The Waterside Co-op

Waterside Co-op Culture.

The Waterside Co-op was created to provide a community center for the environmental, peace, and justice efforts in our neighborhood and of Beyond Today.

The co-op also houses the media lab, where 7th and 8th graders from Waters School come to make environmental videos as part of an after school program. Community volunteers and Beyond Today interns also work in the media lab.

The co-op plays host to many community meetings, potluck dinners, and events. Music, art, and creativity are part of our culture.

The co-op was created to provide a supportive, postivie, and nurturing home to environmental activists working in our neighborhood.

As a result, there is a certain culture that we strive towards, and certain agreements we determined from the start.

We would like this to be a multi-generaltional, family friendly house. This means that at any time students may come to the door and we want them to feel welcome. Children are always welcome at all events.

In order to support the mission of the co-op and its residents, there we maintain the co-op as a healthy, respectful, and joyful place to live. This means that the co-op is a place where we give energy to kindness, thoughfulness, and patience. We have a policy to prevent toxic and negative behaviors and attitudes from ruining our peaceful co-op. We work to avoid inviting or allowing intolerance, racism, hate-speech, bigotry, sexism, and other disresectful attitudes. The Waterside co-op is meant to be a space to support and nurture the best in us and a safe zone for good environmental, justice, and peace work.

We are interested in roommates who have a positive and respectful way of communication. This means:

• Caring enough about relationships with others, about the co-op community, and about all the projects associated with the community to take the time to communicate.
• Listening:. Ask what people think and listen without interrupting. Ask if you heard their concerns correctly. Ask them to explain exactly how they feel.
• Speaking calmly, thoughtfully, and respectfully. Not raising volume. Not speaking in anger. Taking time to calm down if tensions arise.
• Communicate your needs. That is your responsibility. Not communicating needs and then being resentful is passive-aggressive behavior and is destructive.
• Bring joy, love, creativity, and humor. Sometimes games or alternative patterns of communication from workshops can help to bring new life to an issue which has been draining energy.
• Be responsible for yourself, be careful to give your word when you fully believe you will be able to keep your word. Be in communication when problems arise and find solutions with others.

This is a living document and will be added to over time.