Meeting 4/17

Hi All!

Central to establishing our co-op is EDUCATION. Let's self-educate a bit at the following websites:
-http://couch.coop/
-http://couch.coop/Brooks


Here are the notes from today's meeting... We've created a timeline of goals leading up to house acquisition.


Timeline

June 2009:
o 3 more core members
o contact with NASCO (top priority)
o finish presentation/movie
o rough drafts of by-laws and mission statement
Fall semester:
o detailed financial plan – spreadsheet
o cost estimate
attend November NASCO workshop
apply for scholarships
sign-up for workshop
establish as a student group
by September
get support of SGA
finding a house


We also talked on the phone with Jim Jones.
Some notes from that conversation:
Logistics- operational details
o how to let people in
o how to deal with labor
o pet policy
o what kind of food
o Champaign, Urbana co-op website
find building first
o tailor to size of building
o ideal size?
funding
o difficult to buy a building
o no one will give us money
o students are second-class citizens
o borrow 95% of value of house
o 80% from bank max
o loan funds
o co-operative borrows
o NASCO properties
o find your own resources!
property
o too early to find a building
o to discuss in May: what kind of building to look for
timeline
o look into incorporating
o the community of urbana champaigne co-operative housing C.O.U.C.H.
o http://couch.coop/
handbook for brooks house
http://couch.coop/Brooks/
May 4- dinner with peeps
July 19 or 20- meet up with phone dude

Our goals for NEXT WEEK:
o start the process of incorporating
o finish C-ROOTS film

4/10 Meeting Minutes

Here are some updates from last week's meeting, to keep everyone in the loop...


* Tanya Lyapustina is an awesome new member dedicated to working on the co-op project with us. Woot! We are super happy she's on board
* 11:30 on Fridays at the co-op is our official meeting time until the end of the semester
* Natalia, Deirdre & Rachael were also at the meeting... Dave couldn't attend due to a prior committment


* We recapped our goals for the end of the semester:
o Create timeline & benchmark goals leading up to Fall 2010 cooperative house
o Outline and choose a financial option, and make progress & contacts in that direction
o Present at Community Roots (April 30th)
o Establish & maintain a blog
o Create a Mission Statement
o Compile Bylaws from other cooperative houses
o Get 3 more core-members to join our initial efforts


* We decided to prioritize our presentation for the Community Roots meeting
Presentation will be two-fold: 1) VIDEO 2) What is co-op housing?

1. VIDEO
o Talking about & displaying the ills of housing in College Park & the potential for cooperatives as a viable, awesome solution
Part 1--horrible housing in CP: commons & parkside (no neighbors), outside of the view... oh no, they're building another!, horrible knox box landlords (show broken stuff), etc..
Part 2--happy images: gardens, sharing meals, sharing chores, etc...
Part 3--explinations/voice-overs: student power & ownership, community meals, responsible housemates, social consciousness & activism, meaningful friendships, community, connections, etc etc...
o Deirdre's boyfriend & friend (Jeff & Andrew) do a lot of film work... they will film us & edit FRIDAY APRIL 24
BY 4/24 WE NEED:
people to testify about their housing in College Park (friends, us, whoever)

2. What is Co-op Housing? (reallllly simple power-point or handout)
3 main points we'll 'hit' them with
1-CHEAP: show 2 charts: UMD price comparisons, Peer University price comparisons
2-STUDENT OWNED & MANAGED: consensus driven, democratic, 1 person/1 share, initiative-based, etc.
3-COMMUNITY: meals, parties, meaningful connections, fun, coolness, etc...


* Next week (this Friday 4/17) we will focus on (tentative):
o Time line
o NASCO/financial connection
o Mission Statement


* Don't forget to mention co-op housing to all of your friends! See if anyone you know wants to be committed to the process. We need 3 more core-members!

blog ESTABLISHED!

So we have this blog now so that we, you, and everyone else can keep track of this process, and accomplishments big and small, of creating UMD's first co-op house. Wooo!!

Ok, so we have an excellent core group now committed to making this thing happen: Rachael, Deirdre, Dave, Natalia, and Tanya. We are looking for at least 4 more people to be part of the core group in this Co-op Housing Project! Let us know if you're interested, ok??!

Ok check this out:

http://rethinkcollegepark.net/blog/categories/housing/

It's a blog about revamping College Park, and the plans that are going on. This is the section about housing. So you know the University View? They are building TWO MORE in front of the existing one!?! Do we really want these housing options to take over even more than they already have? Check the link out and see what you think.

Some notes from our last meeting. We developed some:

Tangible Goals by End of the Semester:

• have a set timeline for the whole process
• outline and choose financial option, and make contacts in that direction
• ** NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation) is an org that will sometimes fund students to buy the house and then lease it to you, letting you have complete autonomy in running the house. Probably our best bet, so we are going to work toward making that happen!
• have a speaker come and talk about co-op housing
• create a video and presentation to show Community Roots and other student groups--something that can be used next year as well
• establish a blog (ESTABLISHED!)
• have a cohesive mission statement
• compile bylaws
• get 4 more people on board!
  

Our current meeting time is Friday afternoons at 11:30 am, outside of the food co-op in Stamp. Join us if you wish! For any reason. Even if you just wanna hang out.

Our facebook group is http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=52489319359&ref=ts.

This shall be updated further soon!

Woooo!