Come learn about the Brigid Collective, a longtime West Berkeley group house community in a great location, this evening. Hear from a member and see if it feels like something you might want to be a part of. Get your questions answered.

See comments for links to potential issues, more photos, and application questions.

OFFERED: 144 sf Room. $735/month.

1 room open in 7-member communal home in West Berkeley

Brigid Collective has one second-floor room available starting March 1. The rent is $735 monthly.

We are a relaxed functional cooperative in a comfortably clean 2-story house. Our intentional community was established in 1985.

The House Itself:

The house is warm yet spacious, with 7 decent-sized bedrooms. Our common space includes a well-equipped kitchen with a Wedgewood stove, comfortable living and dining rooms, 2 full bathrooms, laundry room, a library with space for yoga or movement, a furnished attic, and a 2-room storage shed. We have a sunny backyard with 10 fruit trees, vegetable beds, a spiral herb garden, a patio, and our outdoor cat, Bella.

The area surrounding our home:

We are located in West Berkeley on a moderately busy street. We're near two small shopping districts, a few blocks from the west branch of Berkeley Public Library, a 20-minute walk to BART and near major bus routes and easy access to the highway.

Diversity:

We are a household of mostly queer, poly-leaning, self-employed (or retired) women, 5 white/-1 African American, with an age range of 41-72. It's not intentional that the demographic is mostly white and over 40 at this moment. As an Intentional Community the demographics have changed over the years. Both here and elsewhere we have all lived in multi-generational and BIPOC households, and encourage BIPOC folks, and folks from all backgrounds, identities, genders, classes, and ages to apply: all are equally valued. Also, we are Pagan, Buddhist, Jewish and Quaker, and follow other spiritual paths; all are welcome here as well.

What we are looking for in a housemate:

We are looking for people who have experience living in intentional community and with consensus process; who are sociable, considerate, able to collaborate with others, and want to invest time and energy into nurturing and maintaining a home. The ability to communicate and to engage especially with resolving conflict is also important, as is someone who is actively anti-racist.

House Culture:

We are committed to gathering every Tuesday evening to eat together and have a house meeting. In addition to running the household and communicating about our lives, we incorporate games and other ways to create social connection in our meetings.

Each member cooks, from the communal pantry, vegetable-based, organic meals for the whole group once a month. Some members do cook and eat meat in the house on their own, but currently only meat stocks/broths are part of the communal food.

We Care About:

We care about the world and helping to make it a better place. This is often reflected in our pursuits and choices of work. We tend toward education, art, singing, activism, permaculture, healing arts, magic, and service.

For us, creating community means taking the time to form relationships with housemates and offering your strengths and gifts. It means considering how your actions will impact other members of the community, consistently doing your chores, and cleaning up after yourself.

During the pandemic, we have been following a strict policy, often coinciding with the CDC. All of us are vaccinated and boosted and require the same of any housemate. If a member has a possible Covid exposure, that member is expected to mask in all common spaces, get a test in 5-7 days, and then can unmask when there is a negative test. We do act as if we are a family within the house. Guests are welcome in our garden, with masks and social distancing; guests who have gained our trust with transparency of behaviors and integrity in communication also come through our homes and into personal bedrooms. We expect all housemates to follow our COVID protocols so that we can all keep one another safe.

To Apply:

If this sounds like a co-op where you would like to contribute your energy and time, then please answer our preliminary application questions (linked in a comment below) and email us your responses.

If we feel that you are a potential match, we will get back to you as soon as we can. Finding a member who is a good fit is more important to us than filling the space right away.

Our process at this time is to speak on the phone or in Zoom (some of us can do Facetime). We will be able to send photos or show you around via camera during an interview. If you and we are still interested, then we will invite you to visit us in the back garden, with masks and 6-feet distance.

Thank you.