look like? The EcoVillage at Ithaca is one example that is already thriving in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. It includes three co-housing neighborhoods called Frog, Song and Tree as well as an organic CSA vegetable farm, community gardens and over 100 acres of protected green space. The houses are all energy-efficient and share facilities like a common house, wood shop, metal shop, bike shed, playgrounds and centralized compost bins.

Conceptual Community of Tiny Houses

Its not yet a reality, but tiny house enthusiasts have a dream: idyllic neighborhoods where people who have committed to living in very small spaces can get together and share resources and camaraderie. Tiny house communities are hard to come by because of various city and county ordinances, which favor large houses and conventional utilities. At TinyHouseCommunity.com, people who live in tiny houses or want to build their own some day get together to talk about making these villages happen. There are two tiny house communities currently in planning phases, in Washington D.C. and Texas.

Top photo: Dancing Rabbit Eco Village

Stephanie Rogers currently resides in North Carolina where she covers a variety of green topics, from sustainability to food.

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10 Utopian Intentional Communities with Distinct Values

Im twenty six years old, and I have never lived alone.

I grew up in boarding schools and community centers, and when I left home for college overseas, I found myself jumping from one shared living arrangement to the next. I admit, part of me wanted to save money, but also, I didnt want to be all by myself.

Well, these past two years, my housing situation has been quite different, but not in the way I expected: For the first time in my life, I shared a house with friends who happened to share my own social and environmental concerns. It felt more possible (if not, more hopeful) to live sustainably, in the face of overwhelming scientific and economic realities.

Together, we recycled, carpooled when we could, repurposed old shirts as napkins, split a CSA box, started a compost, and even tried our hand at square foot gardening. We joked about calling our house the green-house and one day starting our own tiny house community. My handyman housemate even started drawing up plans for a tiny house.

Id serendipitously fallen into an accidentalintentional community.

Youve probably heard these terms floating aroundintentional community, ecovillage, commune, housing cooperativesbut what do they mean? What exactly is an intentional community anyway?

For starters, its not just a commune or a hippie house.

According to the Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC), an intentional community refers to any custom-made community. Intentional community is an umbrella term that includes ecovillages, cohousing, residential land trusts, income-sharing communes, student co-ops, spiritual communities, and other projects where people live together on the basis of explicit common values.

Whether the communitys binding purpose is environmental responsibility, religious, political, or spiritual beliefs, social activism, the arts, or being a good neighbor, intentional communities commit to varying degrees of a shared, sustainableand often countercultural lifestyle. (So, okay, a commune is an intentional community, but an intentional community is not always a commune.)

The FIC directory lists 1,759 forming and established intentional communities spread across every American state and Puerto Rico. Turns out, I live near a few.

So, with my roommate in tow, I checked out a cohousing community called Blueberry Hill Cohousing Community in Vienna, Virginia, a small, picturesque neighborhood nestled in an unlikely suburban spot: a short drive from the mega-mall, Tysons Corner, and bordered on one side by McMansions and a farm on the other.

Cohousing is legally and financially identical toa condominium associationits a private home ownership collective, and they have a board of directors, no shared income, and no special tax breaksexcept that residents actively participate in the planning of the community. Sure, some cohousing communities might also have mandatory resident meetings, shared meals, and chores, but every community does it differently.

The day we visited Blueberry Hill, it was warm, humid, and Betsy, one of the original residents at Blueberry Hill, welcomed us wearing shorts and a faded t-shirt, sporting the word: Smile. We parked on the outskirts of the neighborhood, next to the common house, a shared facility where residents have community meals, gatherings, and access to things like games and movies.

The homes were clustered, with kitchens facing out onto the neighborhood. And as Betsy gave us the tour across the pedestrian-only paths connecting the homes, we ducked in and out of the homes, and said hello to a few residents who were enjoying the summer afternoon on their wrap-around porches.

When I spoke to Ann Zabaldo, former president of the Cohousing Association of the US, she pointed out these same architectural principles in her own community at Takoma Village Cohousing in the DC metropolitan area. These principles help increase the incidental interplay that builds the bonds between communitiesneighbors you interact with because you run into them on the way to your car, or because you see them walk home from work.

In turn, this connection facilitates the sharing economy that can mean everything from the ability to stay longer in your homes as you age, to readily available caregiving and babysitting resources for busy parents, or for Ann, a writer and wheelchairuser, something as simple as the ability to have her neighbor pop by real quick to change a lightbulb she cant reach.

Anns lived in community most her life, and for all the challenges that come with living in communityor any human relationship, for that mattershe still loves it. Its Mardi Gras everyday, she tells me, and laughs.

Here are some things to consider before you apply to live in an intentional community.

What do you care most about? How can living in community help enhance your personal goals?

