Friends Southwest Center

  • Community
  • 0 followers

About the Community

  • Established
  • Rural

What we do

We’re a multi-generational Friends village dedicated to the Quaker SPICES (S implicity, P eace, I ntegrity, C ommunity, E quality, and S sustainability or S tewardship). We’re in the very beginning stages of four new mission areas: affordable housing, the creative and performing arts, organic agriculture, and war tax resistance.

Our Vision

“SPICES” is our acronym. The six letters stand for: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship/Sustainability.

Simplicity means “it’s a gift to be simple, it’s a gift to be free.” Peace is not merely the absence of war. Peace is the absence of the need for war, as Gil Scott-Heron reminds us. Integrity is a call to say what we mean and mean what we say. “Let your Yes mean yes and your No mean no” (Mt. 5:37). Community is the reason we exist. We’re convinced we’re better together (though it doesn’t always feel like it). Equality means that if we live in the Light, we’re “neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one” (Gal 3:28). Stewardship/Sustainability reminds us that we have a planet to heal.

Our Mission

“SPICES” is our acronym. The six letters stand for: Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship/Sustainability.

Simplicity means “it’s a gift to be simple, it’s a gift to be free.” Peace is not merely the absence of war. Peace is the absence of the need for war, as Gil Scott-Heron reminds us. Integrity is a call to say what we mean and mean what we say. “Let your Yes mean yes and your No mean no” (Mt. 5:37). Community is the reason we exist. We’re convinced we’re better together (though it doesn’t always feel like it). Equality means that if we live in the Light, we’re “neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one” (Gal 3:28). Stewardship/Sustainability reminds us that we have a planet to heal.

  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Ecovillage
  • Intentional Neighborhoods
  • 9 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
  • Open to volunteers
Total
9

How to join

Membership process individual to each inquirer

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Call or email us. You need to have your own tent, camper, RV, etc. Let us know if there’s congruity and interdependence between your mission and ours. Leave a phone number if you’d like a callback. Quaker worship is most Sundays at 11:00 am in the Meeting House.

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

A few people (not elected by the broader community) make the major decisions.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation
  • Members typically need to have their own job or other personal source of income to cover their expenses while living in the community?

Additional economic information

Monthly fees/dues: Yes (amount not specified)
Labor required: 20 hours/week
Members with pre-existing debt: Yes (some debt)
We’re passionately involved in all the pressing issues of a planet in need of healing: solidarity with immigrants, preserving our groundwater, a non-toxic food system, resilient local communities, dismantling the carceral state, resisting US imperialism, and more. We’re not living in the world and going to church. We’re living in the embrace of the worldwide Quaker communion and going to the world.

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Library, Workshop, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit

Frequency of communal meals

  • 1-3 times per month

Substance use culture

  • Substance use is prohibited in the community
  • Religions
  • Christian
  • Buddhist
  • Quaker

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Land Trust, Home Owners Association, or corporation

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%
  • Land area size
    68 acres

Reviews

Location

  • Arizona, United States

Friends Southwest Center

Promoted Needs and Offers

Need
  • Communities with Openings
12 months ago

Water Birch Co-op. Urban living in central Denver.

Large, lovely house built in 1900, two blocks from Cheeseman Park in downtown Denver.  5000 square feet. The house was a Buddhist Meditation Center for 20 years before we got it and has lovely, calm vibes. We currently have ten people and have room for one more. We are an intentional community sharing dinners, 3 living rooms, 2 new kitchens and a kitchenette, & 5 baths. Staple food (organic) is bought together. The group is self-regulating as a co-op; it decides together how the house runs. There are chores ;-) Average cost per room is about $1000 ranging from $650 to $1354. Currently available room is $875. We are just finishing renovation of three bedrooms on the third floor  they are $875 each and share our largest, newest bath (shower and separate claw foot tub) and a brand new kitchenette  they all have beautiful windows and lots of light. PLEASE CHECK OUT COMMUNITY LISTINGS FOR MORE INFO. Initial lease for 3-6 months while we and you decide if we are a good fit for each other.  Deposit in the amount of one months rent is required prior to move in.  We do background checks on all members. Utilities are currently $130 per person per month and are all-inclusive.  They will change if costs go up, that amount is insufficient to cover utilities, or more people mean the cost per person goes down.  WiFi is via mesh network from gig-speed fiberoptic service.  Heat is with radiators.  Cooling is evaporative.  We have a storage room in a nearby commercial facility.  And a new large workshop in the garage. Shared food is $125 per month per person; it is a pass-through cost divided evenly among residents; it does NOT include meat or alternative protein nor any alcohol.  We will not be surprised if that needs to go up some soon ($10 or 15). We have two dogs and three cats in the house  that seems like a sufficient quantity of furry friends for now. Our community intentions include: Communication with compassion. Shared space and life. Shared meals. Shared staple foods which are non-GMO and Organic. Group decision making. Safe, inclusive space: queer and trans friendly, anti-racist, non-violent, and feminist. The purchase of the house by the co-op in about five years. The expansion of the co-op, possibly to include other housing types (like separate apartments). Weekly meetings and house committees to manage our community. We are considering implementing Sociocracy as an organizing method. Quiet hours are from 10:00pm to 8:00am. We are looking for community members who: Want to live in a community not just have a place to sleep and eat. Want to live in a beautiful, clean, and organized house and are willing to help make and keep it that way. Residents should expect to spend 16 hours per month towards this goal. Are curious, compassionate, flexible, and open to living with others who will undoubtedly have different ideas about many things. Are interested in pioneering a new co-op. There will be work involved to get there. Are responsible and communicative. Embrace enthusiastically that living in community requires introspection and personal growth. Are not joining the community as a way of running away from something.
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