Gratitude Village Colorado March 2025 Newsletter

Welcome Spring!

Dear Friends,

Although the past couple of days kind of looked like the image above, it is clear spring is here in Denver. Daffodils are popping and tulips are shooting up soon to have blooms. My 50-year-old lilac bush is budding out and have lovely deep purple blooms in a few weeks. It is still gray out and the deciduous trees don't have any leaves yet but there are sure signs of spring if you look! These signs get me very excited about the next few months for Gratitude Village!

Our goal is to have our land purchased by the end of this year (we have our eyes on a 19-acre farm in unincorporated Jefferson County). We have a full board with two pending members making their decisions shortly. That will bring us to a total of 9 board members (meet two of them below) and we will onboard an additional 6 in December to have a board of 15 with staggered terms. We continue to write half-a-dozen blogs a month (a couple are featured below), host several meetings a month and to make progress toward our funding goals for the year. We linked up with a couple of amazing partners and are excited to have Charles Durrett, the grandfather of the cohousing movement in the US, tentatively scheduled for a public presentation and launch of GVCO on September 18, 2025 (mark your calendars and stay tuned for details)!

All in all, I would say it's been a good start to the spring season here in Denver and I am looking forward to meeting you (or seeing you again) at one of our informational sessions or events!

In Gratitude,

Suzie Shride

Founder & Executive Director

Gratitude Village Colorado

720-689-4821

Spread the word

Although we met our fund raising goals for February ($11,000 raised), we fell behind in March. If you haven't donated yet, please consider a donation. You don't have to live in our community to donate (although if you want to join us, check out becoming an Explorer or Founding Member). Donations of any size really help us during this start up phase (and will help us secure Chuck Durrett's event in September).

Donate Today!

Meet the Board: Ron

Ron was one of our first board members and one of the first future residents to sign up to be part of Gratitude Village Colorado! Ron is a retired Adams County Extension Agent who grew up in Denver and now lives in Buena Vista.

Read more about Ron

Upcoming Events

In Person Info Session

Join us April 4 (Friday) from 10:00am to 11:15am for an in person gathering at Queen City Coffee Collective (located in the Townhall Collaborative 525 Santa Fe Dr, Denver, CO 80204). This short slide presentation and Q&A is a great chance to:

• Meet some of the board of GVCO

• Meet other potential residents

• Get all your questions answered

• Support a wonderful coffee shop

Please register here so we can give the coffee shop a heads up!

Charles Durrett

In 1985, Charles Durrett coined the term “cohousing," and with Kathryn McCamant, introduced the concept of cohousing to the United States with the seminal book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves. The latest edition is now titled Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities. Charles has written 16 books on cohousing, including his most recent One Life, Live It! which chronicles the highly successful neuro-inclusive community Solheimar Ecovillage in Iceland.

Gratitude Village's Board made a commitment to bring Charles' expertise to the development of our community, not only through working with Charles directly but also in hiring some of the amazing architects he trained. We have tentatively scheduled Charles to come to Denver September 18 for a public presentation and a private morning workshop on September 20.

• Read more about Charles Durrett

GVCO Blogs

Read about our vision, the community and more!

We have posted ten blogs since the last newsletter! Topics have ranged from Springtime and the Vernal Equinox to Keeping Housing Affordable in Gratitude Village. One blog shared a Teen's Perspective of Growing Up in a Cohousing Community while another shared the concept of a Third Space and how the Common House and Maker Space at GVCO make a great third space for residents. You read these and all 70+ blogs we've published on our website. or on Suzie's Substack, Notes from the Common House.

GVCO Partnerships

Executive Director, Suzie Shride, applied for GVCO's first grant through the Colorado Disabilities Funding Committee last week! Because GVCO welcomes residents of all abilities and will incorporate universal design principles in all of its homes and common spaces, one of our friends (and possible future resident) Meghan Bonde of Intensity Hub suggested we apply for this grant. As part of the application process, GVCO has partnered with Polestar Gardens Inc. in Fort Collins (the non-profit behind Polestar Village) to be able to receive this and other funding while our own 501(c)3 application is being processed. Finally, GVCO is looking to partner with Pinyon Environmental not only for the environment studies required for our land purchase but also to work with their grant writer in search of more funding opportunities!

If you find our content interesting or our vision inspiring please share this newsletter with your friends and colleagues or on social media. You can also follow us on social media by clicking one of the links below.

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