What is Twin Oaks Intentional Community?

Posted on Intentional Community (IC) FAQ by ·

Twin Oaks is an income-sharing community of roughly 100 people living on 450 acres of farm and forestland in Virginia. They were founded in 1967, and their lifestyle reflects values of egalitarianism, ecology, and non-violence. They welcome scheduled visitors throughout the year.

They are an economically self sufficient community. Community members work in their 3 main community businesses- making:

These businesses provide about 1/3 of their work; the rest goes into the tasks needed to support a rural village of 100 people- organic gardening, milking cows, equipment and building maintenance, office work, and more. Their work schedules of 42 hours each week are very flexible. In return for member's labor, the community provides all basic needs, including housing, food, clothing etc. Twin Oaks has an intricate community culture.

Their everyday lives include many recreational activities-social and support groups, performances, music, games, dance, and art. Their culture values tolerance of diversity and sustainable living. They share their vehicles, they build their own buildings, and share multiple houses of 10-20 people. Some of their community members work actively for peace and justice, ecology, and feminism. Each summer they host a Women's Gathering and a Communities Conference.

They offer a 3-hour tour on many Saturdays afternoons; please call during business hours or e-mail to reserve a place. Their 3 week visitor program is a pre-requisite for membership and must be arranged by letter or e-mail well in advance of the propose stay.

Type:

Commune (organized around sharing almost everything)

Ecovillage (organized around ecology and sustainability

Adults:

100

Location:

Rural

Children:

Began:

1967

Food Grown:

From 50-75%

Decision-Making:

By a council, group of Elders, or leadership group

Renewable Energy Produced:

26-49%

Income Sharing:

All or close to all

Diet:

Omnivore, Organic

Work Hours/Wk:

Accepting Members:

Yes

Accepting Visitors:

Yes

Visit their Website:

http://www.twinoaks.org/

Visit their Business Websites:

Visit their Conference Websites:

What is Acorn Community Farm?

Posted on Intentional Community (IC) FAQ by · December 27, 2016 3:10 AM

Acorn is an intentional community in Mineral, Virginia of around 30 folks which was founded in 1993. They are an egalitarian, income-sharing, secular, anarchist, feminist, consensus-based commune. The members that live there are committed to non-coercive, voluntary associations within their community and the larger community in which they find themselves as well as living sustainably, supporting queer & alternative lifestyles, and creating a vibrant, eclectic culture.

Their community lives on a working farm which means there is always plenty to do. Everyone is expected to contribute 42 hours of labor a week. There are many types of work available, mostly for their farm and business. They grow herbs and food for their kitchen & seeds for their business, care for lots of livestock (chickens, cows, goats, & pigs!), cook two community meals daily, educate their children, maintain their land & buildings, and do office jobs like accounting, seed packing and order picking/shipping. Their community also does outreach work in their local community and in the communities movement, like growing food for the local food bank, and helping other communities and organizations like the FIC, the Federation of Egalitarian Communities, Organic Seed Alliance, & the Grassroots Seed Network. Members may also work outside jobs to fulfill their labor quota. All of this work is valued equally.

Because creditable labor is so diverse, they have more free time than the average working person. The community supports the education, personal growth, & personal projects of our members. They have no:

Bosses
Owners
Investors
Managers
Supervisors

They set their own schedules and trust members to work quota. Communally they get things done by having a culture which stresses personal responsibility and good communication. They care about Acorn so they work hard to ensure it stays around.

Their community's thriving seed business, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, is part of a growing network of farmers, gardeners and seed savers dedicated to organic and heritage agriculture. They sell heirloom, open-pollinated, non-GMO and organic seeds and do seed saving education and outreach. They earn their income by providing a means of production to gardeners and farmers.

They have 2 group meetings per week. One is a consensus-based decision making meeting while the other is a general discussion forum where they explore ideas & work through issues. Their community intentionally keep policies to a minimum. They strongly encourage personal responsibility rather than supervision, as well as taking issues on a case-by-case basis, keeping in mind that needs of individuals vary. Any decision they make can be brought back to a meeting at any point – their lifestyle thrives on open communication & respect for fellow communards.

Once every 2 years, members are required to take part in an interpersonal communication process called a “clearness”, where a single member talks individually to every other member about how they have been feeling, their relationship with the community, and what they envision their future to be. Membership visitors & long-term interns/guests are also required to have a clearness.

Remember, this stuff is hard! They share the daily challenges of living and working together, remembering to have fun while running a growing business, making decisions together, and sharing income. They are interested in meeting people experienced in community-building, communication and facilitation, who are interested in building a healthy, dynamic, supportive social culture.

If you are interested in visiting them, interning in their seed business and garden, or considering applying for membership, please visit their website, and click on “How to Visit Acorn Community Farm.”

