Come Join Us!
Rent, buy, or build in our intentional community in East Chatham, NY
If interested, e-mail info@qivc.org or call Sandra Beer at 518-392-1971 (between 7pm-9pm ET please).
Latest News
The first signs of Spring are in the air! Spring in the Hudson Valley is always a thrilling time--the evenings are getting long, the sun shines down and warms our heads and the soil, and the birds, O the birds, singing their morning songs, awaken delight in our hearts.
We just finished an interesting retreat with a somewhat different format than in years past--we focused in on one topic, guns in community, for the entire weekend, and explored it through the practice of Non-Violent Communication, which is a conflict resolution method used by many communities.
Another exciting change that comes with Spring is the flow of children around the Land. The children begin exploring--looking at buds here, chasing robins there, and jumping on the trampoline after school. This leads to more community encounters, increases our time together, and makes us all feel more united with nature and the beautiful Land that we try to live in harmony with. And the adults begin the outdoor tasks that have been, literally or figuratively, buried under snow for months--collecting, splitting, and stacking firewood, preparing garden beds, doing outdoor building repairs, and the myriad other tasks of the warm season.
This year has been a year of renewed inter-generational community at QIVC. We now have three young families living here with a total of 6 children under the age of 10. We’ve been experimenting with community-led childcare and having children attend some of our community meetings, with mixed and often delightful results. The presence of children always adds joy and vibrancy to the mix as we continue the work of living life together.
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read earlier news)
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(NOT tax-exempt)
Who we are
We are currently a community of ten households and several others interested in membership, living close to the land on 135 acres of mixed woodland and pasture. We range in age from 2 to 90, with 19 adults and 6 children. We strive to live spirit-focused lives that are simple, sustainable, and joyful, benefitting from and enjoying our close connections with each other and the land. We don't all need to identify explicitly as Quaker. We welcome diversity of all sorts. (More about us)
Where we are
We are in the gorgeous Hudson Valley of upstate New York (2.5 hours from NYC/Boston, 10 minutes from our local Quaker Meeting), in the foothills of the Berkshires.
How we live
We are thriving in a range of green homes such as strawbale, slip and chip timberframe, stickbuilt, passive solar; many of us built our own. Many of us farm our land organically, raise chickens, sheep, and other livestock, and produce piles of pesto. We also support several local farms through CSA shares (that's Community Supported Agriculture). We use Quaker processes in our self-government, including consensus that seeks God's will, discernment, and the clearness process. We value equality, diversity of experience and viewpoints, and deep listening. We come together around five guiding intentions:
Our Five Intentions
We believe conscious culture creation in community can be a means to advance our intentions:
1. To live in worship, increasing our mindfulness, spiritual focus, and God-centeredness by intertwining our daily lives with others who share these intentions
2. To create a village setting that values and engages participation by people of all ages, expands our experience of family, and supports our expression in the world.
3. To create wealth that embodies integrity and Truth by carefully examining our engagement in the current economic order and stepping away from its destructive elements
4. To live in unity & harmony with the earth by considering the near and far environmental impact of our actions while striving for thrivability
5. To include a good measure of joy, fun, creativity, and service in our lives
We believe that our community's success in achieving these five intentions will be aided by membership diverse in race, age, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, and economic situations, and therefore it is our aim to gather a community whose members are diverse in these ways as well as others.
If you have questions about QIV-C and would like to find out more or visit us, please e-mail info@qivc.org or call Sandra Beer at 518-392-1971 (between 7pm-9pm ET please).
