Insights > Welcome 1 of 6: A Guide to Orienting New Members to Cohousing

Welcome 1 of 6: A Guide to Orienting New Members to Cohousing
Above: Even the children at Wild Sage Cohousing Community are a welcoming crew! Photo courtesy of Karin Hoskin.
Welcome to the Community: A Series from Caddis Collaborative
By Karin Hoskin
Karin Hoskin is business manager for Caddis Collaborative, former executive director of the Cohousing Association of the United States, and a founding member of Wild Sage Cohousing Community.
Caddis Collaborative is excited to launch a six-part blog series: “Welcome to the Community: A Guide to Orienting New Members to Cohousing.” This guide, developed by Caddis Collaborative business manager Karin Hoskin, focuses on ways existing communities can attract new buyers and integrate them into the community. Although the guide focuses on the process of welcoming new members to established communities, it can easily be adapted and applied to forming communities as new members join before move-in begins.
Karin brings a great deal of expertise and lived experience to this topic. The former executive director of the Cohousing Association of the United States, Karin is also a founding member of Wild Sage Cohousing (across the street from the Caddis office in Boulder, Colorado). Wild Sage has been around since 2004, and Karin has been an active member of many teams, including the relatively new Resale Team.
The Resale Team aims to help those who are selling their units find buyers who are a good match for the community. Once someone buys a unit, the Resale Team hands the process off to the Roots Team. Roots then welcomes and orients the new members.
This guide is broken into five stages:
- Pre-prologue: Learning about the community before purchasing
- Prologue: Committing to the community but not yet moved in
- Welcome: Moving in
- Orientation: Living in community the first few months
- Settling in: Living in community the first year
Wild Sage’s trajectory over its first 19 years is similar to that of other cohousing communities. At first, there was little turnover, and as new members came on board, orientation was as simple as hosting a dinner, meeting with the orientation team, and being assigned a buddy. But eventually there was more turnover, and information was falling through the cracks.
Working with members of the newly formed Resale Team as well as the Roots Team, Karin helped lead the revamping of the system. Now the system includes development of a robust interest list of prospective buyers, the use of multiple learning modalities, a longer orientation period with a greater number of check-ins, and a new, user-friendly, accessible platform to store information for all members.
Click on the links below to learn more!
- Post #1: A Guide to Orienting New Members to Cohousing
- Post #2: Pre-Prologue: Learning about the Community Before Purchasing
- Post #3: Prologue: Committing to the Community But Not Yet Moved In
- Post #4: Welcome: Moving In
- Post #5: Orientation: Living in Community the First Few Months
- Post #6: Settling In: Living in Community the First Year
Categories
- Awards and Press (6)
- Urbanism (6)
- Earth (1)
- Design (2)
- Welcome to the Community (6)
- Uncategorized (12)
- Contemplative Architecture (3)
- Make Yourself At Home (14)
- Reflection (4)
- Affordability (14)
- Passive House (Net-Zero) (2)
- Intentional Living (4)
- Inside Caddis (20)
- Inspiration (24)
- Community Engagement (20)
Other Relevant Insights




















We’re proud to be in good company.
We love being part of the community that’s bringing good design to good people. That’s why we contribute to and participate in these organizations – so we can bring the best emerging ideas to you.
Get In Touch
Let us bring your vision to life.
A beautiful space that fits your best life. A sustainable build. A fun and easy design process. We’re with you every step of the way – from the beginning dream to the finished project!