It’s a large, old farmhouse in central New York State, about 15 miles south-east of Syracuse on an acre of beautiful grass and trees.
WHY DID WE PICK THIS HOUSE?
- Comparatively good outdoor air quality
- A nice neighborhood
- No recent renovations on the interior
- Hardwood floors throughout half of the house
- Good layout and size for 3 separate housing units
- Good roof and siding, large windows, sound structure
- Garden space and passive solar opportunity
It needs a lot of work
This is both a good and challenging thing — good because we get to choose materials and designs for better air quality and lower electrical fields, and challenging because we need to find ways to do the work on a very tight budget.
PLEASE REACH OUT If WOULD LIKE TO OFFER AN afternoon to volunteer . . .
A list of interested prospective residents is being opened:
– This will be housing for mildly- to moderately-sensitive people.
– There will be two 2-bedroom apartments and one to-be-determined apartment.
– This housing project is designed to be affordable rentals for low-income people, with HUD Section 8 being accepted.
– At a minimum, co-op residents need to have responsibilities that contribute to the co-op and have the social skills to constructively participate in the monthly financial and problem-solving meetings. Residents must maintain ongoing communication and negotiation with co-op peers and board members. A co-op is a small business that works by consensus and mediation. The group is authorized in the by-laws to require residents to seek counseling or be evicted. Healthy attitudes mean a lot in the group process. It’s fine to use “alone time” to help manage symptoms or sickness, and you don’t have to be best friends with site members. However, building and maintaining trust is essential. Being flexible and open to learning are important qualities.
– Residents need to have a basic daily ability for living independently. If you need help with finances, transportation, shopping, home care, or counseling, then that needs to be independently established ahead-of-time.
In our first housing site, our goal is to put MCS people in a situation of managing and eventually owning their own housing. We believe that this will be a huge improvement over the existing rentals that are available. It will be progress, not perfection. We care deeply about the plight of the extremely sensitive, and hope, as funding becomes available, to have housing sites that are appropriate for them as well.