On this week’s program, your host, Justin Mog, takes a seat in the common area for a great conversation about building community through cohousing! Listen in as we dialogue with Don Reinhardt, Outreach Director for Louisville Cohousing (https://www.louisvillecohousing.com/). Since the beginning of humankind, people lived with their extended families in communities where many tasks and resources were shared. Villages were structured in a way that encouraged more daily interaction.It is still that way in many places in the world. But here in the United States, especially, since World War, our neighborhoods have typically been designed for the nuclear family in a way that encourages less interaction. Isolation has become one of the most prominent public health issues of our time. We are more self-sufficient, but are we really? In 1940, an estimated 8 percent of Americans lived alone in their household. Now, 40 million Americans currently live alone, accounting for 30% of American households. And loneliness, according to the surgeon general, has been found to have the same negative health impact as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.Revived models of the village, namely Cohousing, can provide a way to plan for a healthier and more sustainable way of living, where neighbors design their village together and support each other more. Learn more and get connected with Louisville Cohousing at https://www.louisvillecohousing.com/ Don is a native Kentuckian who graduated from Northern Kentucky University in the early 1980’s with a degree in Psychology. Don currently lives in Campbellsburg, KY, where he returned to his home state in 2017 after 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work has included careers in mental health, information technology, and construction management, with over 30 years of experience in all levels of residential construction. He became interested in intentional community early in his career while studying at NKU. Don has lived in two Cohousing communities on the West Coast, and through all of his work he has carried a lifelong passion for combining Social Ventures with Housing Solutions. As a housing consultant, Don is currently partnered with nonprofit organizations in Louisville with missions of providing Affordable Housing for persons who have been marginalized. He has worked primarily with the Mattingly Edge, and a new non-profit start-up, Inclusive Housing Solutions, to launch Louisville Cohousing. In cooperation with Hope Dittmeier and Broke Crum at Mattingly Edge, and Mathilde Berthe at STUDIO co+hab, a cohousing architectural firm, and Frank Schwartz, a social worker, he recently spearheaded a grassroots effort by citizens who are part of Louisville Cohousing to get Cohousing included in the final draft of Mayor Greenberg’s My Louisville Home Plan for 15,000 new Affordable Housing units by 2027. Don has family in Campbellsburg, Louisville, and Northern Kentucky. He has the dream of establishing Cohousing communities at each location. Listen to Don's earlier appearance on Forward Radio, when Don talked cohousing with Ruth Newman and K.A. Owens on April 3rd: https://soundcloud.com/wfmp-forward-radio/access-hour-live-for-the-pledge-drive-cohousing-4-3-24 As always, our feature is followed by your community action calendar for the week, so get your calendars out and get ready to take action for sustainability NOW! Sustainability Now! is hosted by Dr. Justin Mog and airs on Forward Radio, 106.5fm, WFMP-LP Louisville, every Monday at 6pm and repeats Tuesdays at 12am and 10am. Find us at http://forwardradio.org The music in this podcast is courtesy of the local band Appalatin and is used by permission. Explore their delightful music at http://appalatin.com
