suggestions for communal type volunteer living

[nj's_mom]

DH and I were considering a type of arrangement where we could volunteer in return for room/board/food and perhaps a small stipend? I saw something like this advertised in Mothering once but can't find it again. I'm thinking something off-the-grid .. we also have almost 2yo DD?
Crazy question, I know

[mamadelbosque]

DH & I worked at camps for a couple years pre-kids and had intended to make that our carreer(s)... but most of them (all of them that we could find, actually) simply are *not* set up for couples, let alone familes with kids, unless your a director. They're setup for singles who are willing/able to move every 6-12 months from one camp to another to another as the seasons change, living in essentially a dorm.

Good luck!!

[karika]

I have looked for this also. The only thing I found so far came with sexual strings, attached to a man the same age as my father. If you find a resource, please post again. I desire communal living also.

[Green_Ma_4]

Greetings!
Before My husband and I bought out own farm we were looking into this as well. At that time we had three chidlren and found it incrediably difficult , ok impossiable, to find something that was suitable for a family. Mostly because the palces we found didnt have the living arrangments for a family. They were set up for singletons. So what did, because we knew we realllly needed to do this (we wanted to see if farm life was really for us) we asked friends who had farms and friends of friends who had farms if they would be willing to have us homestead on their property for free in exchange for work around the farm. We didnt ask for food or anything, just a small plot to pitch our tents ,access to running water and a plot to plant. We finally found one that would take us, 100 acre horse farm. It was an amazing experience. We homesteaded from May -september in exchange for morning chores with the horses.
So my advice is to ask around people you already know, that know you, or a friend of a friend. It just seems , in my experience that that is the best route for this experience.
Good Luck
Sarah

edited to say : p.s we stayed there till September, started looking for our own place, bought our own farm in Febuary and we have been here for three years and ever summer have taken on "helpers" on our land EVEN ones with children..lol

[hildare]

are you thinking of something like this? http://www.wwoof.org/

[wallabi]

I was going to suggest looking at wwoof, too. there are a variety of arrangements available through them, from places looking for short term help to those willing to take volunteers for months. they provide room and board.

alternately - you might try contacting csa`s. dh used to volunteer at a csa and there were a few other volunteers living at the farm.

a third option if you are having trouble finding a place that has accomodation for kids (when we were wwoof hosts we only had two bedrooms available - it would have been hard for a family to stay, I think) would be to get a travel trailer and see if you can live in that on the farm site.

good luck!

[KistheMum]

I keep checking this out...

http://directory.ic.org/iclist/geo.php

There is a lot to weed through. Some want financial commitments, some don't. Some are "free love" communities (definitely not for us).

It seems like the best way to find an intentional community is start it yourself! So far anyhow... There are some options, though.

Bit tough for us because we unquestionably would not give up our dog.

We found a farm for sale in Manitoba that seemed great, but it sold too quickly. We'll see what happens!!