Housing Cooperatives

The following is a verbal report presented to the members of the Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative (EJBICC), during their 2025 Annual Meeting.

Residents organized a fundraiser on Feb. 22 to buy the building themselves under DC’s Tenants Opportunity to Purchase Act.

Two New York City housing co-ops debated whether to privatize.

In all likelihood, board meetings will be run according to Roberts Rules of Order. My guess is that the vast majority of HOA are governed in this way. Based on my 4+ decades of working with cooperative groups, however, I know this can be done better. 

This documentary short highlights an inspiring cooperative housing model designed to prevent displacement and create home ownership opportunities for Missoula residents.

Today we’re visiting community-rooted enterprises where people are rethinking power and participation in their lives. Collective housing and cultural co-ops, land trusts and community banks are providing fundamental shifts in our workplaces, living spaces, and economic understanding of local communities.

Housing cooperatives provide affordability, community, democratic governance, and promote social equality. Effective governance, member involvement, and supportive frameworks are crucial. Many also play a vital role in promoting sustainability and aligning with renewable energy initiatives, boosting their impact locally and throughout Europe. Housing Europe hosted a session on and for housing cooperatives, our members and partners, both established and emerging.

This paper and video presents findings from the ARC Linkage project, Articulating Value in Housing Co-operatives.

Bayard Rustin, who was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s key advisors, as well as a planner of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a leader in social movements for peace, civil rights, non-violence, and LGBTQ+ rights, is famous today for organizing the 1963 March on Washington. In those days, owing to him being gay, Rustin’s name and accomplishments were hidden from public view. It led him to be posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2013.

Deploying the principles and strategies of cooperation, Linda Leaks fought for housing justice in Washington, DC for 35 years.