The bienvenidos committee is in charge of responding emails that are sent to the following address: membership@urbansoil.net, all members of the committee receive the emails and there is one person in charge of responding or making sure someone responds the inquiries.
Some suggestions and resources for responding emails sent to membership@urbansoil.net below:
Don’t forget to CC the membership committee when responding emails to keep us all in the loop.
Resources
- The bienvenidos committee receives emails through a mailing list, that way any inquiry is that is sent to membership@urbansoil.net is automatically redirected to laev-membership@googlegroups.com so a group of people is in the loop about inquiries. This increases transparency, keeps an archive, and makes the job of responding emails easier. If you want to see the archive or change other settings of your subscription (like receiving a daily digest instead) go to: http://groups.google.com/group/laev-membership
- InProcessHidden - List of people currently in the process. You can also add people to this page when the fill the questionnaire and add the questionnaire here (note that you need to enter your password) to see this page.
- Some links to pages that you might want to visit or recommend when replying emails:
- http://urbansoil.net/membership - Brief overview about becoming a member
- http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi/Membership_Process_Annotated - Annotated version of the membership process, it includes a diagram and explanations of different stages.
- http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi/Questionnaire - The initial questionnaire
Standard initial response:
Thanks for your message. My name is ___ and I’m a member of the Bienvenidos committee.
The Bienvenidos Committee is in charge of helping people navigate and understand the membership process. Becoming a provisional member is a prerequisite for living in the Urban Soil/Tierra Urbana Housing Co-op. You can begin by getting acquainted with our membership process and community, and submitting a questionnaire. Please read through the following information and let me know if you have any questions.
What does becoming a member of the Los Angeles Eco-Village Intentional Community entail?
Becoming a member involves participating in a relationship building process between you and our diverse community. The process is intended to provide opportunities to learn about living in intentional community and practicing consensus based decision making (http://www.consensusdecisionmaking.org/)
We are looking for people who want to live a higher quality of life with a low impact on the environment, and who are willing to collaborate wholeheartedly with all of us to make that happen. We are thus interested in skills and activities that help us reduce our ecological footprint, and live well in a large urban center such as Los Angeles.
The process of becoming a member takes at least 6 months but can be longer. During that time you will attend some of our regular gatherings such as meetings, potluck dinners, work parties, and special events.
Where to start?
(1) Get acquainted with the membership process & community:
For a detailed membership summary, please take a look at the following link: http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi?Membership_Process. You may also want to get familiar with our website:
www.laecovillage.org, and read this article about living in community: http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi?Reality_of_Community
Members of the Los Angeles Eco-Village Intentional Community founded the USTU Housing Cooperative in 2010. Learn more here:http://laecovillage.org/urban-soil-tierra-urbana/
(2) Questionnaire & liaison: Tell us about yourself in our questionnaire: http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi?Questionnaire
Send to the Bienvenidos Committee at laev-membership@googlegroups.com and we will assign a liaison. Only community members may view your completed questionnaire.
Your liaison will answer your questions, keep you informed about events, introduce you to other members of the community, and even help you arrange gatherings like game nights or potlucks where people can get to know you. You can also find out about events at http://urbansoil.net/wiki.cgi?calendar
(3) Announce your interest at a community meeting: Once you have finished steps 1 and 2, arrange in advance with your liaison to attend a community meeting.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is USTU housing like?
When a candidate becomes a provisional member, they may request an apartment from the current vacancies. The USTU Co-op has spacious single apartments and a limited number of 1 bedroom apartments. The latter are for 2 or more people.
Rents currently range from $500 - $1000.
What about my partner?
Membership in the LA Eco-Village Intentional Community is individual. If your partner is interested in membership, please ask them to contact Bienvenidos.
What about my children?
We welcome children, and want to be flexible in welcoming them and their families into LA Eco-Village Intentional Community.
What about my dog or cat?
We currently don’t accept new dogs living on the premises. It is possible to have exclusively indoor cats at the eco-village that are approved by the community on a case by case basis.
Can I live at the USTU Housing Co-op while my membership in the Los Angeles Eco Village Intentional Community is being considered?
Generally, no. We strongly encourage you to have a stable residency while in the membership process.
I am planning to move to Los Angeles soon and am interested in becoming a member. Can I go through the membership process now?
You can begin by getting acquainted with the membership process & community through the links to our websites above, and submitting a questionnaire. When you arrive in Los Angeles, you can announce your interest in membership at a community meeting and then move forward with the rest of the membership process.
Back to Membership Committee
Back to Bienvenidos Committee Central