The People of Yellow Plum Commons

Scott W

I was born in Washington State in 1956.  I spent the first ten years of my life in Kennewick and then my family moved to the Seattle area.  I spent 4 years living in California graduating from Occidental College and have since that time lived in St Louis Missouri for 10 years, Redmond Washington for 8 years, traveled much of Mexico for 18 months and am now living in Kennewick for the last 4 years.  My career has been in Banking and Mortgage lending and my life has been my wife Bobi, my three children and my personal search for meaning.  That search took me down the path to obtain a Masters in Teaching to teach middle school Math and Science. I also take an active role in my church (Unitarian Universalist) and am active in several other non profit organizations.  I enjoy a good beer and good conversation.

I first encountered cohousing in 1995 and then in 2000 was an Associate Member of Equinox Cohousing in Redmond Washington until we moved to Kennewick WA.   Part of our decision to purchase property in Kennewick was the idea to develop a Cohousing neighborhood on the property.  It took until 2002 to adjust the zoning to make the project feasible Now we are working to grow the community.

Bobi W

Cohousing has intrigued me since learning about it in 1995 when we, along with our neighbors at that time considered combining our properties to create community.  

Devoting the kind of energy required to create cohousing didn't suit our lives at that time but the desire for the lifestyle stayed with us.  

My husband Scott, I and our 3 children traveled for a year and a half during which we lived in situations similar to cohousing.  This experience convinced us this was certainly a path to follow.  We suggested my parents consider converting their property, the last remaining bit of land in a surrounding sea of suburbia, into a cohousing community.  Turns out we now own that land and consider creating cohousing a healthy, beautiful stewardship of the land and our lives rather than creating another cold, non-descript subdivision.

Currently only our 15 yr old is still at home and may well be out of the house before move-in.  My children are some of my favorite people.  I intend to help create a place they call home for visiting while in the meantime enjoying the children of the community.

I am an artist/metal smith fully delighting and in awe of the creative process.  I love people and love solitude and am very excited to live in community with engaging and real people. 

Frankie R

Frankie had the privilege of raising her family on the land that we hope to some day call Yellow Plum Commons.  Frankie is active in her church, in the Red Hat Society, and with the lives of her children and grandchildren.

Meryl B

I first read about cohousing in an Utne Reader magazine in the late 1980s.  I immediately recognized that this was something that made sense to me.  So when I saw a poster at the Unitarian Church advertising "Cohousing In Kennewick", I quickly got in touch.  That was 4 years ago, and I became one of the founders of Yellow Plum Commons.  

My family consists of 2 daughters, ages 11 and 12, a big happy dog named Duke, three cats and a turtle.  I've lived in the Tri-cities for 12 years, and find it to be an extremely livable town.  And I am committed to making cohousing happen here. 

In cohousing, I want to share the challenges of life - fixing sprinklers, support for parenting, sharing our hopes and dreams while we share meals and work in the garden together.

Nancy O

I was born in and grew up in the Tri-Cities, being very active in 4-H as a teenager.  I went off to Pomona College in Claremont, CA for 4 years, married and then lived in San Francisco for a few months without my husband, before I traveled to Korea to be with him for the rest of his tour there.  We also spent some time at Ft. Meade, MD, and then returned to the Tri-Cities in the early 1970s.  I taught English while I was in Korea, and later continued a career in education, teaching mostly high school social studies.  Now I'm retired from my career in the public schools, but I still teach and tutor.  For example, I teach English as a Second Language twice a week at a church in Pasco, with mostly Mexican immigrants. 

Now I live with just my cat, in the house I've been in since 1978.  I know some of my neighbors, but not very well.  I'd love to be part of a real neighborhood, where residents work together.  I first connected with the Yellow Plum co-housing group in March of 2004.  They're a terrific group of people interested in building a community, sharing lives.  That's what appeals most to me about co-housing.