In this issue:

• Katie for President: BYLT
• Client case study: Mission Peak Village
• 500CP Introductory Webinar: Feb. 7

Katie gets elected as President

of the Bear Yuba Land Trust

Bear Yuba Land Trust recently announced their new Board President, our very own Katie McCamant! Katie has been on the Board since 2017 and served as Vice President, Treasurer and Chair of numerous committees.

As Bear Yuba Land Trust strives to create a balance between the nature they protect and the quality of life for the people who call this place home, it's the perfect time to have someone with Katie's expertise and passion for sustainable community development lead the organization.

Katie loves contributing her expertise to a very different land use purpose, and just as her work with cohousing groups… site visits are the most fun.

In this photo, she is picking tomatoes for salsa on a local farm whose land was saved when BYLT raised the funds to purchase it during the pandemic. The farmers now have a “forever lease” with the Land Trust. 

"Bear Yuba Land Trust exists to protect and defend the working and natural lands in the Bear and Yuba River watersheds and empower a healthy, resilient community through nature access and education."

-Bear Yuba Land Trust Mission Statement

Case Study: Mission Peak Village

As cohousing professionals, we know the current uncertainty in the economy and higher interest rates make it harder to sell housing. Cohousing tends to be a good long term investment over time, but people don't bother to read past headlines. If they did, they would see the housing market isn't as bad as it seems. People are buying into sustainable design, a lower cost of living and community when they buy into cohousing. Ultimately, it's an investment in yourself.

Mission Peak Village had a hard time attracting new Members for a little while, even though they recently locked down an amazing site and put together community design plans. The tides didn't seem to turn until they brought on 500 Communities Affiliate, Shelly Parks of Covision Consulting, and yours truly (Erin Harris of CS Marketing & Outreach). Shelly got them connected to Kelli Soika from CoHousing Houston and the pair have been a wonderful help with their outreach and process ever since.

I created a marketing and advertising plan to spread the word about this new community in the San Francisco Bay Area. Groups are often scared to spend money on advertising because there are no guarantees specific ads will draw new Members, but if we don't advertise we don't get leads at all! Bright, beautiful, strategically placed advertisements help us build momentum, which always makes it easier to bring on new Members. Solid copy cannot be underestimated! Working with our wide variety of clients keeps us up

Mission Peak Village looks at their site plan together.

to date on what is working to bring in viable prospects.to bring in viable prospects.

As a result, Mission Peak Village attracted six new Explorers and two Members in one of the hardest seasons to sell cohousing (fall & winter). We had them sponsor articles, run audio campaigns with NPR, connect with multiple local organizations and more! Not everything required spending money, sometimes it just cost time. From October 2022 to January 2023, website sessions went up by 82% and unique visitors increased by 79% compared to the previous four months. We can make a direct correlation to the marketing plan, which took off in October.

We're headed into 2023 with some incredible momentum at our backs, and I couldn't be more excited to watch the group grow. The moral of the story? You cannot slow down you marketing efforts when you still need new Members. You must always be planting seeds, even if they take a season or two to bloom.

Stay tuned for more client updates and observations!

Join us for a 500 Communities

Program Introductory Webinar

Zoom: February 7 at 10:00am PST

Have you thought about getting more involved with cohousing professionally? We don't just mean forming a group and living in community, we mean within your line of work. Maybe you're a developer interested in sustainable community design. Maybe you're thinking about bringing cohousing into your real estate repertoire. Maybe you're pondering what it would be like to be a project manager for developing communities, or how you can help facilitate more communities in your area. Perhaps you are passionate about community and want to grow the market.

The 500 Communities Program is a 12-month course designed to train collaborators to meet the expanding need for professional support in creating new communities. The Program applies to many different job fields and was designed with all means on collaborative development in mind. Its intention is not to teach one model of cohousing, but build on lessons learned as we explore models of collaborative development that were not taught in university of trade school.

CoHousing Solutions is currently recruiting for the next 500 Communities Program Class in 2023! Consider joining Katie McCamant (coauthor of THE cohousing book) for our 500 Communities Program Introduction Webinar on February 7. You will learn more about cohousing, Katie's background, and the 500 Communities Program basics!

Over the course of our application process, we host a series of Introduction Webinars and Follow-up Webinars before applications close on June 15. Once you have attended an Introduction Webinar we invite you to join us for a Follow-up Webinar, where Katie hosts a more candid conversation about the Program, answers questions, and gets to know prospective applicants. 

Think a friend/colleague may be interested in the

500 Communities Program? Forward this email!

Let's make your dream

neighborhood a reality.

We provide development consulting services to help you create your sustainable neighborhood. Our team pioneered the development of cohousing in North America, and we have helped create dozens of successful communities.

Our newest venture involves training passionate cohousing entrepreneurs through the year-long 500 Communities Program. We are now accepting applications for the 2024-2025 cycle!