Member Testimonials

What kinds of experiences do members have at Kalamazoo Collective Housing? See these testimonials below for a glimpse of our impact:

KCH has helped me become comfortable with leadership roles, and learn where my strengths as a person are. (2009 Member)

KCH has given me an outlet for my productive energies. (2009 Member)

KCH has been the place where I’ve formed the best, most fulfilling relationships of my life – based on respect, humility, honesty, and fun. (2009 Member)

I learned how to run good meetings. (2009 Member)

I've learned that cooperative living takes effort on everyone's part and has made me appreciate and better understand the skills and personalities of others as they are applied in a cooperative environment. I've become a more tolerant, open-minded individual as well. (2010 Member)

I lived at Fletcher from August of 2010-Feburary-2011.  I served as chair of the Board of Directors for KCH and I currently volunteer with the Fundraising Committee and I am the Accessibility Specialist.  I have recruited two friends to volunteer on the fundraising committee and they admire the mission of KCh.

As a member of Fletcher I felt empowered to take initiative and become a leader in the organization by commiting to administrative duties.  I am currently attending graduate school for policy planning and administration and jumped at the chance to gain experience for my future career plans.  I admired the focus of the board of directors and that each person found a way to accommodate one another during disagreements and times of complete consensus.  I deeply enjoyed my position as chair and felt that I gained so much knowledge of KCH through a few different perspectives.

I learned so much about taking pride in my home because the decision-process is facilitated by the members and no decision is finalized without consensus.  We are truly a democratic organization.  We met once a week at Fletcher to discuss household needs and member concerns.  My top reason for moving in is that it is designed for low-income people to receive sustainable housing.  Since I was legally homeless for four years as a teenager KCH struck a nerve with me.  The beautiful aspect about living in a collective is that each member could post a safe-space rule and that rule is intended to be followed by each housemate.  As a woman living with a visual impairment, I am very concerned with furniture and other items being scattered about so one of my safe-space rules was to keep the walkways clear to avoid physical injury.  I learned so much about preparing vegetarian and vegan dishes and learned so much regarding culture from each of my housemates.  Diversity is extremely important to me because I am a social worker and value people of all backgrounds. 

I also love sustainability and appreciate all the skills I learned regarding gardening, compost, environmentally-safe methods in cleaning, and realistic methods in saving money on heating bills during the winter.  I did not realize that covering all windows in the house with plastic would hold so much heat in the house saving quite a bit of money in heating bills and saving so much energy.  I loved that if the porch needed painting that we would find paint and get down to work painting.  We sustained ourselves on our strengths and each of us took the lead on tasks that we had the most comfort with.  I frequently prepared dinners and washed dishes because I don’t mind repetitive work.  Last summer a few housemates completely sanded and varnished the second floor of Fletcher because most of the carpet needed to come up. 

I remember how excited I was to screen my documentary My Eyes Your Eyes at Fletcher last summer and how amazing it was to screen an educational film in my house.  Fletcher is known as a venue for concerts in town where people can come and relax in an environment that does not promote drug or alcohol use.  I loved my time as a member of KCH and will continue to work to improve KCH in regards to fundraising and accessibility for members with disabilities. (2010 Member, Former Board President)