There are so many communities out there, each with different intentions and expectations, whether its an ecovillage like Headwaters Garden and Learning Center in Vermont, where sustainable developmentor what owner, developer, and founder, Gwendolyn Hallsmith, calls meeting human needs today without harming the needs of tomorrows generationis the driving force; or Koinonia Farm, a Christian intentional community in Georgia, which aims to embody peacemaking, sustainability, and radical sharing.

A great place to start is the Fellowship of Intentional Communities directory. What state do you want to live in? Do you want to live in a rural, urban, or suburban setting? How much independence do you want versus community? The FIC directory will give you everything from basic demographic information to community expectations and practices.

Most places will strongly recommend this, as it will give you a feel for the place. Some places might even require a trial run period, to see if you are a good fit.

Are you able to get along with people you dont like? Do you cope well with change? Some people make the mistake of thinking that intentional communities come with a built-in best-friend network, and most of the time, thats simply not the case. Choose an intentional community that serves you where you are in life right now, and not simply where you think you should be. Intentional communities arent for everyone, and thats okay.

Our lease is coming to an end and Ive been slowly boxing up my room. My housemate broke down the square foot garden the other day, too, which made me sad. Living intentionally was wonderful in so many ways,but Ill admit, its also no easier than living anywhere else.

Over the past two years, Ive learned what it looks like to be accountable for my beliefs on a day-to-day basisand I have my intentional community to thank for that.

Update, June 30, 2015: A previous version of this article stated that cohousing communities were similar to condominium associations, when in fact cohousing communities are legally and financially identical to condominum associations. The article has been updated to reflect this change.

Ah-reum Han was born in South Korea, but bred on the sandy savannas of West Africa. Shes been to five different continents, but learned to keep her feet still long enough to get her B.A. in Creative Writing and Cross-cultural Sociology from Carson-Newman University and her M.F.A.in fiction fromGeorge Mason University.

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I Stumbled Into an Intentional Community. Heres What I ...

CINCINNATI Every four years, America turns its attention to Ohio. And for good reason.

Our Midwestern "flyover state" has voted for the winning presidential candidate in 29 of the last 31 presidential elections. That's from 1896 on.

As the 2020 election and the COVID-19 pandemic looms large in the media landscape, Ashland Source has joined a collaborative project with a more localized focus.

Journalists from six news outlets across the state came together to give local national and global audiences some advanced insights into our state's electoral magic, straight from the people who know it best Ohioans. All kinds.

The nonprofit audio storytelling platform, A Pictures Worth (APW),supported the creation ofOhio Values, a collaborative suite of audio stories and related images that center community members in narratives focused on their core values and how those values "show up" when they vote in 2020.

To keep up with the latest news on Ohio Values, click here to sign up for our email newsletter.

Not only will Ohio Values provide a suite of local-media-branded audio and digital stories available for use by national and international media outlets looking to gain authentic insights from the state, it will serve as a scalable test case to increase the reach, depth and connections between local and national media outlets in a concerted effort to tell more responsible, authentic and representative narratives about the concerns and priorities of citizens from disparate areas and backgrounds, said Elissa Yancey, co-founder and chief creative officer of APW.

The new statewide responsible journalism collaborative started in February with APW providing specialized training and support to reporters across the state. Journalists learned how to use the story-gathering methods of "A Pictures Worth" and agreed to make the resulting content free and open for all to use, with credit to original sources, of course.

Collaborative members of the Ohio Values project include:

WCPO, Cincinnati

The Cincinnati Herald, Cincinnati

Richland Source, Mansfield

Ashland Source, Ashland

Knox Pages, Mount Vernon

The Devil Strip, Akron

Ohio Values intentionally connects local newsrooms and reporters with one another throughout Ohio to provide them with valuable exposure to and hands-on experience with an exciting new methodology for practicing responsible journalism. Based upon years of journalism practice, research and neuroscience, "A Pictures Worth" provides actionable training and support that enables journalists to:

Acknowledge the inherent power dynamics in their work alongside communities where distrust in journalism is the norm

Center their community members in their narratives

Build thoughtful, effective, community-focused engagement efforts that nurture trust and understanding across differences

Share these community-centered narratives to audiences across the state, the country and the world.

This audio story series, Ohio Values, is intentionally not political, although you will hear some stories that involve political topics and issues. Instead, we made an intentional choice to focus on our people, sharing photographs and stories about what they value the most, whether they're heading into a voting booth or weathering a pandemic.

Visit http://apicturesworth.org for more details about the Ohio Values collaborative.

Local news coverage is only sustainable with local support. Here at Ashland Source, our stories will always be free to read, but they arent free to produce. Consider supporting our coverage of Ashland County by becoming a member today.

