One morning I awoke with these ideas for a community. I share them in the hopes that they will evoke a response, and perhaps be brought to fruition. I suspect there is no community like it. It is visionary in it's conception for membership, funding and scope.

A Jade Water Healing Community:

Justice, Healing, Reconciliation, Restoration and Possibility

(with acknowledment and thanks to Martin Prechtel for some language and some concepts)

Purpose

The basic goals envisioned are like those of many new intentional communities: sustainability, earth centered, cooperative, soulful. It's form would be a land trust. But Jade Water would seek to include those communities and peoples damaged by U.S. government and corporate activities across the world as well as those left out in the U.S. The goal is healing through reconciliation and communication. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on equality, restoration, diversity, and inclusion of people from wisdom cultures. Perhaps we can clean up some karma here, and really make a difference.

This community is envisioned as being quite large, perhaps even 1000 acres, so that it might contain at least several "villages" of certain peoples, so that they might be able to maintain as much cultural integrity as they wish. I see perhaps a total of 10 - 15 villages of up to 500 people.

This community would also open the doors to those who use their lives to make a better world who often don't earn enough to be able to live in community. It has always bothered me that those who give their lives to the environment, to social activism and to peace are left out of most communities unless they inherit a hefty amount, or have a spouse with high earnings. People such as myself, a single mom who stayed at home with four children, left high and dry in a divorce, and working for the planet, basically can never hope to live in an "ecovillage" or intentional community - except in a few exceptionally rare situations as a renter.

I also see the usual folks living in such a community: therapists, urban planners, bodyworkers, educators, biologists....

Who Else and How?

But how would Mayans from Guatemala, environmental activists, local or non-local Native Americans, refugees, and blacks etc. be included? I see two ways to open the doors for healing and equality. The first and primary way is corporate underwriting: corporate underwriting by those corporations - whether sincerely or not (you'll see why) wishing to atone for their actions. United Fruit might underwrite the community with $500,000 and in exchange, they get the perpetual use of the property for their employees (particularly those in executive positions) for a set period of time at a community lodge.

This $500,000 would be used to purchase part of the land and to underwrite homes for families from communities in Central America which were destroyed by United Fruit's banana plantations.

United Fruit would also pay an annual maintenance fee of say $50,000. For this, their employees could use the property as a retreat. Their employees can participate in any aspect of community life, or just make use of the extensive property. They can pass the time in a retreat lodge reading, or hiking or rock climbing. Perhaps an environmental educator would take them on walks and teach them about the local watershed. Perhaps they'd like to take a meditation, yoga or chigong class. Perhaps they'd be interested in helping build homes for Nicaraguan families on the property as done by Habitat for Humanity and Amish barn raisings. Perhaps they'd eat dinner with these families. Perhaps they'd like to work in the organic gardens, sing songs, milk goats, learn seasonal vegetarian cooking. Who knows? Maybe they could teach a class in something or take classes in improving communication. More on the healing/reconciliation later.

Other corporations may not wish to underwrite the development of the community, but may wish to underwrite two weeks a year for say $50,000 with a minimum commitment of 3 years, or for $35,000 a year with a ten year commitment.

A bank might sponsor 25 black families from an urban community it destroyed by redlining, or from a rural area where it refused to give loans to black farmers.

If the corporation is a conscious one that just wants to participate - say like Patagonia - they would underwrite a group to spend the same week there and participate with them - perhaps inner-city families, children with AIDS, low-income artists, poor elderly women... Guests could choose to stay in the lodge or camp-out (weather permitting.)

The goal would be for all homes to come in under $50,000 and mortgage free. Alternatively, some people could become "vested" owners without an initial buy-in by living in and working in the community for a number of years. Say, after living in the community for 3 years, one is then given 30% ownership of their home, and another 10% per year for the next 7 years. At that time, they own their home completely. I once heard that in Cuba if you rented a home for 5 (or was it 10?) years straight, you then owned it. What a great idea!!! Perhaps there could be some foundation support or some duplexes and triplexes for low-income renters including those on Section 8.

A second opportunity to open the doors wider to include low-income healers, environmentalists, activists, peace workers et al would come via wealthy members. Remember this is voluntary in the sense that if the wealthyy don't like the idea, these don't need to join the community! "You are invited to share your wealth. Instead of building a million dollar trophy home/fortress, you are invited to open your heart and life and build a community. Sponsor a home for a family, restoration of a marsh, build the community school house, sponsor the teachers, buy community vehicles etc."

No one would be required to turn over their assets or control of their money to the community, but they would be asked to donate a portion of their assets proportionate to their wealth. So, someone with one million in assets might be asked to donate $75,000 or $100,000 in addition to their own buy-in costs for their lot and home building. I don't forsee limiting these homes to the $50,000 limit, though they certainly would be limited in size, design, and would have to be "green."

