member guide

What? 

OpenDoor defines coliving as a modern form of community housing designed to support a purpose-driven and shared lifestyle. Residents unite around common interests, values, and intentions to collaboratively manage a space, share resources, and support one another.

Why? 

The purpose of coliving is to create a home environment for members, guests, and the extended community that:

• Builds meaningful connections and lasting relationships
• Serves as a platform for fulfilling creative pursuits and projects, and accelerating personal growth and learning
• Cultivates collaboration, connections, and serendipitous interactions
• Enables more affordable and sustainable living through sharing and efficient use of resources, without compromise in lifestyle
• Inspires people to be active participants in their lives and the world around them

   

Who? 

Coliving is for people who want to live with greater intention, mindfulness, and purpose. For people who value authentic human connection, learning, and personal growth, and who want to be part of creating something bigger than themselves. Our members include creative professionals, artists, entrepreneurs, healers, teachers, adventurers, activists, and more – diverse people from all walks of life that share a desire to live with greater purpose, creativity and connection.

What We Value: 

We are exploring new ways of living and creating home together. Through this process, we have come to value:

• Community alongside individuality
• Intentionality over apathy
• Openness and collaboration over competition
• Sharing of resources over consumption of “stuff”
• Diversity of people and perspective over homogeneity
  

Want to learn more?

Checkout our blog post on So what exactly is coliving?, the most googled article on coliving on the internet!

About Opendoor

Who is OpenDoor?

We are a social enterprise that exists to support and expand community living through the development and management of coliving properties. As one of the founders of the modern coliving movement, our mission is to enable people to live with greater creativity, connection, and purpose through shared living, and we are building a national network of coliving spaces. Additionally, we are a public benefit corporation, meaning our social mission is codified in our core legal structure. We are driven by a vision that’s bigger than just coliving; one that’s about the future of resilient cities, strong social fabric, and sustainable lifestyles. Learn more on our About page.

Why OpenDoor? 

OpenDoor is an invitation to “live better together” by living in community. We believe in community as a way to live happier, healthier lives; to live in greater alignment with our values; and to live more sustainably. We believe community is our natural “habitat” as a species, having evolved in tribes and villages, and that many issues in our modern society stem from the feeling of isolation, disconnection, and loneliness. 

Our Approach to Coliving

Overview

Our aim is to facilitate unique, authentic communities in each of our coliving properties. We partner closely with our members to co-create a healthy coliving culture and shared sense of identity, purpose, and ownership in each of our spaces. We provide the basic framework and members bring it to life with their passion, vision and ideas. We believe this is fundamental to making authentic communities, as well as encouraging diverse culture and membership in our housing communities. 

OpenDoor’s Role 

We have learned a lot over the years about how to curate and manage community living. We aim to pass on those learnings to our communities. Our primary goal is to minimize the potential points of friction with shared living, while maximizing its benefit. As property manager, we handle basic items such as leasing, billing, payments, utilities, repairs and more.  As community facilitator, we provide the structure and process for community agreements, systems, and culture. This includes supporting individuals and pods as they navigate the process of operating in community, and providing continuity and stability as members come and go over the years.

Your Role

We are excited to have you on this journey with us!  As a member of an OpenDoor community, you are part of a movement that is bigger than your membership in the community you live in. We are a highly collaborative organization and strive to build close relationships with our members. We invite our members to take a stance of co-creation with us, which includes offering constructive feedback and experimenting with new, better ways of doing things in their communities. We look forward to working together to co-create your community experience!

An Open Invitation

While OpenDoor holds the overall process, we invite members to generate participation and value for themselves in the following ways:  

• A Participatory Experience. Living in community has many amazing benefits, but it also takes your participation. Expect to contribute 3+ hours weekly in the form of house chores, meetings, cooking/cleaning shifts and creative projects..
• You Get Out What You Put In. Many of the deeper benefits of coliving result from rolling up your sleeves and contributing to making your community better. Coliving is not an experience you consume, but rather one you create with your fellow members. That being said, we all experience busy times and it’s okay to take time for yourself when needed.
• Viewing Challenges as Opportunities for Growth. It would be foolish to expect the community to always be smooth sailing. We invite you to take a learning stance when dealing with challenges in your home. In our view, this is one of the greatest opportunities for living in community. Community by its nature brings up many juicy opportunities to expand your perspective, increase your empathy, and better understand how you impact others.

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COVID Agreements

Make sure to wipe your ass. Wash your hands.

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