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Ashland Source joins statewide collaborative to shed light on local voters in 'Ohio Values' - Ashland Source

Dear Milwaukee Theater Community:

As Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artists who live or have worked in Milwaukees theater community and the Wisconsin theater community at large, we strive for a Milwaukee that is unified, thriving and grounded in principles of racial equity, trust and accountability. We believe in the power of our stories, the power of our people and the power this city holds to be a model for advancing social issues through the arts and other creative forces. We also value proposition and a necessary role in driving the very change we hope to see in the Milwaukee Theater community and Wisconsin at large.

Our country is in a moment of civil unrest. Black people are being targeted in the streets and in their homes. Our country is dealing with not one, but two, global pandemics. One of those we hope will be aided by a vaccine that will allow us to gather again. The other, systemic racism, is a pandemic and a public health crisis, ingrained in racial inequality in every aspect of American life. We write this open letter to all Milwaukee theater leaders, executives and theater partners to acknowledge that racism exists in the Milwaukee theater community and the Wisconsin Theater community at large. Inspired by the national We See You White American Theater movement, we write as a collective of Black voices. Our individual experiences are different, yet systematically, all tie back to the same systems we are protesting in the streets. We call for real change and that starts with those in power.

The City of Milwaukees Black or African American residents make up 38.84% of the population according to the 2010 U.S. Census. The unfortunate reality is that the leadership seats that populate nonprofit theaters dont reflect any of the richness of our city. They are heavily white and male. BIPOC artists are very rarely seen at any leadership table at nearly all of the Wisconsin theater companies. Engaging community partners on a volunteer basis, who do not know or understand the theater culture, does not replace the need to engage

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BIPOC artists in important decisions like play selection, hiring staff, strategic planning, inclusion and education. Nothing about us without us.

There is no more room for hiding behind tradition and the way its done. We no longer tolerate the practices of dismissing fresh ideas; assuming an actors cultural, educational and economic backgrounds; cultural appropriation; asking actors to act or play ghetto, turning BIPOC characters into caricatures in the name of comedy or to appease a director or writers biases; choosing to ignore or downplay complaints from BIPOC artists and staff when allegations of microaggressions or foul behavior are made; a BIPOC artist or staff members very presence being questioned, as if their presence denies opportunities for their white counterparts, fulfilling a diversity quota.

We are BIPOC artists and artisans whose artistic expressions are rooted in gifts and talents which were cultivated through years of study and professional training.

Black actors are not monolithic and our lived experiences should be honored in all aspects of your institution and communities. Wisconsin deserves to see the full spectrum of the Black experience through theatrical productions not only written by, but guided by Black theatre makers who are directors, designers, dramaturgs, choreographers, production staff and producers.

Zero tolerance policies for racial aggressions in rehearsal halls and administrative offices. Provide clearly defined steps to make sure the reporting structure of racial aggressions does not leave room for diluting, neglecting or ignoring complaints made by BIPOC staff. This is especially vital in cases where reporting supervisors and leaders are white. This includes no more culturally insensitive comments, practices, microaggressions and denigrating acting exercises in rehearsal halls, classrooms, staff meetings and other arts gatherings.

Required on-going anti-racist training for all staff, volunteers and board members.

Policies and procedures for healing and reconciliation once harm has been done to repair relationships with Black artists, staff, patrons, etc.

Black actors, directors, designers, technicians and theatre administrators having a genuine seat at the table. Again, nothing about us without us.

Implement a racial equity lens, cultivating a multiplicity of perspectives to help spearhead your season planning process.

Eliminate homogeneous artistic planning teams that historically lead to siloing Black experiences on stage. Relationship with the Black community means very little if we are not authentically included in telling our stories.

Include compensation for consultant work from BIPOC community partners when budgeting for the fiscal year.

Make visible, intentional steps to recruit, hire and properly nurture Black talent across all spectrums of the theater.

Ensure BIPOC staff positions allow them to bring their full selves to their leadership.

Pay living wages. Stipends or volunteer internships make it impossible for many BIPOC artists to apply due to the multi-generational wealth gap between BIPOC artists and their white peers.

Reexamine performing and visual arts education with inclusivity. We advocate for the restoration of visual and performing arts programming in public schools.

Provide training opportunities for educators in creative arts curriculum centered in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

Hire BIPOC educators to create curriculum and train educators.

Require anti-racist training for all teaching artists.

Support local Black businesses and examine relationships with local Black owned businesses. Spend your dollars for catering, decor, marketing, renovation, equipment, supplies with Black businesses.

