Governance 

3 Aspects of a Healthy and Thriving Community

1. Effective project management. This is comprised of the ways we create and maintain our legal entity. The ways we develop and manage our property. The way we arrange  and track our internal community finances and member labor agreements. We have a method for attracting and orienting new members. We also have a method that maintains the community documents, policies, and decisions.

2. Governance also includes good Process and Communication skills. By communication skills we mean ways people talk to each other including tone. At RHA we make specific time together to learn new communication skills including “ Non-Violent Communication” and “Imago Dialog”. By process skills we mean the ways members gather specifically to get to know each other, consider new ideas, and understand each other's emotions. To that end we strongly encourage members to attend communal meals. 

3. A thriving community participates in Shared Enjoyable Activities. On top of shared communal meals, we have shared work tasks, social gatherings and outings, and the occasional campfire. We feel this participation creates strong emotional glue, trust, and goodwill towards other members. It will be important to have this bank account of emotional resilience in times of stress.

At Rocky Hearth Alliance (RHA) we intend to learn and practice Sociocracy. We feel that defined roles contributes toward personal agency and enhances the sense of belonging. Once there is a core group, we will make decisions about our Legal Structure. Are we selling shares like a cooperative or are we a private membership association where we are members and the legal structure owns the land? There might be a component of limited equity. It might be best if the legal structure also owns the buildings and personal dwellings, with some sort of rent-to-own. Whether or not the previous owner is bought out, all or some of the property is gifted to the legal structure remains to be decided by the founding group. Rent-to-own favors someone who feels they might like an easy out if they decide leaving the community might be in their best interest. RHA is not a prison, however some level of commitment is required for a community to succeed.