Once the sale of the Tivoli Housing Co-op was complete in 2014, the Common Fire Foundation shifted its focus dramatically, limiting itself to providing basic support for the Beacon Co-Housing community. The Foundation previously had a much more expansive vision of helping to support the creation of numerous intentional communities nationwide that shared our values related to communities as a foundation for personal and collective transformation. The information on this page represents our PREVIOUS more expansive vision and is provided here in the hopes that it may help to support or inspire other people’s efforts in this field.
"The most remarkable feature of this historical moment is not that we are on the way to destroying our world - we've actually been on the way for quite a while. It is that we are starting to wake up, as from a millennia-long sleep, to a whole new relationship to our world, ourselves, and each other. This is the great and necessary adventure of our time."
-- Joanna Macy
One of the core principles underlying Common Fire’s work is that the overwhelming suffering and destruction in today’s world are not the result of isolated political or economic problems. They’re manifestations of the underlying culture from which they surge.
It does little good to struggle to create change in the world if in our own lives we are recreating the very norms that give rise to that violence and destruction. We must create within ourselves, our families and communities, and our organizations and broader movements, the cultural norms we wish to see in the world.
Certificate Program participants have an opportunity to significantly deepen their learning by simultaneously living in the Tivoli Housing Co-op, where the trainings are offered. This provides a much richer opportunity to bring the practice of sustainable, just, and joyful living into our daily lives.
Living in the co-op provides ongoing support from peers who share our commitment to these practices to support us and challenge us, and allows for ongoing, hands-on experience, to deepen our learning and demonstrate our competence.
One evening a week, co-op residents meet to practice what they’re learning and to engage in the actual ongoing affairs of the housing co-op. The Tivoli Housing Co-op is a 5-year-old functioning intentional community. Participants make a commitment to be active and faithful participants in the community to support its ongoing success in all dimensions: physical, emotional, financial, and programmatic.
People can apply to live in the housing co-op without pursuing a certificate, and can do so for longer or shorter than the two-years it takes to earn the certificate, but they are expected to still participate in the ongoing trainings and fulfill the other responsibilities of living in the community.
Click here to learn more about the Common Fire housing co-op.
Learn more: The Trainings...
Living & Learning