Type:

Commune (organized around sharing almost everything)

Adults:

Location:

Rural

Children:

Began:

1993

Food Grown:

Up to 25%

Decision-Making:

Consensus (everyone agrees)

Renewable Energy Produced:

0%, or close to 0%

Income Sharing:

All or close to all

Diet:

Omnivorous (plants and animals), Paleo (no grains, dairy, processed foods, or legumes), Local (food sourced within 150 miles), Organic (no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers), Mostly Vegetarian, Mostly Vegan, Opportunivore (dumpster diving, nature harvesting, etc.)

Work Hours/Wk:

Accepting Members:

Yes

Accepting Visitors:

Yes

Visit their Website:

http://www.acorncommunity.org/

Visit their Business Website:

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange

Home

Posted by · June 17, 2013 4:28 PM

You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
― Richard Buckminster Fuller

We serve social change makers and provide them with support, space and resources they need to succeed in the work they do through an Action Plan, personal development, training, and an online and offline mutual aid network.

The Transition is an online & offline social change community focused on starting on a local scale, but acting with the intention of global change to bridge the gap between our present times and a Global Egalitarian System. Some examples of similar holistic concepts or ideas that might be more familiar to you are:

Economic Singularity

Resource Based Economy (RBE)

Gifting Economy

Ubuntu Contributionism

Together we are creating a database and worldwide movement based on a set of practical values to give people a better understanding of the interconnection and impact we have with one another as well as the environment. We are a social change network of conscious individuals willing to not only change the world, but change themselves to create a brighter future for everyone! We believe that we can make the transition to a more sustainable and resilient world. We hope that you will join us.

If this sounds like you

Join The Transition NOW!

Help us create the world's largest database of assets and resources owned and cultivated by social change makers from all over the world. When you join The Transition and become active and engaged with our online and offline community those are made available to you as well, by taking part in our global family.

We know that when you can connect and share assets, people and ideas, everything changes. The more registered users we enroll on the site the more assets and resources we have communally available to all who are part of our mutual aid network. This includes, but is not limited to:

Food
Shelter
Land
Free WiFi
Spaces to assemble
Work space for projects
Household goods
Tools
Training
Education
Volunteers
Funding to support projects or get new ones off the ground

Our organization and website are co-created meaning that every registered user is part of this transitional process by relaying their newly acquired resources and findings from their social change work made "in the trenches" we are strengthened and can eliminate pitfalls other activists and organizers made before the dawn of the internet.

What people are saying about The Transition:

"This is truly a grand scale design. Connecting the multitude of like-minded groups and individuals onto one path to achieve similar but diverse variations of the same goal."

~ Cynthia Schramm

"...this platform is exceptional"

~ Lee Knott

"If anyone wishes to make changes to our current social systems, e.g. medical, economical, college, please check out The Transition...Whether you're looking to start up your own changes, contribute to others, or share & discover where you'd fit in, the level of support is amazing. They've got a step-by-step plan laid out for anyone to follow to reach their goals; I delayed way too long, but finally made a strong start to mine today and feel GREAT about it!"

~ Torey Fickes

"Cooperation and learning are an integral part of what it means to be human. The community environment The Transition provides has been designed to nurture and support the experience and evolution of this understanding. With The Transition people pursue life and learning at their own pace and according to their own interests, passions, and preferences. It is here [where they] provide helpful insights in looking at experimental social change models,alternatives to competition, freeing up energy for social change involvements, working to eliminate [individuals] own internalized "in-humanism" (racism, sexism, class-ism, etc.) and look toward the building of new organizational forms for the developing nonviolent movement for fundamental social change world-wide. Be forewarned that you will be exposed to ideas that will change the way you think about how you make decisions. Once you've been exposed to these ideas contained [on] the site, you will not be able to return to your previous understanding of decision-making."

~ Robert Howes

"It's so easy and it's so seamless, but everyone wants to act like they have it all figured out, like it's their way or no way. If we all work together we can achieve more. We all have our piece to the puzzle we need to contribute and it starts here."

~ Rachel Dressler

“I support The Transition as it is the most structurally sound road map I have been presented with and the resources are seemingly endless. Special thanks to the team for putting this resource together for us. ”

~ Frank Kirkpatrick

"We need a project like this so badly I couldn't fathom not signing up immediately. I think the only way someone like myself will be able to respect my life on earth is to be a part of some sort of solution to societies lost morals and pollution. I support The Transition because I need to find more people that are more interested in solving our problems than being entertained or pacified with apathy. Maybe I'm cocky to believe it can be done at all, but I think we owe it to the future to at least give it our all. I believe I have a role to fill, and I've felt this since birth. It has to do with being an agent of change and spreading love and awareness. This is an amazing opportunity for people that care about living with integrity and honoring the beauty of life."

~ Chante Brown