Community

Violette, Lilly, Sean & James

Violette and James met in Egypt while he was at the American University of Cairo and she was The Department receptionist. Today, they have two children, James holds four BA's and a PhD, he is an assistant professor of Anthropology at California State University, Fresno and Violette who holds a MA in Early Childhood Education, provides childcare in her home plus she is currently working on a line of Soy candles, and Organic Health and Nutrition products.
James and Violette share an interest in improving the quality of life for both their family and the people of Fresno.

Don

Don Goodson is practically a Fresno native having lived here since 4th grade. He was born in Los Angeles and, at the urging of his Maternal Grandmother who wanted to have her family near, talked his parents into relocating to Fresno. Don was very close to his Grandmother, sharing a deep Spirituality and Love for the outdoors, family and the land. She spent much of her time planting flowers and foliage creating what can only be called a Garden of Eden around her home. Don spent his summers working on his Grandparents farm helping with the Alfalfa & Cotton, driving the tractor and of course making time to build forts in the barn and play. His fondest memories are of those spent alongside his Grandmother helping her with her garden and hauling wheelbarrow loads of fertilizer (from the barn) and humus (from deteriorating tree trunks) at a quarter a load.
As the eldest of three sons his Father relied heavily upon his assistance and in his teen years he helped maintain his Father's rental properties by mowing the lawns, gardening and doing occasional fix-it jobs. At 17, with his Parents' signature, he joined the Navy Reserves as a “Weekend Warrior”. Ask Don some time about his two week cruise up the San Joaquin River to Stockton. After graduating high school he entered active duty with the Navy in the Far East and because his Ship was a Flag Admiral's Ship he enjoyed the opportunity to visit many Far East Ports. He married while in the Navy and his daughter Cheryl was born 6 weeks prior to the Ship's return from Don's second Far East Cruise. After completing his 2 years of active duty Don worked several different jobs prior to the new GI Bill being introduced. With the GI Bill education benefits available Don was able to go to College and get his BA Degree. After graduating College, Don worked in Consumer Product Sales, mostly with Scott Paper Co. Later an interest in investing led him to a Seminar and a job with American Express Financial, and then Charles Schwab where he spent the bulk of his career as a Financial Advisor. When a series of company-wide layoffs affected him, followed by a year of difficult personal transitions and depression, he had an epiphany and began to work successfully as a Private Investor. During this time he also heard of the Unitarian Universalist Church which he began to attend. While there he met some people that were talking about building an “Intentional Community”: an idea that resonated with Don's desire for Family.
Don has two Grandsons whom he is very proud of: Andrew who attends University Of The Pacific and Stephen who attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Don would welcome the opportunity, as do most proud Grandparents, of telling you about them and their achievements.

George & Pat

George Burman and Pat Looney-Burman moved to the Fresno area in 1989 from Hawaii. George began a second career as a high school science teacher and Pat continued her work as a speech-language pathologist. Both George and Pat grew up in small town environments, George in northern CA and Pat in the Midwest, where they enjoyed true neighborhood living. They're excited about living in a real neighborhood again in the cohousing community with their three cats. After attending his first cohousing presentation, George realized that he didn't want to “grow old in a traditional 'senior' residence, surrounded by old geezers complaining about Medicare.” Since their own grandchildren don't live nearby, both Pat and George look forward to having a number of surrogate grandchildren as neighbors. George plans to continue his woodworking in the cohousing workshop, and Pat looks forward to learning how to cook for a large group.

Katie, Scott & Julia

Scott, Katie, and Julia Bentley are all native Californians. Scott moved from Sonora to Fresno in 1986, where he helped out in the family business, started a family of his own, and began an extended college career, which culminated in 2001 with a MSW from CSU Fresno. Scott is currently working as a social worker in an elementary school. He enjoys reading, exercise, hanging out with friends, singing and song writing. Katie came along only a couple of years after Scott moved to Fresno. Katie, now in her second year of college, is excited about her chosen career in nutrition. She enjoys reading, writing, watching movies and spending time with friends. Julia is just beginning her senior year in high school. She enjoys reading, writing, singing and acting. Julia is excited to have been chosen for a lead role in her high school’s upcoming musical. The Bentleys are very happy to be a part of the “traditional neighborhood” of La Querencia, believing that living in an environmentally sustainable, multigenerational community is simply one of the richest ways a family might live.

