The first step in forming a cohousing community is finding others who share your vision.  People connect with each other to form cohousing communities around specific geographic location (Rivoli Bluff Cohousing), shared ideas/values, or general geographic location (South Minneapolis.)  From there it requires people who are passionate about the community and ready to put in time and money to make it happen.  Cohousing Advocates is here to help people seeking community find each other and navigate the road ahead.  Cohousing Advocates has a blue print to help groups jump start the process without the need to reinvent the wheel.  We are also here to help you navigate the “potholes” along the way.  In our first year Cohousing Advocates focused on recruiting members for specific sites we identified.  We are now ready to expand our focus to help groups form around a common interest of geographic location and then work with each group to find the site that works for them.  In order to form cohousing communities, active participation by the members is needed.  This will also enable the communities to run well once they are formed since members will be accustomed to working with each other.

Cohousing Advocates will provide the following support to all its groups:
1. A cohousing blueprint which will provide a step by step guideline for building the community, including when people will have to provide monetary payments.  This will be based on Joelyn's experience with Monterey Cohousing and our knowledge of other cohousing communities. 

2. Help in finding the right site.  (Unless a group has a common vision initially, the groups will be organized by where they want to live - South Minneapolis, the midway, North Minneapolis, etc. so that we will be looking for a site and will have some parameters that are defined right from the start.)
3. Selecting and working with cohousing architects, zoning officials, developers and contractors.
4. Ongoing marketing to help the group grow.

Group members are responsible for the following work:
1. Organize social events and business meetings.
2. Help Cohousing Advocates market and grow their group.
3. Set up a way to integrate new members.
4. Share their contact information with other members of the group, obvious of course but essential.
5. Decide on your “Rules of Community”  (Monterey Cohousing Community has x number of community common meals a week.  How many do we want?  How much work do cohousing members have to do for the community? Etc.)
6. Decide what physical structure you want. Condos, townhouses, bungalows (or combination)?
7. Keep Joelyn and Phil informed about the progress of the group.
8. Read and otherwise become informed about cohousing including consensus decision making.

Once Cohousing Advocates has found 7 to 10 households or individuals ready to be active members for cohousing in a particular area, the contact information for everyone will be shared with everyone in their group. 
However, we will help even one person start a cohousing group in a particular area, if that person is willing to be the initial contact person and provide a mechanism for integrating new people that are also interested in that area.