Solar Community Housing Association

  • Community
  • 0 followers

About the Community

  • Established
  • Suburban

What we do

Solar Community Housing Association (SCHA) is a Davis-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides cooperative housing for low-income people. SCHA is governed by residents, who serve as representatives on the board of directors. SCHA houses 88-90 co-op residents between six co-op houses with 7-15 residents each and “The Domes” – a co-housing community of 26 residents housed in 13 two-bedroom dome homes. SCHA leases three of the houses (the Tri Co-ops) and the Domes from UC Davis, and owns the three off-campus houses. Our co-ops strive to be a safe(r) and accessible space for people with marginalized identities, while simultaneously creating space to unlearn oppressive behaviors.

Our Vision

SCHA cooperatives are shared, living-learning spaces that empower residents to educate themselves, organize, and inspire community. SCHA holds the following values:

Cooperative Community: Striving to create a radically empathetic, inclusive, safer space, we are passionately collaborative, invested in systems of support and cooperation, acknowledging and welcoming the lived experiences of every generation/age of person, and accessible in the way we share resources, engage in communities, and democratize knowledge. We focus on the process of asking for and communicating consent, working through disagreements with mediation, and communicating our wants with respect and compassion.

Shared leadership: As a non-hierarchical, self-governing organization, we are committed to developing leadership through empowerment and shared responsibility. We acknowledge that power and leadership can take many forms. We work to identify, encourage, and support leadership in traditionally marginalized and disinvested communities. We create processes for transferring skills and knowledge over time and engaging/integrating new members. We do this because we know that fairly distributing power organizationally requires making great effort to counter systemic privilege and inequitable distribution of resources.

Social and economic justice: As institutions that assert the maxim “living and learning”, SCHA cooperatives seek to confront oppression and hierarchies that exist mutually outside of and within our homes. We specifically acknowledge the prevalence of white supremacy, both within the organization and without, with the hope of dismantling it. In this way, we are a community committed to collective liberation. We encourage educational programs, foster an awareness of climate change, and other mediums of sharing knowledge. We strive to empower one another as co-inhabitants and workers, and we work together to create a safer open space that nurtures dialogue about social and economic justice. We support sustainable economic models that are community-based and respect the inherent worth of people and ecosystems. We constantly strive to acknowledge the privilege we hold as a community of mostly settlers, and the colonization and ongoing genocide of Native Americans we are inherently complicit in.

Ecological awareness: We strive for an active awareness of the land and resources we occupy, as an establishment mostly comprised of settlers on this land. We actively encourage sustainable relationships between people and the land. We work towards low-impact, environmentally conscious lifestyles and designs. In hoping to maintain a conscious engagement with colonized land and racist food systems, we try to source our produce locally as well as grow our own food.

Our Mission

SCHA cooperatives are shared, living-learning spaces that empower residents to educate themselves, organize, and inspire community. SCHA holds the following values:

Cooperative Community: Striving to create a radically empathetic, inclusive, safer space, we are passionately collaborative, invested in systems of support and cooperation, acknowledging and welcoming the lived experiences of every generation/age of person, and accessible in the way we share resources, engage in communities, and democratize knowledge. We focus on the process of asking for and communicating consent, working through disagreements with mediation, and communicating our wants with respect and compassion.

Shared leadership: As a non-hierarchical, self-governing organization, we are committed to developing leadership through empowerment and shared responsibility. We acknowledge that power and leadership can take many forms. We work to identify, encourage, and support leadership in traditionally marginalized and disinvested communities. We create processes for transferring skills and knowledge over time and engaging/integrating new members. We do this because we know that fairly distributing power organizationally requires making great effort to counter systemic privilege and inequitable distribution of resources.

Social and economic justice: As institutions that assert the maxim “living and learning”, SCHA cooperatives seek to confront oppression and hierarchies that exist mutually outside of and within our homes. We specifically acknowledge the prevalence of white supremacy, both within the organization and without, with the hope of dismantling it. In this way, we are a community committed to collective liberation. We encourage educational programs, foster an awareness of climate change, and other mediums of sharing knowledge. We strive to empower one another as co-inhabitants and workers, and we work together to create a safer open space that nurtures dialogue about social and economic justice. We support sustainable economic models that are community-based and respect the inherent worth of people and ecosystems. We constantly strive to acknowledge the privilege we hold as a community of mostly settlers, and the colonization and ongoing genocide of Native Americans we are inherently complicit in.

Ecological awareness: We strive for an active awareness of the land and resources we occupy, as an establishment mostly comprised of settlers on this land. We actively encourage sustainable relationships between people and the land. We work towards low-impact, environmentally conscious lifestyles and designs. In hoping to maintain a conscious engagement with colonized land and racist food systems, we try to source our produce locally as well as grow our own food.

  • Community type
  • Cohousing
  • Student Co-op
  • 88 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
  • Open to volunteers
Total
88

How to join

One application for our seven different communities. Four of our communities are student-only.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Please email [email protected]

Primary decision-making authority

  • Small Leadership Group

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

Governance structure

  • Founder/Leader-led

Primary authority rests with the community’s founder(s) or designated leader(s).

