FEC Communities in the Media

Dispatches from Zion - 417 Magazine (2016)
Supported by a multi-million-dollar nut butter business, an intentional community has quietly existed in Tecumseh for more than 40 years. We sent a writer to find out about this slice of counterculture in our own backyard.

The Pros and Cons of Living in an Income-Sharing Commune - The Atlantic (2016) VIDEO
In the heart of Washington, D.C., seven people live in a single home and pool all of their incomes, which range from upwards of $80,000 to a couple thousand. The residents of Compersia Commune embrace an ideology that values unpaid labor and disavows capitalism. In this tiny, socialized economy, the collective gets everything you have—which, for some, has been liberating. “We talk a lot and think a lot about trying to transform our relationship to money,” says GPaul, one of the commune’s members in this Atlantic documentary. “We’re doing all of this work so that worrying about money [and] stressing about money is not so present in our lives.”

Utopia: It's Complicated -- Inside new-age and vintage communities - CNN (2015)  VIDEO
The first hint that this assignment will be different comes when a man, working alone in a hammock-weaving shop, spots me and shouts, "Unicorn!" I back out of his space and duck into the room where I'm supposed to be: in a rustic building for an official introduction to this 48-year-old commune.

Welcome to the Commune Where 100 Adults Raise 17 Kids - Yahoo Parenting (2015)
Community members can also earn their keep in another highly esteemed way that can feel downright revolutionary to outsiders: by caring for one of the commune’s 17 children, either as that kid’s mom or dad or as his or her “primary,” the term given to adult mentors who have prescribed times with specific children.

Communes still thrive decades after the '60s, but economy is a bummer, man - Al Jazeera America (2015)
None of the typical totems of adulthood are necessary for life in Twin Oaks. No diploma, resume or credit score are required for entry. But that doesn’t mean that the common burdens of adulthood don’t creep in — like the economy.

Tofu, the building blocks of Twin Oaks community - Washington Post (2015)
My first exposure to Twin Oaks was through the tofu, which I started buying a few years back and appreciate for its fresh, clean flavor and firm, easy-to-work-with texture. When I met a couple of residents offering samples of the product at the Whole Foods Market on P Street several months ago, their friendly energy made me interested in learning more.

A Look Inside Twin Oaks - CNN (2015)
Photographer Aaron Cohen has visited Twin Oaks more than 20 times.  He only uses first names, in deference to community culture. 

Twin Oaks Women's Gathering in Louisa this Weekend - Newsplex (2015) VIDEO
This is the 31st year for the event and more 100 women will gather at the campgrounds for three days of dancing, stargazing and celebrating in a supportive feminist space.

Inside Off-the-Grid Virginia Commune Where Everything From Housing to Child Care Is Shared - ABC Nightline (2015) VIDEO
While it may not appeal to everyone, for some, this sort of communal living makes a lot of sense. Some of the commune’s residents are single mothers who say they wouldn’t have been able to afford many of the luxuries the commune provides on their own, such as free childcare.

Searching for Happiness in 'Utopia' - Huffington Post (2014)
“Utopia is very loaded word,” said Guarneri. “It’s a pun on a Greek word — it means some place good, but also no place. So it’s really an imaginary construct, sort of a thought experiment, and it’s unfair to give a community a label like that. It’s an easy slam to say that ‘Oh, well, that isn’t a utopia.’”

National Communities Conference Held at Twin Oaks - Mother Earth News (2015)
The communities movement is not new news: From ecovillages to college dorms to co-ops, folks have been experimenting with intentional alternative living for decades, with degrees of success as varied as the participants... The conference drew over one hundred registries, representing close to a dozen communities.

Twin Oaks: Small-Scale Communism in America - Russia Today (2012) VIDEO
They do not have a group religion, their beliefs are diverse. They do not have a central leader, they govern themselves by a special form of democracy. They are self-supporting economically, and partly self-sufficient. They make and sell casual furniture, hammocks and tofu. They live in Twin Oaks.

Seeking the Good Life in America - Outside of the Box Media (2011) DOCUMENTARY
Like many of us, Joy is not content with the high consumption modern lifestyle we live in the United States. So she journeys to three different intentional communities - places where people have chosen to share land and resources in all kinds of creative ways - and documents her experiences.

Come Together - This Magazine
Despite often being “seen as weird,” says Kozeny, alternative community-builders are pioneers searching for new ways to address ongoing human concerns. Economics, environmental sustainability, urban alienation—these are hardly fringe issues.  Every group has its own vision, but rather than surrendering their lives to social accident, intentional communities are all tackling human challenges with practical idealism—tie-dye and daisy wreathes optional.

Sorghum Sweetens Community Life for Producers and Consumers - Sauce Magazine (2005)
“There was an old-time couple in the area near Sandhill in the ’70s who cooked the syrup,” said Hildebrand. “At first, we just grew some [sorghum] cane and processed it with the older couple. Then we started cooking our own.” The members of the Sandhill community work each fall with interns, friends and other cooperatives to process the sorghum cane into syrup.

Ecovillage People - BUST Magazine (2003)
Thirty-six years ago, one woman dreamed of creating an independent society. Today, her dream is a thriving community that's creating its own feminist culture.