House for Rent!
Come join us! Rent, buy, or build in our intentional community in East Chatham, NY
If interested, e-mail info@qivp.org or call Sandra Beer at 518-392-1971 (between 7pm-9pm ET please).
Latest News
Here at QIVC we have had a lively, snow-filled spring with many power outages - which means more opportunities for us to get together and have community meals by candlelight, and pop over for a daily visit to the home that has a generator.
In the last year, two members of QIVC have joined local volunteer fire companies. One member currently serves on the town planning board and another works at the Town of Canaan voting station. We are also involved with the local Quaker meeting and synagogue.
Our renovation of East House is almost complete after many months of community effort! It will be available for a renter family starting in June with a new and enlarged kitchen, new flooring, a new half-bath in additon to the full bathroom, all new painting, new stairs on the back deck and a whole new deck for the main entrance. Even the wood stove got a spruce-up!
Our spring retreat focused on clarity around household finances and community financial structures as we seek ways to live more fully into our intentions, especially the third intention in which we challenge ourselves to redefine wealth and to create culture in which people and the earth together thrive.
As gardens and orchards blossom and produce fresh food to sustain us, we have fantasies of summer projects like a cob oven, small arboretum, and walking path. The possibilities are endless!
We welcome visitors and inquirers, and you're welcome to join us for potluck dinners on Friday evenings or other events announced by email and on Facebook. Not on our email list? Write to info@qivc.org and ask to have your name added. Not following us on Facebook? Find us here.
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read earlier news)
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Who we are
We are currently a community of six member 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 infant to 89, with 2 elders, 12 adults and 4 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@qivp.org or call Sandra Beer at 518-392-1971 (between 7pm-9pm ET please).