Pay Black community leaders for the totality of their services. Whether you are trying to diversify your audiences, engage communities, change programming, or strategize for the future, the

Black voices you invite to the table should be paid. We know that BIPOC influencers serve on boards and may be in positions to make large contributions. We are specifically addressing BIPOC contributors who are still building their careers, working tirelessly for their communities with little pay, many who are unemployed. They deserve to be paid as consultants for the emotional labor you ask of them.

To Wisconsin Donors Who Fund the Arts:

Foundations and those who hold the keys to resources, now is the time to really examine where dollars go with an emphasis on racial equity. None of this work can be done without significant investment of resources in our community. Funds given primarily to predominantly white-led institutions (PWIs) for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) undermines and endangers the work of BIPOC-led organizations who have been doing EDI work before EDI practices were attached to funding. Engaging the depth of community knowledge, history and creative capital BIPOC artists and leaders have, is the vehicle that will move our city forward in a more equitable and just way.

What We Need from Funders:

Significant multi-year gifts need to go directly to Black owned and led organizations.

We call upon our local funders to consistently prioritize the advancement and wellbeing of community efforts that center Black people, artists and administrators.

Hold predominantly white institutions accountable when it comes to the racial makeup of staff and artists who become recipients of funding.

Examine the recipients staffing structure, hiring practices and track records with BIPOC before awarding resources to engage in community projects.

Appropriately distribute resources to make these realities more tangible for all.

Continue to create more equitable pathways for Black led initiatives to have access to funding

Now is the time. The work is difficult but possible and surely worth it. On what side of history will your theater stand one year from now?

Read more:

Coalition of BIPOC Artists in Milwaukee Writes Letter to Milwaukee Theater Community - Shepherd Express

The following is a transcript of The Economy Reimagined, a Marketplace special report.

Click here to read and listen to Part 1 on inequality.

Click here to read and listen to Part 2 on jobs, education and poverty.

David Brancaccio: With the tech economy generally still doing well in this very tough year, whats to reimagine? Well, there is an argument for spreading it out. Heres how Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., sees it.

Rep. Ro Khanna: I think we have to realize were going through a technology revolution that has benefited certain parts of this country. Its actually right now whats driving a lot of the stock market and growth, but a lot of people have been left out. And we have not been intentional about getting people a pathway to these jobs of the future.

Kimberly Adams: And the people who have been left out, like Roland in Houston, notice that disconnect.

Roland: People like me, I dont have any money to be putting in the stock market. I dont have the knowledge or the money. And so I dont really have a nest egg like a lot of the certain percent of the population at the top. So, yeah, Im not sure. I dont ever see myself retiring, lets put it that way, probably work until I die.

Adams: When I asked him about his future prospects, he emphasized his age. Hes 56.

Roland: Its hard to accept that Im at a point in my life where my financial future is in question. So, my sister, without her help, not sure what would have happened. I might have gotten very depressed and just gave up. Not sure. But, I dont have an industry that I feel like I can make a living anymore. I have skills, but to attain another certificate or another degree at my age is going to be very difficult.

Adams: So how might Roland get connected to a job of the future?

Brancaccio: Well, that congressman, Ro Khanna, a Democrat representing Californias Silicon Valley, does not want to hoard the tech jobs. He wants more technology work in more places. Hes been working in West Virginia and Kentucky and the South to do that. Putting fast data connections everywhere to help with business development and remote education would cost, Khanna says, about $80 billion.

Khanna: I think the high-speed internet, thats just the table stakes. And then we need incentives and imaginative policies that are going to get people to take a chance in recruiting from places where tech companies havent gone. I mean, theres a lot of talent out there. But some of the recruiting has been myopic. Weve overlooked historically Black colleges and universities, for example. So one example is Zoom, that just announced a partnership, which Rep. [James] Clyburn and I led, with Claflin University.

Brancaccio: Thats a historically Black campus in South Carolina linking with our ubiquitous new workmate Zoom. Its a five-year deal built in part around internships. Khanna points out China is spending like mad to get its tech jobs sprinkled outside the usual places. And its just part of this trend.

As the reimagining goes beyond the U.S. economy to matters of global financial inclusion, we note the capital of Kenya, Nairobi, is now a thriving tech hub.

Mauro Guilln: They call it the Silicon Savannah. You see, African especially sub-Saharan African countries, are well ahead of the rest of the world.

Brancaccio: Mauro Guilln is a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvanias Wharton School of Business. Africa could be ripe for more Silicon Savannahs, beyond Nairobi, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos, Nigeria.

Guilln: When it comes to the adoption of mobile payments, for instance, and also telemedicine. Were only discovering it now in the United States because we are selectively under lockdown, but theyve been practicing telemedicine for at least 10 years. So in some ways, actually, Africa is ahead of the curve relative to the rest of the world. Theyre innovating.

Brancaccio: Guillns new book is called 2030: How Todays Biggest Trends Will Collide and Reshape the Future of Everything.

