We are a diverse group with a big dream
Mike
I moved to Puyallup 1982 and grew to love the area. In 1988, I bought a 17 acre farm on the outskirts of Puyallup. The farm was beautiful with a wonderful view of Mt. Rainier and 800 feet of riverfront on the Puyallup River. It was everything this California-born hippy could want. But my career took me away from the area before I could even move in. So I’ve rented out the farmhouse and had the raspberries farmed by a sharecropper for over 30 years.
I’m now retired from an engineering career in the semiconductor industry. I’m a crazy gardener who likes to experiment with things like hydroponics and aquaponics. My wife and I are members of several mushroom clubs in both CA and WA. Dance has been my passion for over 40 years now and I’m hoping that Covid will wane enough to allow it to resume. And I’m curious to see what will happen when I relocate my decades-old sourdough starter to the Northwest. I’ve been a “lurker’ in the cohousing scene for many years. I’ve toured over 20 communities in California, Colorado and Washington, have attended several of the regional and national cohousing conferences, and even participated in a couple of very early groups that failed to gel in Austin, Texas and San Jose, California. I’m hoping that we can create an affordable cohousing community that can serve as a good steward to the land.
Bob
I am interested in the transformative potential of intentional communities both in the physical and social spaces of our lives. What can 40 people working together do that one family can’t do on their own? I have been living in Tacoma since 2019. I work remotely so am very flexible in where I live. I’m looking forward to having a community where we support each other putting our values into action.
Sharon
I’m a Research Scientist/Lab Manager at UW and have supported a variety of projects such as creating low-tech diagnostic kits for trachoma detection, drug discovery for tropical parasitic diseases, and technologies for advancing a wearable dialysis unit. I’m also a lifetime grower, community gardener of 30+ years, and zinnias and pumpkins were my gateway plants. The combination of my Midwest roots and science nerd genes are prodding me into my next Big Project—laying the groundwork for healthy soil and an eventual thriving farm at the Puyallup site. The 2 acre, agriculturally zoned field at the Puyallup cohousing site presents an incredible opportunity to create a polyculture farm providing a localized source of healthy produce, year-round pollinator habitat & a food forest supplementing a protective Puyallup River riparian zone.
From house shares to condos to a residential marina, I’ve lived in a variety of intentional communities since my 1985 arrival in WA state. I enjoy the synergy of shared networks, neighbor diversity, and the camaraderie of common purpose that results from a shared footprint. Beyond “talking the talk”, this growing community is walking the walk of responsible stewardship of land, shared resources that shrink the footprint of “stuff” and fostering a cohesive team dedicated to the next generation of resilient housing solutions.
Joni & Rich
Joni grew up in Portland, Oregon, and Rich grew up on a dairy farm in Glenwood City, Wisconsin. We met at Portland State University in the 1970’s, and soon thereafter took off to live in SE Alaska for 11 years. We moved back to Oregon in 1986 to be closer to our families. Joni worked as a social worker in the juvenile justice system, and Rich worked mostly in electronic building systems. Rich also has experience in construction and furniture-making, and worked for a few years in Hearing Research at Oregon Health Sciences University.
We have an old house on an acre near Newberg, Oregon where we have lived since 1989, along with sheep, goats and chickens at various times. Our two boys who spent their early childhood in a cabin on the beach in Kasaan Bay, Alaska are all grown up now. Oliver lives in Washington DC, and Dan lives in Newberg with us. We love to travel, and have explored our roots in Scotland, Germany, and Belgium and have made 3 road trips all the way across the USA. When at home, Joni dabbles in fiber arts – spinning, knitting, crocheting, weaving, felt making, and growing fiber plants like hemp, cotton, nettles and flax, and dye plants like Japanese Indigo. Rich loves working with wood, making things in his workshop and fixing things. We have a big garden that keeps us busy, and like to go for walks and to the gym. We are involved in some local groups like Newberg Sustainable Solutions. We look forward to building a sustainable community on this beautiful piece of land in Puyallup with others who care about people and the planet.
Joe, Paige, & Hoa
Hoa has been interested in cohousing for several years for its ability to address important issues such as environmental sustainability and social connection, and is even more determined to live in community after becoming a mother.
Joe is from Hawaii and adventurous enough to explore his wife’s unconventional ideas. You can talk to him about his nearby fishing spot on the Puyallup River, gardening, raising chickens, designing/installing residential solar, EVs, and early parenthood.
Renee
Greetings reader! I was born and raised in Holland and moved from there to the beautiful North West in 1987. Living with less stuff and more connections has always been a strong desire of mine and I’d love to take this to a new level through living in a cohousing community. Professionally I trained to be a dietician in Holland but switched to nursing upon arrival in the US. Currently I work as a pediatric RN in a local hospital and preventative health is a special area of interest to me. In my free time I enjoy visiting with people, hiking, swimming, reading and volunteering in different capacities both local and overseas. My core beliefs and faith stem from Jesus Christ whom I seek to follow the best I can. As such I desire to be a good steward of the amazing creation we inhabit and obey the command to “love my neighbor as myself.” This is a lifelong challenge that I aspire to continue to grow in with this community.
Rhonda & Odysseus
Rhonda grew up in the Boston Area and moved to San Francisco to pursue a career in technical theater. Finding that a terrible way to make a living, she became a licensed veterinary technician and worked in small animal medicine until her retirement in 2022. Her new career is organizing dance events for her dance community which include contradances, rapper sword, and a week long family dance camp. Her work in life is to create community and cohousing seems a wonderful way to do that.
Odysseus grew up near Chicago and lived in Tokyo and Seattle before moving to California in 2012. His love of the Northwest and the arrival of his first grandson in Seattle have drawn him to Puyallup cohousing. He has been involved in establishing cohousing communities and has lived in cohousing much of his adult life and looks forward to coming back to that lifestyle. He works as a programmer and spends much of his time outside work hiking, reading, writing, and parenting his teenage daughter. He wakes up every morning determined to save the world and would like to talk to you about that.
Pat
Pat is the owner of Adcor LLC, which facilitates the transition of the built environment to a higher level of sustainability through the development, construction, operation, and maintenance. Pat has conducted real estate transactions valued in total at more than one-half billion dollars including property acquisition, development, syndication, and sales. His developments include a ten story office building and more than 25 market rate and affordable housing projects ranging in size from 10 to 825 units. Pat also serves on the leadership team of the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild.
Anna
I moved from rural Mexico to Washington State in Sep 2021 for a year-long experiment in living tiny in a 207sf Olympia studio – actually, a converted garage. The covid-19 pandemic has been quite a shock to our daily routines, yet I want to remember that some good has come from it. Through virtual groups like Puyallup Cohousing, I found others interested in affordable housing, living simply, protecting precious farmland, and speaking thoughtfully + deeply about what defines home & community. I joined this cohousing group in June 2022.
Now I live in a Colorado senior community close to family. Along the way, I detached myself from many possessions. Changed my attitude about what was enough. Read books, watched YouTube videos, researched terms online: minimalism, simplicity. I’m choosing to live without a car. Zero fare buses and short walks get me to nearby grocery stores and shops. I work remotely to assist the Executive Director of the Washington Tiny House Association. Their mission is to advocate for truly affordable, creative, micro-housing solutions in Washington State. In my free time, I volunteer as an English instructor for international students and keep up with my grandkiddos, ages 2 and 3.