Calling all kids!

August 2020 Newsletter

Together, we will create a vibrant, intergenerational cohousing community in Novato, California where we know our neighbors well and live more sustainably.

Mark Your Calendars for

These Upcoming (Online) Events

Family Zoom Call Meeting

Wednesday, August 5th from 8:00 to 9:00 pm

Join other C Street members with children under 18 years old in discussing issues related to children. Our topic this month is “Different preferences for setting limits for kids (in individual homes and common spaces)".

Please email [email protected] to obtain the link to our online meeting room. In your email please state which event you would like to attend.

Virtual Playdate

Saturday, August 15th from 4:00 to 5:00 pm

Begin with singing, storytelling and fun! Time for parents to ask questions. Bring a snack.

Please email [email protected] by Thursday, August 13th to RSVP and receive the link to our online meeting room. In your email please state which event you would like to attend.

Webinar for Prospective C Street Village Community Members

Wednesday, August 19^th from 8:00 to 9:00 pm

C Street Village Cohousing is starting a monthly webinar on cohousing and what’s happening in Novato specifically. We are targeting new and prospective members. John Caye, our project manager, will be presenting. There will be time for questions. The webinars will be monthly on the third Wednesday of every month from 8:00 to 9:00 pm.

Please email [email protected] to RSVP and obtain the link to our online meeting room. In your email please state which event you would like to attend. COME JOIN US!

Virtual Potluck

Saturday, August 22^nd from 6:00 to 7:00 pm

We are working to follow social distancing mandates, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have potlucks! Grab your dinner and join us online for a virtual meal from your home. Ask us your questions and get to know the members.

Please email [email protected] to RSVP and obtain the link to our online meeting room. In your email please state which event you would like to attend.

Family Zoom Call Meeting

Wednesday, September 2^nd from 8:00 to 9:00 pm

Join other C Street members with children under 18 years old in discussing issues related to children. Our topic this month is “Childcare needs and mutual ability to help.”

Please email [email protected] to obtain the link to our online meeting room. In your email please state which event you would like to attend.

“Calling All Kids!”

by Lynn Lohr with

cartoons by Mitch Neuger

C Street Village Kids have a message for other kids, trying to figure out what to do on a long summer day (when we make it to a post-pandemic world!). The message: “Come join us!”

I recently had the chance to interview Lila, who just turned 10, and Laszlo, age 12, about why they are so eager to move into C Street Village when it’s built. I would have talked to Ben and Ryder and some of our other children, too, but if you’re two or three years old it’s hard to sit still for an interview!

For a retrospective view on youngster life in an intentional community, I also checked in with Ely, 21, who lived in cohousing in Virginia when she was age two to five, and keeps the friendships she made there to this day. She’ll be popping in to visit her folks, John and Cathy, as they re-create their earlier Blueberry Hill cohousing days in Novato’s C Street Village.

Ely remembers her early years in cohousing with great affection. “Doors were always open and friends were always available. I remember being outside a lot, just going to the big garden, and digging up little beets and eating them! My friend Lydia and I would play together. She cut my hair and I ended up with bangs! We were right next to a farm and I got to see a horse being born. In the common house when we had community meals, there was a game room for the kids, and we could leave the table and play down there together and our parents could just sit around talking after a meal.”

All this company sounds good to Lila. Without a brother or sister in the home she now shares with her mom, cohousing means, “More people around that I would know. I will know the whole street. I can just go over and knock on their doors and ask them to play, show them toys that I have, stuff that I’m proud of, like awards.”

Lila is an artist and plans to go places like museums or the zoo with new cohousing friends. And speaking of the zoo, she’s anticipating raising chickens at C Street and maybe a goat! As far as the garden, she’s dreaming about planting all kinds of berries and red roses.Laszlo, an only child, also looks forward to outings. Since his parents and Lila’s mom have become friends while they work on getting C Street built, together they’ve gone skiing/snowboarding and to celebrate a birthday, they marveled at San Francisco’s most famous magician, Jay Alexander. Inspired, Laszlo’s magic tricks were good enough to win the first C Street Village talent show at one of the group’s community-building potlucks. A young man of many interests, Laszlo plays the piano and is building skills as a baker, with his latest specialty chocolate lava cake. So the combination of a big garden with tomatoes, a great room for performances, and a common house kitchen that makes both vegetarians and carnivores happy is of interest to him. Vegetarian at home now, “A steak dinner for my birthday!” was a recent treat.

As Ely has been a kind big sister to them at gatherings, Laszlo and Lila have also patiently played with the younger kids present. Complimented on this, Laszlo says, “The more kids the better!” And as for Ely—she is still in touch with friends she made at Blueberry Hill. “I went back as a teenager and was part of a great program called ‘Act Like a Grrrl.’” To the kids coming in she says, “You will most likely make lifelong friends,” and to the parents out there thinking about cohousing, Ely counsels, “You don’t feel alone. Everyone looked out for each other. We were always supported and cared for. My parents knew I was safe.”

The doors were open to her then and they are open to you now. Informational webinar third Wednesday each month, register at [email protected]

Meet Our Community Members

John & Cathy Caye

Cathy loves to travel and enjoys traveling with her family. Never one to shy away from new people, outgoing might be an understatement. Chatty Cathy might also apply. She is currently the master of all things volunteer, and helps with everything from school-based activities to after school, and (gasp!) before school Jazz activities. She is willing to try most things and enjoys learning about almost everything. Having lived in cohousing at Blueberry Hill in VA, she knows she enjoys what cohousing offers and can't wait until a cohousing project gets going here in Marin.

John is a co-instigator of this project. He and his wife Cathy have been "chasing the dream" since they met almost 20 years ago and attended one of Katie & Chuck's Berkeley lectures. For three years they lived in DC, and were part of Blueberry Hill Cohousing. It was a great experience to raise their girls there, and they still keep in touch with their old neighbors., especially their youngest's godmother. Professionally, John is a Program Manager for a large healthcare organization, with an education in architecture and construction management. He also serves on Novato's RCCS (Parks) Commission. His career has taken his family all over the US, and he's even had the good fortune to live overseas a few years: Italy (college), Honduras, Micronesia and Germany. He's long wanted to start a community here, and has been seriously trying to make this happen for the past couple years. He believes this group has the passion and understanding to finally make a community in Marin real.

Have You Seen Our Community Plans?

Elevation of Private Homes / Architecture by McCamant & Durrett Architects.

In cohousing, one receives the benefits of living a connected life, while maintaining a private sanctuary in your own home. The private homes in C Street Village will have open floor plans and are designed to be filled with natural light, built with sustainable materials, advanced sound-proofing techniques, passive cooling and heating, front porches, and more. There are thirty two private homes with two, three, and four bedroom options available. There will also be 8 one bedroom and studio rental units (carriage units).