Guilln: Its also a huge opportunity, because Africa will have by far the youngest population in the world. And economies tend to be more dynamic when the population is younger, on average.

Adams: Speaking of youthful dynamism: Nisa Perez, the daughter of Frances Cox and Jasson Perez in Chicago, she and I were talking about her view of the changing economy. Shes already active in social justice causes, and at 17, she says its clear to her the economy, as it exists, even before COVID-19, doesnt work for her community.

Nisa Perez: To have everything that you need to survive, it shouldnt be a survival-of-the-fittest game. You should have a house, you should be able to have water, you should be able to have lights, you should be able to have food, you should be able to have money.

Brancaccio: What do we have, three of the most transformational events of our lifetimes happening at the same time? Wait, its four. A pandemic, an economic collapse, a national, if not global, reengagement on race and inequality. And, oh yes, did we mention that with all the carbon dioxide we let out, the planets heating up to the point that parts will no longer be liveable. Heres a man whos come up with a plan to take all the bad carbon out of the U.S. economy within just 15 years. Not 50 15. Not by making life austere and miserable, but by electrifying everything.

Saul Griffith: It may sound audacious, but it shouldnt sound crazy.

Brancaccio: MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Saul Griffith is an engineer and CEO of a research group called Otherlab. Hes one of the authors of a report done with a nonprofit called Rewiring America. They did the math and found that if everythings run by electricity, we probably need about half the energy we thought. A total conversion in what must sound like a shockingly short time would be a wild undertaking in the way the economy was ramped up for the Second World War.

Griffith: If we are serious about the what we should be doing for the planet in terms of our carbon dioxide targets, this is the level of effort required to do it. And, in terms of COVID, this is a historic opportunity, like the Great Depression, like World War II, to do sort of the massive infrastructure spending required. And it will create the jobs we need. And, ultimately, we will have a stronger, more resilient, better-prepared nation in the future with a healthier populace if we do it.

Brancaccio: And while shifting people out of fossil fuel jobs will be tough to bear for many, Griffith says the traditional energy industry has become more automated and is not as labor-intensive as what would be needed for his big switch-over. Griffiths report estimates the conversion to everything powered by wind, solar and hydro would create 25 million jobs, with 5 million more jobs than we have now after electric-everything is in place.

Griffith: We dont pay for the wind or the sunshine, as you do in extracting the coal and natural gas. And all of the machines required for that require a little bit more labor because we have to install them and maintain them. It will create more jobs.

Branccacio: The groups total decarbonization plan is open to using some nuclear power for a transition period with the risks that come with that, although Griffith doubts nuclear can compete on cost with other renewables.

This crash program to decarbonize energy is one approach. Another way to address climate change that also claims more jobs is to make everything renewable, not just sources of energy. Its called the circular economy.

William McDonough: Once you realize that something is not waste, its food for something else, then you design with waste equals food.

Brancaccio: William McDonough is an architect and designer who co-wrote what is widely considered a watershed book in the history of the sustainability movement: Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. You think of banana peels that become compost for plants and worms, but scale this globally. Instead of buying LED lightbulbs, maybe you sign up for a lighting service that retrieves the bulbs when theyre done and harvests all the components, including the rare earth elements inside. In Switzerland, McDonough helped the venerable office furniture company Steelcase do a fabric out of sustainable everything.

McDonough: We did it out of wool and ramie ramie is a fiber and then all the dyes and the mordants and the rinses are all so clean that the water coming out of the factory is as clean as Swiss drinking water, which is what it is. So youre not polluting. The trimmings used to be hazardous waste, had to be shipped to Spain, from Switzerland, because you couldnt burn it or bury it in Switzerland. So thats a cost to the business. The trimmings of the cloth become mulch for the local garden club. And, by the way, a lot of people have sat on that fabric, its in the Airbus.

Brancaccio: Airbus the jetliners. McDonough also designed the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio that controls its waste and creates more energy than it consumes.

McDonough: Its a building like a tree. A tree collects more energy from solar energy than it requires to live. It actually accrues and grows. Amazing. And, it purifies water. And, so, we want to design systems that are like that, that are regenerative.

Brancaccio: He draws from the energy production part of this to make a larger point about the circular economy creating more work, even given the disruption it would produce for people whose jobs are rooted in the existing way of doing things.

McDonough: Theres so much to do in renewable power. There is so little to do in coal. So, focus this is job creation. This is how do we meaningfully engage with the world today, and have great work for people to do?

