The membership process described here is for the formative phase of the community while it is in the process of acquiring and developing land. The process will undergo modification at later stages. Please understand that we need to gather members with the needed skills, commitment, and resources to bring our ambitious project into reality.

The goal of the membership process is to ensure alignment between the community’s vision, values & mission and the individual's vision and values. Full membership in our community is granted once a person completes the membership process. The process of achieving full membership occurs in stages, each stage having rights & responsibilities for both the community and the individual.

The community reserves the right to rescind the membership of an individual for cause at any stage of the membership process. We describe our process and justifiable cause in a separate document, Conflict Resolution Agreements.

Under certain circumstances, when an expedited membership process would be of benefit to the community, the community reserves the right to modify & accelerate this process.

Membership Stages

1. Exploratory Member
2. Associate Member
3. Engaged Member
4. Full Member

Exploratory Member

The purpose of this phase is to get to know one another and explore the alignment of our visions. When you feel the desire to start such an exploration, simply complete our Exploratory Member Survey and announce your interest to one of the current community members, either in person or via email. One current member will be assigned as your ‘buddy’ to answer your questions and keep you informed. Once you have your buddy, you are an Exploratory Member!

Exploratory members may:

• Attend trainings, classes, & workshops organized by the community.
• Attend designated business meetings as an observer. You'll be asked not to participate in the discussion, but your observations will be welcome in the evaluation at the end of the meeting.

You may continue at the Exploratory level as long as you wish. If you are feeling drawn toward a deeper involvement with the Community, you can apply to become an Associate Member.

Associate Member

The Associate Member stage allows you to participate in our community formation work with a minimum of commitment, thus giving you the opportunity to "try it on for size".

Application for Associate Membership

You will take four steps to become an Associate Member:

1. Read these official community documents:
   • Mission Statement
   • Agreements
   • Membership Process (this document)
2. Complete the Communitarian Profile Instrument. As part of that instrument, you will sign a statement verifying that you have read and understood the three community documents named above.
3. Submit your completed Communitarian Profile Instrument along with the Associate Membership Application Fee of $10 - $50 (sliding scale - you determine where you belong on the scale).
4. Meet with the Community in an informal meeting in which the community will
   • Answer your questions about our Community’s vision, mission & goals.
   • Ask you questions about your Communitarian Profile Instrument answers.
   • Invite you to talk about your vision and how you imagine an ideal day in a community.

After you have completed these four steps, current community members will meet to decide about inviting you to become an Associate Member. The Community will return one of three possible decisions:

1. To welcome you as an Associate Member.
2. To offer an extended Exploratory Membership period in which specified issues can be resolved.
3. To inform you that we are not comfortable with the degree of alignment you have displayed with our vision, values and mission. In that case, your association with our community would end.

Purpose of Associate Membership

The purpose of this phase is to create a situation in which you can work together with current members in the many tasks of bringing the community into being. Working together allows us to get to know one another on a deeper level, to confirm or modify our judgement and intuition about each another, ultimately deciding if we (you and the community) are a suitable match.

Associate Members may:

• Attend all business meetings as a participant. The meeting will consider and may adopt your ideas and suggestions; however, you will not have blocking privileges in the consensus process.
• Serve on committees.
• Attend trainings.

In order for us to adequately observe how you function in group process and group tasks, the Associate Membership phase will normally last for a minimum of 3 months.

Before you can apply for Engaged Member status, you must attend 80% of business meetings held during that time and must serve on at least one committee.

Engaged Member

When you are feeling quite certain you want to join our community and feel ready to fully commit yourself to the work, you can apply to become an Engaged Member. This stage is very much like an engagement to be married. And at this stage, we are looking for individuals with the skills and resources to help us buy land and start "building" our community.

Application for Engaged Membership

Individuals in a committed relationship are expected to apply jointly for Engaged Membership, and their applications will normally be evaluated simultaneously and designated the same status.

