It is self-evident that a community of healthy, economically stable, and happy people can withstand the onslaught of a pandemic better than a group of sick and sad people. (Dr. Allen Weiss, Blue Zones)
We know from anecdotal evidence that people in ecovillages, cohousing neighborhoods, and other intentional communities live longer, happier, and more meaningful lives. Increasingly, though, there is concrete scientific evidence that some environments are better for our health than others.
A recent article by Dr. Allen Weiss in Blue Zones[1] points out that some people and places are more susceptible to the coronavirus while others are much less so. In particular, Dr. Weiss argues that our ability to withstand pandemics has more to do with social determinants of health (“SDOH”) than with genetics.
Join us online on May 24 to learn more about how ecovillagers are coping with COVID-19:
EVNJ Virtual Meetup — Living in Cohousing
in the Midst of the Pandemic
Please note that this is not our regular Zoom meeting room. You must be registered to attend the event (limited to 100 participants).
Our movement advocates that humanity get back to living in more humanly-scaled communities. There are many, many reasons why this would be advisable.
Joel Rothschild will be our featured speaker. He’ll tell us about the progress being made toward developing an ecovillage neighborhood in Lancaster, PA based on the Community Land Cooperative model. He’ll also have information about the upcoming series of study groups that will focus on practical issues toward establishing, funding, and governing a regional network of eco-communities. (For more information see 
Kathy Moser, who has performed at several of our fundraisers, will join us to relate some exciting news. She lives on a 100-acre property near Long Valley (Morris County) which has a complex of five houses located on it. Three of the five have now come up for sale. If one or several of us ecovillagers could purchase these houses we’d have controlling interest in the homeowners association and thus a chance to implement some of our green-living ideas for the full site. The current asking price for the three houses is $650K (or about $220K each). The location is in-between I-78 and I-80 (about 20 minutes from each). Kathy is looking for others to work with her to buy the houses. It’s not clear at this point whether the town would consider allowing construction of additional units, but that’s a possibility worth exploring. If you have a pioneering spirit, love the Earth, and are looking to live with friends, this could be your opportunity.
Hosted by Roger Balson
You’re invited to our
There’s no doubt that we’re living through a remarkable time in human evolution, both because of the urgency and severity of our challenges, and because of the possibilities that are available to us in meeting them. There is an imminent existential threat to humanity, from global warming, biodiversity loss, toxic waste accumulation, soil depletion, and so on — not from some new capacity for self-destruction, but simply from our unwillingness to wake up and take action in time. At the same time, many people are waking up, and building communities and organizations designed to address our most important challenges, from reducing carbon emissions to actually restoring the climate to what it was for the most recent ten thousand years in which humanity has flourished.