FAQs
What is COUCH? How did it get started?
COUCH, Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing, is a non-profit cooperative organization of housing cooperatives, either as associate or member houses. COUCH began in 1997 as an umbrella organization for the independent housing co-ops in the Urbana-Champaign area, but was also founded with the vision of creating a larger co-op community to advance the cooperative movement, establish community, and achieve economies of scale within the co-op community.
What is a co-op?
A co-op is an organization that is member-owned and member-controlled. Familiar examples may be things like a food co-op, a credit union, or a farmers' co-op.
What is a member house? What is an associate house?
A COUCH member house is a housing co-op which COUCH either owns, has signed the lease on, or manages for NASCO Properties. The residents of COUCH member houses are COUCH members, by virtue of paying a one-time $20 fee, and NASCO members, by paying a one-time $25 fee. Member houses have representation on the board based on the number of residents. Associate houses are independent co-op houses, owned either by their members or by private landlords, that have chosen to affiliate themselves with COUCH. The houses pay $2 per month per member to COUCH, to pay for things like advertising and COUCH inter-cooperative social activities, such as movie nights and camping retreats. Associate house members may choose to become COUCH members (by paying the $20 fee), NASCO members (by paying the $25 fee), and may elect a single representative to the COUCH board.
What is the benefit of belonging to COUCH?
One of the greatest benefits of belonging to COUCH is that of broader community. Rather than an isolated co-op, your co-op is affiliated with a larger and greater co-op. During COUCH events, you can interact with other co-opers in our city. Another benefit is that of sharing advertising resources, such as newspaper ads and this website, which are supported by your membership contribution. Another is the opportunity to help shape the face of co-oping in Urbana-Champaign by representing your house on the COUCH board (please note that board members must become COUCH members).
How do I set up an associate house?
Find a house! Depending on your financial situation, you may want to rent the house, or perhaps pool resources with other potential housemates and buy a house. Keep in mind that if you buy a house, you and your housemates should draw up contracts in advance stating what happens if a buying member moves out.
Find housemates! You may want to organize your house around a theme that will guide the house policies and help people self-select, such as dietary habit (omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, kosher, etc.), social themes (woman-only, kid-friendly, etc.), or political themes (activism-oriented, etc.). Try to create a theme that is inclusive rather than exclusive. (For example, rather than having a theme of a Jewish-only co-op, structure your house policies to be friendly to both Jewish people and non-Jews who are friendly towards and interested in the Jewish faith, and are willing to keep a kosher house.) COUCH may be able to help you find housemates by referral.
What if our associate house wants to become a member house?
The most likely venue for this would to have COUCH sign your lease. You would then pay a small markup over your rent to COUCH, to be used as a vacancy reserve, as well as paying the one-time $20 fee to become COUCH members and the $25 fee to join NASCO. Your house would then have voting rights in perpetuity, and your members would have the right to have proportional representation on the board (in the instance that your house had more than eight members). Your members would also have the right to attend the annual COUCH membership meeting and vote for the president of the COUCH board.
What is NASCO? What is NASCO Properties?
NASCO, North American Students of Cooperation, is an education and social non-profit organization, dedicated to spreading the 'gospel' of cooperation. It holds an annual conference, NASCO Institute, each November in Ann Arbor, Michigan. NASCO Properties, or NP, was created by NASCO as a non-profit cooperative development corporation. NP owns houses in Austin, Chicago, Santa Cruz, Athens, Kalamazoo, and Buffalo, which are managed by local cooperative organizations like COUCH. NP owns the Brooks and Harvest houses.