Barbara

My name is Barbara Cutright and I first heard about cohousing in 2004 and joined a group of interested people in September. I have learned a lot about building community and building green. I was born in Fresno and have lived here most of my life. I retired from the education field in 2001 where I was a teacher, reading specialist and administrator. I have continued to volunteer working with students who are learning to speak, read and write in English.
I am divorced with two adult sons. One lives here in Fresno and another in New York. Kevin is married with one son and another coming soon. Both children are from open adoptions. Tim is engaged to a woman with 3 girls. So I am the grandmother of one and soon there will be five.
I also have 2 small dogs, both American Eskimo. They are adoptions from the local rescue group. Sierra is nine and the princess of the house. Bandit is also nine and lets Sierra be the princess most of the time. Both dogs have been to obedience school and also in agility training. I stopped participating because of my knees, but still have some equipment that we can use for fun when we move.
In addition I enjoy traveling, movies, reading, Sudoku, and love to meet for coffee or a meal. Nature and animals are also interests. I have attended the Draft Horse Show seven times. I have made many trips to the mountains and coast nearby.
I have met such great people in this process of building La Querencia. It seems that people who agree with the two main values of living in community and living lightly on the earth, also are people who appreciate and care about each other. We have added new people over the four years and I have made lasting friendships. We work together to understand different points of view and include them in decision making. I look forward to living out this dream.

Bev & Neil

Neil and Beverly Horsley moved from Bakersfield to Fresno in 1958 so Neil could attend Fresno State College on the GI Bill. After Neil graduated he worked as an Electrical Estimator and Project Manager for the next 36 years. Beverly went back to school and received her Masters degree in Speech Pathology in 1974. She worked for Fresno Unified School District for 25 years as a Speech Therapist and Special Ed Classroom teacher. Bev and Neil have lived in their home since 1960 where they raised three sons. They now have five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. They realize that leaving their home, with all its memories, to become part of the Fresno Cohousing Group, will be difficult, but they are excited about this next phase of their lives. They have scaled down their lifestyle and look forward to continuing their retirement in a supportive intergenerational community with a common vision and shared values.

Susan & George

George Coberly was born in Kansas and Susan Coberly in California. We met in Los Angeles. We have two sons; George has a daughter from a previous marriage; they are all grown up and gone from home, now. We have moved around a bit - Los Angeles, Weaverville, Santa Maria, Southern Utah (and Los Angeles - it's a long story), the Gold Country, in several different counties in the Bay Area, and ended up in Fresno! When our sons were very young, George was injured in an industrial accident. Once the boys were in elementary school, Susan went back to college, then graduate school and law school (in the Bay Area). We loved the Bay Area, but the housing prices, and traffic/commuting, were tremendous drawbacks to staying. We both really are drawn toward the Gold Country and to small towns, but there are few job opportunities for attorneys in small towns. We looked at Sacramento and Fresno, both places where food is grown, there are mountains nearby, housing is affordable, and there is ethnic diversity. Susan's job offer came from a Fresno law firm, where she worked five years; since 1993, she has worked for the County of Fresno, in the County Counsel's office.
Susan: “I learned about cohousing in a city planning course at UC Berkeley, in 1987. We read and discussed studies about the availability of employment, transportation, child care, and housing, and whether the geographical proximity and physical design of those things met the needs of women; the upshot overwhelmingly was that typical suburbs really don't work, especially for women and children. The model of an intergenerational cohousing community was one alternative presented, in a Toronto study, and working examples of cohousing in Denmark. I never imagined cohousing would ever actually come to the United States, much less Fresno. And, although in the Bay Area we had talked with friends about buying an apartment building together, that idea fell by the wayside, when the friends, and we, moved elsewhere, one by one. We ended up buying a typical, single family suburban house on a large lot, in Fresno. It is a nice house in a nice neighborhood. We have discovered it is not working for us.” George: “I wave at people in their cars or their yards when we are driving by. I have trained some of our neighbors to wave back, but most everybody probably thinks I am crazy. People always wave at neighbors and everybody else, in small towns.”
We both love small towns and front porches. Cohousing embodies the easy front porch / post office / grocery store interaction of a small town. There is comfort in readily being able to talk and interact with people you know well, or can easily get to know well.
We enjoy card and board games, and jigsaw puzzles; music of all kinds: classical, blues, folk, rock, bluegrass, jazz; movies of most kinds, although one of us (Susan) does not like the bloody gory scary-movie genre. We don't go out to movies much - we usually watch them on Cable/ DVD. Actually, we probably watch too much TV. We have a ton of books and are dreading culling through them - again - in order to move. Many of our books have been read (by one or both of us) at least once; some are waiting to be read. Going to bookstores, both new and used, was one of our best pastimes. It shows. We have to stay away from bookstores, now. We subscribe to a lot of magazines, as well, including Science News, Funny Times, Newsweek, Dwell, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Progressive Populist. We are trying to pare the “keeper” list down.

