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News :: Miscellaneous |
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COUCH opens Gwendolyn Brooks Co-op, Looks Towards Future |
Current rating: 0 |
by Ben Schaeffer
Email: schaeffr (nospam) isl.uiuc.edu (unverified!)
Phone: 217-398-3853 |
15 Oct 2001
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Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing (COUCH) has opened its first member-owned co-op house, Gwendolyn Brooks Co-operative. This 14 person house located at 505 W. Green St. in Urbana began operation as a co-op in mid-August 2001. |
Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing (COUCH) has opened its first member-owned co-op house, Gwendolyn Brooks Co-operative. This 14 person house located at 505 W. Green St. in Urbana began operation as a co-op in mid-August 2001. Co-op housing offers residents many benefits. Foremost, residents have democratic control of the house, setting their own goals for house upkeep. Also,
cooperation tends to lower costs, and the communal nature of the
enterprise combats the social isolation too often seen in modern
society. Members eat meals together several times a week and cooperate in completing house chores like mowing the lawn, shopping for food, and doing the dishes. Co-op housing is an established way of life in many locations around the country, such as Ann Arbor, MI and Madison, WI, with houses of 20 or more people being common. Thus far, co-op housing in Champaign-Urbana has been on much smaller scale than in those locations.
A major goal of COUCH is to change that. In autumn 2002, another
member-owned 14 person house will open. These are exciting times for the co-op movement in Champaign-Urbana! The financing of this budding co-op system was made possible by NASCO Properties, an arm of the North American Students of Cooperation, based in Ann Arbor. NASCO Properties owns houses throughout the United States, with local organizations such as COUCH performing management. House residents become members of NASCO and participate in the democratic governance of that organization, thus enabling their control of their own living situation.
COUCH formed in 1997 when four local co-op houses banded together to
promote their common interests. After pursuing several joint projects,
including renting a house on its own in 1999-2000, COUCH affiliated with
NASCO Properties to more effectively pursue the goal of promoting co-op
housing in town.
Contact: Andrea Mills, amills1 (at) students.uiuc.edu, 531-0553 |
See also:
co-op.champaign.il.us/couch
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