Tuesday August 17, 2010. Dignity Village is the most colorful intentional community we’ve visited, not just for the murals and vibrant colors painted on the buildings. But also for its story. It is a community of about sixty homeless people.

Now nearly ten years old, Dignity Village sits on the tarmac of a Portland city-owned lot located near the Columbia River in a mixed industrial and open space region. This non-profit organization has numerous enterprises which enable them to pay for electricity, water, and portable toilet services like any tenant. Except for the fenced parcel, they receive nothing from government funding.

Jonboy Hawkes, outreach coordinator, gave us the grand tour. All of the buildings sit on stilts at least 18″ above the ground, primarily to be above the level where rats can reach. Houses have a 10 ft x 15 ft footprint, and are made from salvaged and donated materials. There’s a lot of green plants everywhere, softening what would otherwise be a stark landscape.

There’s a big greenhouse, showers, portable toilets, community kitchen, large community building (one of only two that have electricity), entry/guard house, container gardens, and a thrift shop. Any person, not just community members, can use the facilities during their open hours.

Dignity Village has its own board, rules for governance, committees. All members must agree to several rules including no violence, no theft, no drugs or alcohol, no constantly disruptive activities. Each member must contribute 10 hours a week to upkeep and maintenance of the village.

They live up to their name, providing dignity and respect for homeless people. I think they may be the wave of the future in many ways, and not just for the homeless. (www.dignityvillage.org).

Monday, August 16, 2010. When you turn into the driveway from the busy four-lane thoroughfare, you’re greeted by trees and flowers within the central parking lot and in front of the surrounding warm-colored apartments. It’s an oasis of lush green biodiversity, a rural-feeling village within an urban surround. Permaculture put into practice.

In the four years since we taped Pam and Joe Leitch of the Portland Permaculture Institute, they’ve accomplished the impossible. Their renovated farmhouse in northeastern Portland has expanded to become a 37-unit ecovillage. They purchased an adjoining apartment complex which they upgraded to be as energy efficient and green as reasonably possible. And they worked entirely “the system” to get construction loans and enable mortgage financing as a condominium.

At the same time, they established the ecovillage vision and values, by-laws, and had numerous meetings with potential members to make sure the fit was good both for prospective and existing members. In spite of the economic crash of 2008, the ecovillage was fully bought into by opening day in spring of 2009. And the residents had already begun bonding as a community.

It seemed to us that the community members are comfortable with one another. Like an extended family, perhaps. The eight-year old who greeted us knew right where Joe and Pam live. We taped our conversation not only with Joe and Pam, but also with several community members. You’ll get a flavor for the many working groups, required trainings in conflict resolution and consensus, and what it’s like living there.

It seems this ecovillage didn’t have to wait for years for people to bond into a community: it took the fast track not only for renovation but for community-building. A model for creating intentional community in place, and a good resource for others wishing to do likewise.