Don

My name is Don Gaede and I first heard about the cohousing concept from an article in Time magazine 10-15 years ago. The article described a group of people on Bainbridge Island, WA that had built separate living spaces, but often shared meals together in a large common house, and enjoyed a close-knit community feeling. The idea intrigued me. I would like to live in a setting where there is more interaction and sharing than in the typical American neighborhood. There would be the pleasure of living and co-operating with a group of people with shared values, but also a respect for privacy. A major attraction for me is the group of people who are already signed on to this project; they are all people with whom I would love to be neighbors. I grew up in Fresno, but lived in Santa Barbara, Loma Linda, and Cleveland during while getting educated. I'm a physician specializing in internal medicine and vascular medicine, and have 2 grown children. I enjoy tennis, singing, and climbing an occasional small rock.

Bryan, Rebecca, Joe (and Valerie, too!)

Bryan Syverson and Rebecca Stickler live in cohousing along with their son, Joe. Rebecca is a general surgeon in practice at Kaiser Permanente. Bryan is an at-home dad, a part-time computer consultant, and will get his math teaching credential this year. They met in college in Ohio and lived in Washington, D.C. and Chicago before moving to California. The family hikes, bikes, and cooks together and loves to travel. Joe plays the violin, holds a black belt in Taekwondo, and is an 8th grader at Carden School. Joe's sister Valerie graduated from Caltech and is in grad school at the Unversity of Michigan. She would have loved to live in cohousing as kid, but it didn't exist in Fresno when she lived at home. Joe loves playing with the other kids in cohousing and hates it when he misses a common meal. Sometimes we can convince him to play his violin at common meals. Rebecca has transformed the community garden into something wonderful and enjoys having so many close neighbors. Bryan loves to cook common meals, keeps the community network running, and helps keep the pool sparkling clean.

Barbara

My name is Barbara River and I am originally from New England where I grew up in Massachusetts (Melrose) and then lived in Cambridge for 14 years, 7.5 of which were in a cooperative living house. I then moved on to Western Mass to a small town named Leverett where I raised my son David and daughter Susannah. During most of my years in Massachusetts I was very active politically in different social justice issues. I am an RN and worked at the Brattleboro Retreat for almost twenty years. I was involved in organizing a union while there and was President of the Union for a couple of years. For my last ten years in New England, I lived in southern Vermont where I continued to be active politically and became more conscious of living softly on the earth. Hiking the Long Trail in Vermont with my dog Ben over a two year period is one of my fondest memories.
Ben (a really great old dog) and I came to Fresno almost two years ago, originally planning to stay for just a few months. My daughter and son had both moved to California and Sue had a newborn and a three year old. I wanted to spend a few months working and spending time as a grandma. Luckily, right around the time I was supposed to return to Vermont and leave the kids behind, I found Cohousing. A desire to live in a community or a really involved neighborhood has been an ongoing desire since leaving Cambridge many years ago. As an introvert who often would rather spend time alone reading or working in the garden, cohousing is really the perfect solution. It is a place to watch kids and friends grow and to easily connect to other humans without having to make a big deal of it.
Continuing to work as a psychiatric nurse is a part of being in Fresno but the huge and important parts are the kids and cohousing. The only thing to dislike about cohousing is the fact that we cannot move in tomorrow but the path along the way has always been both interesting and fun.

Lynette, Larry & Jonah

Lynette, Lorenzo, and Jonah Bassman moved to Fresno in 1997 when Lynette began teaching at the California School of Professional Psychology. In addition to her teaching position she maintains a private psychotherapy practice and has published two books. Larry grew up in Virginia and lived for many years in New York City where he attended the Juilliard School. He is the part time acting music director at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno. Jonah is a student at University High School and plays the trumpet. Jonah likes having a pool, exercise room and teen room in cohousing. Lorenzo and Lynette love the energy efficiency of living in cohousing, and having friends nearby.

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