{"id":52800,"date":"2020-07-09T15:03:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T21:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-has-social-distancing-changed-cohousing-community-in-southwest-colorado\/"},"modified":"2020-07-09T21:03:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-09T21:03:00","slug":"how-has-social-distancing-changed-cohousing-community-in-southwest-colorado","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-has-social-distancing-changed-cohousing-community-in-southwest-colorado\/","title":{"rendered":"How has social distancing changed cohousing community in Southwest Colorado?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Heartwood
Heartwood residents physically distance themselves in March in the outdoor community space. Sandy Thomson, co-founder of Heartwood, said residents physically distance, not socially distance because community is a major aspect of their lifestyle.<\/span>Courtesy of Sandy Thomson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

At least twice a week, a dinner bell rang to call children exploring the great outdoors back home and adults in their houses to the community dinner at the Heartwood Cohousing community in Bayfield.<\/p>\n

That was before COVID-19 shuttered communal events.<\/p>\n

The community dinners might be on hold, but Maria Miller, who moved into Heartwood about a month ago, said the feeling of a tight-knit bunch has not left Heartwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are physically distancing, but not socially distancing,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Community members, who live in 24 condo-style homes, still meet outside but sit 6 feet apart from each other for happy hour, or to chat in the evenings.<\/p>\n

\"Heartwood
Heartwood Cohousing, a development near Bayfield, has had to pull back on some communal activities because of the coronavirus, but residents say it remains a tight-knit community.<\/span>Courtesy of Heartwood Cohousing<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sandy Thomson, one of the founding members of the community, said there has been an increase in interest in Heartwood since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are slowing down and reconsidering what they want out of life,\u201d Thomson said.<\/p>\n

In February, Heartwood had five new people look into living spaces on the website. In June, it had 16 people. The number of new Instagram followers also doubled in that period. Between March and the end of June, 15 people contacted Heartwood to schedule a visit to see one of the houses for sale.<\/p>\n

Benefits of community living<\/div>\n

Many of those interested in moving to Heartwood are from major cities, which is \u201cnot as safe a place anymore\u201d with the global pandemic, Thomson said. In Heartwood, if an elderly person needs to go shopping but is nervous about contracting COVID-19, neighbors will do it for that person.<\/p>\n

Heartwood also has greenhouses and a garden where residents grow their own food, which \u201cseems to be a big draw,\u201d Thomson said.<\/p>\n

The community is providing food security not just for its residents, but the larger community as well. The produce from Heartwood is free for residents, but they leave donations and extra food for Pine River Shares, a nonprofit food share program in Bayfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust looking out the window and seeing someone you know and care about makes you feel less isolated,\u201d Thomson said.<\/p>\n

\"Maria
Maria Miller and her son, Lincoln, pictured above, moved to the Heartwood Cohousing community a month ago so he could be free to explore the 365 acres of space on the property.<\/span>Courtesy of Maria Miller<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Heartwood has not had any confirmed cases of COVID-19, though one woman fell ill and tested negative twice. Another sick family isolated in their house in case it was COVID-19, Thomson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really care about our neighbors here, and we don\u2019t want to give it to anyone else here,\u201d Thomson said. When residents are in an indoor space together, they mostly wear masks, she said.<\/p>\n

Miller said she wanted her son to grow up with less time in front of a television screen and more time playing outdoors on the 365 acres of open space Heartwood has to offer. She gives him and the other kids he plays with walkie talkies, so they hide from each other and space out across the gardens.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoneliness is a virus all itself,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Fear and anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to isolation to avoid spreading and contracting the virus, has had detrimental effects on mental health, particularly in spread-out, rural areas with few mental health support resources and spotty access to internet.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Heartwood garden and greenhouses have been a major draw for new community members, said Sandy Thomson, co-founder of Heartwood. During the coronavirus pandemic, Heartwood has provided food security for its members and Pine River Shares.<\/span>Courtesy of Sandy Thomson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Miller lived in a house in Bayfield for seven years before moving to the Heartwood Cohousing community. In that time period, Miller said she never got to know her neighbors, and couldn\u2019t count on them if \u201cthere was something I needed beyond a cup of sugar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I have a dozen choices if I need someone to watch my child,\u201d Miller said about the community at Heartwood.<\/p>\n

After about a month of living with the Heartwood community, Miller said she knows her neighbors well and trusts them.<\/p>\n

\"At
At least a dozen Heartwood community members help Maria Miller move into her new house about a month ago.<\/span>Courtesy of Sandy Thomson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Miller moved into her house during the COVID-19 pandemic, and at least 12 Heartwood community members with masks and gloves helped her move furniture in the heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all lift each other up during this really difficult, depressing time,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

She is a social studies and science teacher at Bayfield Primary School, which has her \u201calways thinking about community,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

By exploring the outdoors instead of watching television, Miller said her son is gaining critical thinking experience that some kids are lacking. When schools shut down because of COVID-19, Miller and her son spent more one-on-one time together.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial skills and play are the most important things, and to take that away from kids is a really bad thing,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n

Precautions during COVID-19<\/div>\n

Heartwood\u2019s common areas were closed to visitors until July 1, including the common house, meditation yurts, hiking trails and hot tub. Now, those facilities are open and deep cleaned regularly.<\/p>\n

Residents could have visitors at their individual homes.<\/p>\n

Claire Ninde, spokeswoman for San Juan Basin Public Health, said the agency appreciates Heartwood\u2019s efforts to reduce social contacts, even when it\u2019s an important part of their lifestyle.<\/p>\n

Miller said there is a common misconception that Heartwood is a commune, but it isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are people from all walks of life, careers and religious beliefs that support each other as neighbors,\u201d Miller said. \u201cI wish I could magically give that to everyone right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

ehayes@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

are different, but there is also more interest in joining communal neighborhood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[731,13,624],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-52800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-bayfield","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-lifestyle-and-leisure"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52800"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=52800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}