Brancaccio: Perhaps some of this is thinking more widely about whom you think you serve. Kat Cole is the president and chief operating officer of Focus Brands, which include Cinnabon, Jamba Juice, Carvel, Auntie Annes pretzels. Cole began her career first as a hostess before waiting tables at a Hooters restaurant. She often tells how she started traveling internationally for Hooters corporate office by age 19, working on the chains global expansion. While what she sells are indulgences, she takes a holistic approach to leadership. Ms. Cole, thank you for joining us.

Cole: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Brancaccio: So you had to find a job as a teenager to, what, help your family get food on the table?

Cole: Really to help save money for my own needs. We had passed the phase where my mom was working three jobs and feeding us on a food budget of $10 a week, which she did for three years. By the time I was 15, my mom had a little bit of a better job, but not enough for college for her three girls. And so if I wanted anything, I needed to work for it. So I started working in malls and then eventually restaurants.

Brancaccio: Kat, your Twitter handle is different now, but I know in the past it has been about being a connected, conscious capitalist. What does that mean to you?

Cole: I think it means destigmatizing and redefining capitalism as an ecosystem that has people and more stakeholders pulled to the forefront as opposed to afterthoughts. Not the sole purpose of the enterprise being the shareholder, but rather understanding that by caring for connected stakeholders employees, customers, vendors that that is where capitalism is going, has been moving and must continue to go. So that the great divide of the haves and have-nots does not continue to widen.

Brancaccio: You refer to destigmatizing capitalism is that part of the stigma, is that its made the gap between rich and poor worse in some cases?

Cole: It is the stigma, right? Is there any other stigma? When people hear capitalism, they either say, yes, Im a capitalist, and Im all about free markets and individualism and all of those things that are related, or its the other side, which is capitalism is only focused on markets and shareholders without consideration for downstream and social and economic implications. And so the shift from shareholder to stakeholder is needed shareholders being a key stakeholder because theyre putting up the money to make the enterprise possible in the first place. So theyre critical. But if the other things arent impacted positively, there is no business over time.

Brancaccio: Kat Cole, president and chief operating officer of Focus Brands, thank you very much.

Cole: My pleasure.

Adams: So many people are challenging the way our economy works and who its working for, and those ideas are coming from everywhere. Frances Cox, who went to college, worked as a computer programmer and now has a job cleaning houses, wants drastic changes starting with policies like reparations for Black Americans. But she also wants a shift in how we think.

Frances Cox: We have to make it a people-oriented economy versus a money-oriented economy.

Adams: Her daughter Nisa, and Nisas dad, Jasson, say there needs to be a way for people to get an education, college or vocational, without going into extreme debt.

Massage therapist Roland in Houston wants everyone paid a living wage, for example by raising the minimum wage. His sister, retired engineer Rochelle, wants to see more economic empathy.

Rochelle Rittmaster: It just seems like, as a society, we really do need to recognize that people are going out, they are working hard. Theyre getting up every day, theyre going to work, theyre doing what they need to do, and at the end of the day, they still cant make it. Thats wrong. Thats wrong, and as a society, we need to have more compassion and more support for everybody.

Adams: Compassion and support for everybody. Economic inequality in America is pretty extreme across race, in particular. Cathy Cohen is a University of Chicago political science professor who does a regular survey of millennials that makes sure people of color are properly sampled.

Cohen: We asked the question, what would be the best way to make racial progress in the United States? Voting in state and local elections, voting in federal elections, but also organizing in communities, community service, nonviolent protests, and we also included, yes, revolution. And the answer that was most prominent among African American, Asian American and Latinx young people was organizing in communities. That was the second-most popular answer, even among young whites.

Adams: It wasnt number one, but many did pick revolution, especially many Black millennials. Cohen understands this as the belief it will take transformational, systemic change for things to get better.

Darren Walker: I do not want to restart the economy that we had. We have to reimagine.

Brancaccio: Darren Walker is the president of the Ford Foundation, the second-largest philanthropy, with a $12 billion endowment.

Walker: It was a conscience-less capitalism that in no way recognized the harm that inequality does to our democracy, because hope is the oxygen of democracy. Inequality asphyxiates hope, and it makes people believe that the institutions in our democracy that are supposed to advance their interests are rigged, are designed and manipulated by we privileged Americans to benefit us at their expense. And if Im to be true and candid with you, David, they are right. They are right.

Brancaccio: Walker has been challenging those who win in the present economic system to consider what parts of their privilege they are prepared to surrender

And heres what I learned talking to one of the tycoons of Wall Street, Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, the biggest hedge fund of them all. His reading of history tells him when interest rates are low (they are), great global powers are in conflict (think U.S. and China) and the gap between rich and poor gets wide (ditto, again), very bad things happen, like war.

Dalio: Isnt our objective to work together peacefully and achieve greatness together, in a broad way, or do you want to be fighting with each other? And, theres enough money to go around. Not to just redistribute it in a way where theres not a motivation for work, but in a way that more people have an opportunity to get well-educated, and be working together, and that we pull together. Because I fear for us fighting with each other domestically, and I fear for us fighting with each other internationally.