Economic model

  • Independent Finances

Members maintain separate personal finances with minimal sharing.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • There is a one-time fee, investment, or share purchase to join the community separate from accessing housing
  • 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

Join fee: $700
Monthly fees/dues: $700
Labor required: Yes
Members with pre-existing debt: Yes

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

Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Large Scale Kitchen, Fire pit, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

Setting

  • Suburban

Residential areas outside city centers but within metropolitan regions.

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Reviews

Location

  • California, United States

Solar Community Housing Association

Promoted Needs and Offers

Need
Need
Need
  • Communities with Openings
10 months ago

Seeking Couples Interested in Long Term Deep Connection & Farming (open to singles)

Description Our  sloped and terraced community farm has far more potential than we have time and energy to use to the fullest. We have been in community for 15 years now, but feeling pulled to the deeper nourishment we find in long-term residents over shorter-term interns.  We seek one to two couples (or super aligned singles) who are interested in conscious connection, intimate conversation, personal growth and healing, regenerative agriculture, and serious about a building a life in community.  Although we hold space and flexibility for shifts in needs, we desire humans who plan to stay for all or part of a season (1-3 months at a minimum), after which we would explore longer-term alignment and relationships.  We MAY also be open to folks wanting to live off-site, as long as we prioritize ample time to explore how we work together before we get too deep. Current Use Heart 2 Heart Farms is a small, forested, 10 acre Permaculture farm nestled in the fertile hills of the Willamette Valley. Between the quaint towns of Newberg and Sherwood, this oasis is in the middle of wine country, just 30 minutes south of Portland, has been an intentional community and teaching facility for over 15 years, hosting a myriad of community outreach, up-cycling, homesteading, and prepping workshops.  Although we have recently slowed substantially, residents should be prepared for both a busy environment, and shared, informal, mixed-use spaces. We are almost completely self-sufficient, producing large varieties of heirloom fruits and vegetables, and we breed, butcher, and sometimes sell heritage chickens, turkeys, rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle. We tan hides, carve bone, save seed, occasionally blow glass, throw pottery, create alternative/green energy, dig root cellars, and build constantly. We have three large un/under-utilized areas available: The front hill is a terraced and amended south-facing slope that has LOTS of room and potential. We also have a poultry pasture is 2 acres of partially wooded Douglas Fir, an additional 4 acres of wooded mixed use browsing space and native habitat that’s virtually unused at the moment, two large greenhouses (including one set up aquaponically), and lots of space to expand the orchard and rotational grazing system. Additionally, we have a 20’x40′ healing center and sacred space we use for yoga, massage, reiki, ceremony (including traditional Lakota sweat lodge and grief/trauma work), and make available to local practitioners to offer their services to the community. If you are wanting to connect deeply, work hard, learn and expand your experience base, and participate in a small but established intentional community, shoot us a note and let’s explore. Owner’s Short Term Vision for the Property Our short-term goal is to find/train a few young/new farmers to assist with land stewardship and increase productivity of the existing space to spread out the work/responsibility and assist in overall streamlining and cleanup of the existing farm/operations. Owner’s Long Term Vision for the Property Our long-term vision is to continue to use this space as a teaching and educational facility, expanding the diversity and frequency of events we can host and services we can offer. Over the next few years, we hope to find an a couple interested in learning/independently managing most of the farm production, which will allow us to dig deeper into the training and certification we make available, to include natural building, basic and advanced Permaculture technique and application, beekeeping, horticulture, animal husbandry, food preservation, fermentation, plant identification/natural foraging, and primitive skills. Available Water / Irrigation Extensive rainwater collection on site, as well as a high-flow/capacity well. Soil Type / Quality Sandy loam with great organic matter, good clay content, and established vermiculture and mycorrhizal network. Buildings and Structures Available for Farm Use We have multiple barns and greenhouse space for use, or lease, depending on the particulars of use/situation. Farm Equipment Available for Use We have a skid steer on site, as well as rototiller, chipper, 26′ truck, and pickup trucks for use. Hand tools are also available, depending on the arrangement. Any Restrictions That Could Limit Agricultural Production Creating and supporting natural borders, food forests, and wildlife habitat (and incorporating these into a holistic/natural pest management strategy) is a very high priority to us, so intensive mono-crop/large machine harvesting and/or crops needing spraying/chemicals are not likely a fit on this site. County: Washington Total Acreage: 10 Acreage Available to Landseeker: 5 Current Farming Practices: Organic, Not Certified, Biodynamic, Dry Farming, Season Extension Farming Practices Allowed: Certified Organic, Organic, Not Certified, Biodynamic, Dry Farming, Season Extension Agriculture Types Suitable: Beans, Bees, Berries, Dairy, Fiber Animals, Flowers, Goats, Herbs, Hogs, Mushrooms, Nursery Stock, Nuts, Orchard/Fruit, Pasture, Poultry, Rabbits, Sheep, Vegetables, Vineyard, Other
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