Page 18 - Bulletin #67 - November 2020

— Terry Bergdall, GreenRise Intentional Community, Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois,
USA

“Some of our community members had envisaged to leave for other places/communities. They
continued staying with us, as travel or moving was not easy or possible. So we’re now stuck here
with people that don’t fit/want to stay with us…”
— Rainer von Leoprechting, Obenaus Community, Austria, Steiermark

Some communities have come up with creative ways to keep vulnerable members safe
or to protect the majority of members from a minority of essential workers living
within the community.

“The hardest issue has been knowing how to handle the fact that we have a frontline healthcare
worker who, by the nature of his job, is put at risk every time he goes to work. As he starting
working directly with COVID-19 patients, the anxiety of some of the members with preexisting
conditions went sky high. We finally had a meeting in which we discussed how we could keep the
risk in the community low while still supporting him. We came to an agreement in which he uses a
different kitchen (there are two in the building), one bathroom in the house is dedicated for him,
he generally doesn’t use most of the rest of the house, and if we do see him, we stay six feet
apart. In turn, we cook for him and do his chores so that he can rest when he is home. We also
leave him flowers and notes. When he is here on community nights or special occasions, we use a
very big room that is not our dining room. We set up separate tables, like a restaurant, that are all
at least six feet apart. he sits at his own table at the head of the room and we serve him. Then he 18
can still be with us and we can talk. This isn’t the perfect solution, but it is what we can all live
with for now.”
— Lisa J Rademacher, Sophia Community, IL, USA

When coronavirus first became apparent in early spring, numerous intentional
communities recognized the threat to their highly communal resident population and
were quick to establish ad hoc committees to produce guidelines or safety protocols for
the community. Here are a few examples of such protocols

• Coronavirus Health Guidelines for Communal Houses – advice from
a house community on how to prevent virus the spread
• Earthaven Ecovillage Pandemic Response Protocol – example of a
protocol to support community residents in staying healthy
• NASCO Recommendations – specific recommendations for
communal living spaces
• Kaleidoscope Community’s COVID19 Precautions – coliving
guidelines for shelter-in-place