Brancaccio: Over to Felicia Wong, president of the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank.

Wong: But heres the thing, David, weve got to make sure that this isnt just talk. Some of this stuff has to get into action if we are going to build a more humane and more resilient economy coming out of this than the economy we had going into this early this year.

Brancaccio: Theres an idea called the Overton window, named after a public policy guy in Michigan who died quite young, Joseph P. Overton. Its about the window of policy possibilities that the public, politicians and regulators consider worthy of serious consideration. You know, versus ideas so off the deep end why even talk about them. Here in 2020, many think the drapes on the Overton window have opened to a wider view. Weve looked at some ideas here and will stay on the lookout for ways to reimagine systems that work better for more people.

The Economy Reimagined was produced by Candace Manriquez Wrenn, Rose Conlon, Victoria Craig, Meredith Garretson, Daniel Shin and Erika Soderstrom. Alex Schroeder produced the digital elements. Engineering by Brian Allison and Jay Siebold. Our theme music was composed and recorded by Daniel Ramirez and Ben Tolliday. Our executive producer Nicole Childers oversaw the project.

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The Economy Reimagined, Part 3: Climate and Technology - Marketplace

Tiffany Ellis

Making friends in her 30s didnt come easily to Tampa resident Tiffany Ellis. It was hard to connect with others and even harder to navigate job relocations and life changes.

Wanting a way to build authentic relationships and bring women experiencing similar struggles together, Ellis founded the personal development platform Pods & PR. What began with Ellis sharing podcasts with those around her grew into a deeper look into the mental health needs of women of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds.

Ellis told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that Pods and Perennial Resolutions is like a book club for podcasts. Groups of women come together for a guided discussion through different podcasts and different issues and happenings in life. But throughout July, designated National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in 2008, Ellis placed a special emphasis on the mental health needs of her community.

Were intentional about the content were putting out in terms of reminding people to care for their mental health, reminding them to find people they feel safe having conversations with and things like that, Ellis said.

Early on in Pods & PRs existence, Ellis saw the need for a professional presence, as many of the sessions were met with heavy subject matter and emotional responses. This led her to bringing on therapist and friend Shanta Jackson. The two moderate events together.

Theres a stigma attached to therapy, particularly in the minority community, Ellis said. I said if I can bring her on board and I can help my audience to really connect with her way of therapizing the ladies, then what it did was it helped to normalize therapy.

With the help of Jacksons professional expertise, many Pods & PR participants have gone to seek further counseling and come to terms with previously unaddressed issues, Ellis said.

The women in the community have started to say, You know what? Because of Shanta, I sought out a therapist and now Im breaking some people into therapy and now Im working through this childhood issue I had from 20 years ago, she said. And Im seeing exponential growth from the ladies because of the fact that they feel comfortable being vulnerable in that safe space weve created.

Typically held in person in different women-owned businesses and event spaces in its four core cities, Atlanta, Dallas, Miami and Tampa, Pods & PR is now being conducted on online platforms, through the free and twice-monthly Virtual Connections sessions.

We had never hosted a virtual event before, but when COVID happened, we noticed that people, especially the women in our community, were struggling, Ellis said. And so now more than ever they needed us, and we had to find a way to emerge.

As Pods & PR has helped many recognize a need to seek mental health support for the first time, another Tampa organization is only furthering its role in providing these types of services.

Natasha Pierre is the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Hillsborough (NAMI), a countywide affiliate of the grassroots mental health organization, which specializes in education, support and public outreach.

In its recognition of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, NAMI and its Hillsborough County affiliate are implemented several support and educational groups to provide connections to the communities that need it. NAMIs Sharing Hope presentation focused specifically on the impact of mental illness on the Black and African American communities, while the docuseries, Strength Over Silence and You Are Not Alone campaign explore the intersections between culture and mental health and highlight the voices of those affected.

When people are experiencing really tough times, when they're experiencing a mental health challenge, it's beneficial for them to connect with people who understand their journey and their experience, Pierre said. Do they understand the Black experience? Do they understand being a combat veteran? Do they understand being a mom of a child with special needs?

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports racial and ethnic minority groups are less likely to have access to or use mental health services and are more likely to use emergency departments and receive lower quality care.

When were talking about minority mental health, it is recognizing that the challenges arent occurring in a vacuum, Pierre said. We cannot ignore the greater systemic and social constructs that make it challenging and harder and pose barriers for someone to improve their mental health.

In Hillsborough County especially, Pierre said, NAMI sees a need for support groups among those living with a diagnosis and increased education within the community, especially with the areas high numbers of Baker Act cases.