Money would be stretched by building intelligently and sustainably through use of green building principles, using local resources, sweat equity, homes limited in size to perhaps 1500 sq. feet, large bulk purchases, green building workshops etc. Perhaps BP Amoco would like to outfit the community with solar panels in exchange for use of the property for two weeks a year for five years.

Many communities are offering classes as a way to build their infrastructure and get free labor. An even more effective way to do this is to have a structured program for college credit. This way students could come for as short as one month or as long a semester or two. There are advantages to this which I will not discuss further here.
How else would the community be funded? Classes in:

Ecosystem restoration
Nature walks
Art, Pottery, Outdoor photography
Permaculture and organic gardening
Bodywork...
Green building
Conflict resolution
Ecospychology
Environmental education

Other possibilities include
A live-in center for the elderly based on holistic health principles
Bed and Breakfast
Cultural classes by member communities in language, dance, herbs.....
Retreats with teachers such as Martin Prechtel, Caroline Casey, Ram Dass, David Orr (they needn't all be big names) - who would be encouraged to participate in community life during their stay.
Individual businesses and jobs such as publishing, social work, teaching, bodywork.... whether based in or outside the community.

I went to a week-long activity with Robert Bly and Martin Prechtel where the last night - a musical performance - was open for free to the local community. It was wonderful. Retreats and workshops shouldn't be limited only to those who can easily spare the time and money.

Healing and Reconciliation

Where does the healing and reconciliation come in?

First, during their stay, each corporate visitor would be asked to make a plan of how they can contribute to restoration and healing on the planet in an ongoing, significant and hopefully personal way, or even a plan to make their company more socially responsible.

Sponsored families would hopefully be seen not merely as refugees or charity cases, but as "wounded healers" with gifts to share. I see at least one required interaction between these corporate members and the community of people they sponsor, facilitated by one member of the sponsored community and/or one member from the larger community. At this time, the corporate execs will listen to and perhaps feel some of the pain and destruction their company's policies and actions have caused. They will receive the gifts of these people too, so they are not just victims -- as they speak their wisdom, sing their songs, do ritual work, storytelling, singing, teach about healing practices - whatever they choose.
Who else needs healing or might want to participate?

Arabs and Jews
Tibetans           Afghanis
Burmese          Guatemalans
Unitarians         ritual workers
South Africans   land-mine amputees
writers              displaced farmers
raped women    abandoned children
ex-skinheads    policy makers
religious folk     trust fund babies
educators         inner city teens
single moms     college students
wwoofers
folks from Northern Ireland
local people who know the land
recovering Wall Street brokers

Ongoing Community Life

As a spirit filled community, I envision ongoing ritual work, storytelling, dancing, singing, community gardens, community meals, camp-outs, nature walks etc for those who live in the community full-time. Also, opportunities for structured and non-structured interactions between the various communities on the land. These could include "barn-raisings", community gardens, community meals, weekly meetings, maybe even an exchange week. If a Nicaraguan family wanted to live outside of their village, they could, and likewise, if the Nicaraguan village wanted to include other people, they could as well.!
Multigenerational family life would be encouraged. Every effort would be made to enable children who grow up in the community to live there as adults. (That can't happen in many places anymore.)

Little villages with central plazas would facilitate community life - (and other ideas from A Pattern Language.)

There could be a monthly cultural event open to the local community - perhaps one month Nicaraguan music, the next month, African-American storytelling, the third month a class on Vietnamese herbs and cooking, the fourth month a class on how to make your home more sustainable and lower operating costs.

Healers, herbalists, musicans and artisans from communities based on the land, or from other indigenous communities could come and offer extended apprenticeships or classes in their craft, or share their wisdom. They could build indigenous structures for architects and green builders to study.

The scope of the project would enable a children's school to be feasible - hopefully elementary through high school. The curriculum would be ecologically based and include community service (whether to our community or others.) Waldorf teachers welcome!

Perhaps out of 500 people in the village, we could aim for having at least 50 elderly, 50 children, 25 artists and musicians, and 5 "elders."

What would be needed to start?

Someone with great organizational skills, and comfortable in the corporate arena - perhaps a fund-raiser. Other interested people. Love. Energy. Land! Publicity. Sincerity, compassion, and a bit of risk taking.
And folks, I'm a great envisioner, not an organizer!
If these ideas are of interest to you, why not email me? miriam@sageworks.net

And two invitations:

Visit my website to see my usual work, especially if you have teens or college students interested in using their education to make a better world.

Visit Martin Prechtel's website at www.floweringmountain.com

In service to Mama Earth,
Miriam Weinstein