Register | Login | View Cart | Search
Communities Directory Home
Intentional Communities Home Intentional Communities Home Fellowship for Intentional Community
 
Formed: 2007
This page last updated:3/27/2008
Gabriel's Garden
Ypsilanti, Michigan,
United States
 Gabriel’s Garden is a great place to try living in the warmer months. We have only one extra room available; the least amount of time for which we will offer it is a two-week vacation.
Who We Are:
Gabriel's Garden operates out of a circa-1868 farmhouse called the Forest House, on four acres very close to EMU and Depot Town, surrounded by a Lutheran church on 10 acres, a 200-unit apartment building, and 10 houses, most for sale. Gabriel’s Garden follows a self-sustainable model for living; it has a barn/workshop and is involved in a variety of free community projects: gardens, tool-lending library, DYI co-op, and kids’ playground. We also have daily organic potlucks. This is really, really free-market. The Forest House opens its doors to EVERYONE to meet and organize. We welcome all ages, food preferences, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and diverse political, social, and religious beliefs—in other words, ANYONE with an open mind, an open heart, and a hunger for good healthy food, learning, and community.
What do you give? Your talents. What do you receive?
1. Establish and develop healthy environments for communities.
2. Grow communities that are conducive to reverence for living systems.
3. Empower people to manifest their physical, mental, and economic health.
4. Cultivate neglected and damaged lands into biodiverse food- and medicine-producing gardens.
5. Transform cultures and institutions of racism, sexism, and classism into ones that embrace social and environmental justice.
6. Eliminate reliance on the destruction of faraway lands to meet our material and energy needs.
7. Sustain a spirit of vitality.
8. Make art in the service of life.
9. Foster a cooperative network of groups and individuals working to realize just, sustainable, and abundance-creating communities.
10. Facilitate the creation of deployable standing and reserve forces capable of implementing these goals.
We are a nonviolent community of volunteers made of progressive, enthusiastic, motivated, and committed individuals, striving to make this world a greener and more sustainable place. We combine principles such as discipline, commitment, and motivation with study and work in the field of permaculture. We are on the deck at 7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday to do our regular drills. We emphasize leadership, teamwork in doing chores, cottage-industry development, and volunteering in existing community gardens and community projects. We would also like to offer a diverse community housed in a green barracks, with a full organic refrigerator, clean sinks, spotless bathroom, and quiet nights. We combine military efficiency with a good cause, so that peace, love, and social cohesion can thrive and prosper.
  Status: eco friendly neighbor
Contact:
Gabriel's Garden
1343 E Forrest
Ypsilanti, Michigan 48198 United States
Phone: 419 343 9096
Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)
This page last updated:3/27/2008
 
Visitors Accepted
Visitor Process: Contact us by phone. In some cases, we can provide transportation through car-pool.
Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:
No Answer Provided
Population
Members(adults and children):
7
Non-member Residents:
0
Open to new members:
Yes
Government
Decision Making:
By consensus
Identified Leader:
No
Leadership Core Group:
Yes
Labor and Money
Financial Style:
Members have independent finances
Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt:
Yes
Labor Contribution:
Expected
(it's complicated but fair)
Join Fee:
Yes
(morgage and utilities depending on space needed no fee just a donation for use of loft beds in green Barracks)
Regular Fees:
Yes
(contribute to bulk purchases)
Land and Buildings
Suburban
Area:
3 acres (1.2 hectares)
Land Owned By:
Individual community member(s)
(future land trust)
Number of Residences:
2
Cohousing:
No
Food, etc.
Percentage of Food Grown:
over 50%
(in the summer)
Share Community Meals:
2-5 times/week
Dietary Choice or Restrictions:
Diet is up to each individual
(organic or local)
Dietary Practice:
Other
(survival)
Alcohol Use:
Prohibited
(unless waiver is signed)
Tobacco Use:
Prohibited
(unless there is a verbal agreement)
Social Factors
Common Spiritual Practices:
No
Which Spiritual Traditions(s):
Other
(very diverse)
Educational Style(s):
Home schooling
(great charter schools)
Cohousing Details
Cohousing Status:
Retrofitting
Year Completed:
2010
Number of Units:
20 loft beds in green Barracks
Square Feet in Common House:
2500
Architect:
none yet
Developer:
none yet
 
 


Become an Editor Current editor(s): eroc, ericeverhard
Comments from Directory Readers This community displays all reader comments (more info). You can add yours below.
There are no Reader Comments on this community.

Add Your Comment on Gabriel's Garden

We encourage comments from those who have first hand experience with a community so that others may benefit from your experience. Please share information you think will be useful to other users of this site, in a clear, concise, and polite manner. Each community can choose to display all comments, display selected comments, or not to display comments (more info). Communities will be shown email addresses of those who comment so that they might communicate with you if they choose.

We reserve the right to edit or delete any comment.

You must be logged in to add a comment. Login here or if you have not yet registered on our site Register here.


More Info on Display Options
Communities can choose one of three options for how reader comments are displayed.
  1. Display all reader comments.
  2. Do not display any reader comments.
  3. Display only comments selected by the community (this is the default value).
Communities may have a variety of reasons for choosing these options so we encourage you to not be quick to judge.
 

About these ads
We happily link to the following organizations, all of whom share our strong commitment to promoting community and a more cooperative world:
Cohousing The Federation of Egalitarian Communities - Communes Coop Community Cooperative Sustainable Intentional North American Students of Cooperation Global Ecovillage Network
Special thanks to the sponsors of our Art of Community Events.
Bryan Bowan Architects California Cohousing NICA Wolf Creek Lodge