The Engaged Membership stage represents a significant increase in commitment to the project and the application process reflects that. When you feel ready to make this commitment, you will take these steps:

1. Submit the documents listed below along with the Engaged Membership Application Fee of $100 (you may apply for a reduction if you cannot afford the full fee). The items marked with an asterisk (*) are forms that you may obtain from a community member.
   • Resume
   • Skills Inventory Checklist*
   • Good Health and Labor Abilities Checklist*
   • Personal financial statement to include Assets, Liabilities, Income, and Debt Service
   • Signed Credit Check Permission Form*
   • Names of three people who know you well whom we can call for references. (We also reserve the right to do a criminal background check.)
   • In-depth Essay Questionnaire*
2. Participate in a formal interview with current members to more deeply explore alignment and commitment. Questions to you may come from any of the documents you have submitted.

After you have completed all the above, current community members will meet to decide about granting you Engaged Membership status and will subsequently meet with you to discuss the decision, which could be one of these three:

1. To welcome you as an Engaged Member.
2. To offer an extended Associate membership period in which specified issues can be resolved.
3. To inform you that we do not have a sufficient level of trust.

   To reiterate: Please understand that we need to gather members with the needed skills, commitment, and resources to bring our ambitious project into reality. When choosing Engaged Members, we will need to strategically select people to fill out a portfolio of in-house skills that we feel are needed to create affordability and give us knowledgeable oversight of any work we hire done. As the community matures and grows and certain tasks are accomplished, our needs and desires will change and this will influence our membership profiling and recruitment.

   Purpose of Engaged Membership

   The purpose of this phase is to allow us to work together fully for the length of time needed to develop the level of trust required for a community project of this magnitude and expense.

   Engaged Membership will be for an open period of time, ideally between 6 months to a year, but will expand or contract depending on the needs of the community and your circumstances. You begin the term by signing the Engaged Member Agreement*. The community reserves the right to revoke Engaged Member status at any time. And, of course, you may also end your membership at any time.

   Engaged Members can and will be expected to:

   • Attend all meetings & participate fully in discussions. Full Members will work for a consensus that includes your views as an Engaged Member and you will have blocking privileges if at least one Full Member joins you in blocking a proposal.
   • Serve on committees.
   • Pay Monthly Community Dues of $25.
   • Pay any additional funds that may be consensed on for particular needs that cannot be covered by regular dues.

   Full Members

   Full membership is the final stage and is very much like being married. We will buy land together, make investments in infrastructure (roads, water supply, septic, equipment, crops & livestock, etc.) and do all the work necessary to manifest our vision.

   Application for Full Membership

   Becoming a Full Member means financially investing in the concrete aspect of this project, which is buying land and investing in infrastructure. How much this will cost is currently under development. Typically it will involve a joining fee and then regular dues. We intend to keep costs as low as possible doing much of the work ourselves.

   When you feel ready to make this kind of financial commitment, you will:

   1. Participate in a final interview in which your participation in the group is reviewed. This will be the "speak now or forever hold your peace" part of the marriage ceremony.
   2. Put a project downpayment into escrow.
   3. Post a pre-qualification letter from a bank or provide other documentation of the financial means to pay for your share of project.

   Nature of Full Membership

   After you have been accepted by the community for Full Membership, you will be asked to sign a Membership Agreement* that covers financial arrangements worked out with the community. The agreement will also cover the community bylaws and all other binding decisions created by the community to that point.

   Full Members can and will be expected to:

   • Fulfill the labor contribution requirements.
   • Pay membership fees/dues.
   • Fulfill participation requirements.

   Full Members have the right to:

   • Attend all meetings.
   • Be included in all community decisions and to participate fully in the consensus process (approving, standing aside from, or blocking proposals).
   • Share appropriately in the community’s resources.
   • Lease/rent a residence.
   • Build/“own” a residence.
   • Use common areas.
   • Own/operate a business or projects using community resources (when such have been consented to by the community).