Floridas Baker Act is a state involuntary commitment law that allows for the involuntary placement of an individual in a mental health or psychiatric treatment facility to be examined or committed for up to 72 hours. This can be done without consent and while these cases can be reported by anyone, they are initiated by judges, law enforcement officers, physicians and mental health professionals.

Theres a lot of Baker Acts in our county, a lot of repeat Baker Acts and weve even in the last year had some Baker Acts of children, she said. So, part of our work and our outreach is connecting with our community partners, law enforcement, schools, hospitals, so that we can better educate them and so that we can also educate the county on what to expect, what services are available and hopefully we can drive those numbers down.

As of July 1, the revised definition of mental illness as it relates to the Baker Act excludes dementia and traumatic brain injury. This change prohibits those with dementia or traumatic brain injury from being inappropriately admitted for examination or committed, Pierre said.

As July and Minority Mental Health Month have come to a close, Ellis and her Pods & PR community look to the future as a continuation of the support and awareness she sought to achieve when Pods & PR began.

As we look forward, Shanta and I are committed to keeping mental health at the forefront of our movement, Ellis said. Our community can expect virtual workshops, resources and strategic partnerships, creating accessibility for those who need it most. They can also expect us to consistently show up via The Virtual Connections, which will remain free taking place twice monthly, future Pods & PR pop up events (once the world reopens) and who knows where youll see us next! Great things are underway.

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Tampa woman's podcast club turns focus on minority mental health - Creative Loafing Tampa

Cook County health officials say they are developing a suicide prevention plan in response to an alarming increase in suicides among Black residents this year.

At an August 4 news conference, officials said the plan would be released in stages, with a comprehensive version published by the end of the year. They did not provide specifics on the plans content or cost. In addition to the plan, officials said they had started training health care providers on suicide prevention.

Halfway through 2020, the number of Black residents of Cook County whove died by suicide has already surpassed last years total. Ignoring the issue until it becomes a crisis has become the method of treatment, says one mental health advocate.

byLakeidra Chavis

The announcement comes days after a report by The Trace, co-published by the The Chicago Sun-Times, that found that Cook County has already recorded more suicides of Black residents as of mid-July than in all of last year. If the pace continues, 2020 could see more Black suicides than any year in a decade.

This is horrifying, said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Its not surprising the communities that suffered the most are the ones who also have the least. The disinvestment, the redlining, [and] the systemic racism have culminated in a crisis that once again hits the African-American community the hardest. We have no choice but to do better.

Diane Washington, the director of behavioral health for Cook County Health, described the effort as all-hands-on-deck, and said the county has to develop relationships in order to expand existing health services in communities of color.

African-Americans are in some of the most vulnerable communities in the Chicagoland, including the South Side and the West Side, and that hasnt changed for a long period of time, said Washington. So we have to address this issue head on, early, and try to manage it and provide structures to make that happen.

Washington said the countys Behavioral Health Consortium, an initiative launched in 2016, is working with community partners to spread awareness about mental health services.

Chicago has just five city-funded mental health clinics for its nearly three million residents following a closure of six clinics in 2012 under then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel. A separate, publicly funded health clinic is now operated by the Cook County Health. Mental health advocates and professionals told The Trace that the remaining private and nonprofit services available are not enough to meet the current need. Some private clinicians and therapists say their client load has doubled during the pandemic.

Both the county and the Chicago Department of Public Health have expanded telehealth services during the pandemic. CDPH said it is planning to issue proposals to expand existing mental health services and to create a suicide prevention plan. The city has also allocated $1 million to suicide prevention services.

Amika Tendaji, a longtime mental health advocate and the executive director of Black Lives Matter Chicago, described the citys existing public mental health services as just not good enough.

Its intentional disinvestment in public health to offload to privatized services, she said.

While Washington acknowledged that many Black Cook County residents face barriers to accessing services, she also said that stigma attached to mental illness in Black communities is huge. She added that Black men and youth are plagued by systemic racism, in addition to not having grandmothers who would pick up the slack.

This rise in suicides is due to a pandemic that has us in an economic crisis, people dont have what they need, this is not because grandmothers are less accessible, Tendaji said.

The uptick in suicides coincides with historic increases in gun violence and opioid overdoses in Cook County, all of which disproportionately affect Black men. More than 40 percent of Black suicide deaths this year involved a gun; the median age of the victims was 36, and the youngest was 9 years old, according to medical examiner data. Most of the deaths occurred in Chicago, on the citys South and West Sides, data shows.

By the time these residents come to our office,said Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar, it is too late.

The rest is here:

We Have No Choice But to Do Better: Cook County Pledges to Address Increase in Black Suicides - The Trace