Membership (How to Become a Member)
Lightning Ranch is a community of people interested in creating a regenerative way of life. Regenerative is beyond sustainable. Regenerative implies healing and the community is devoted to healing the land for both agriculture and wildlife, building houses that use as much natural building material as possible, is environmentally healthy and which blends in harmoniously with the landscape and healing ourselves as both individuals and as a cooperative community.
To become a member:
Membership Fee for all members = $100 per month, with increasing rates depending on your housing situation.
All members are expected to provide a fair energy exchange consisting of attending project, meeting and goal time blocks throughout the week at flexible times. This would be equivalent to ~20 hours/week or a part time job spent on various community activities listed below. To get away from corporate oppressive structures and mindsets, we do not meticulously count hours, but measure our individual contributions in a fair, honor-based, energy-exchange system that is held accountable by all members. This is a primary focus of the periodic monthly reviews with all new members. We are open and free to do as we want and have plenty of our own free time, but just as much we come together to accomplish goals that support our collectives needs and desires. If you do not care to provide a fair amount of intentional time & energy into the community, building, sharing, growing, having fun, etc., both personally and collectively, then you should consider finding elsewhere to spend your energy.
Voting is a simple 80% consensus amongst members. Considered members obtain partial voting status after the 3 month review and become a full voting member after the 13 month review. Considered members must have unanimous current member support to join.
What do you get to participate in, learn, develop skills in and build with your community membership?
We envision a community where members consciously participate a certain amount of time each week to communal activities that include:
Members are encouraged to build up their own entrepreneurial activities to bring in personal income but these activities need to be in alignment with our overall regenerative and healing ideals. Examples could include healing work, art, music, pottery, furniture and other manufactured goods, software, canned or baked goods, fermented foods, teaching regenerative agricultural and building skills, writing books and poetry and many other possibilities. But again we must be pragmatic and allow some less desirable activities to bring in money.
The community would like to have some income generating functions to also help cover operating costs. Currently we are running an Airbnb and Hipcamp. We envision expanding these enterprises to include retreats and gardening, regenerative farming and natural building workshops.
At this time we are not in a position to take on members that have no income. We do not have schools or child care for children so initially, if you have children, you will need to meet their basic needs. Also, because we are an agricultural operation, outdoor pets will be subject to strict review to make sure they are compatible with our operations.
Lightning Ranch is a community of people interested in creating a regenerative way of life. Regenerative is beyond sustainable. Regenerative implies healing and the community is devoted to healing the land for both agriculture and wildlife, building houses that use as much natural building material as possible, is environmentally healthy and which blends in harmoniously with the landscape and healing ourselves as both individuals and as a cooperative community.
To become a member:
- Write your letter of intent ([email protected]), why you want to join, your path that led you to consider intentional community and any other information that you would like to share about yourself to help us understand who you are.
- Then we will send you a questionnaire for you to fill out.
- Next we setup a zoom meeting for our initial face to face meeting where we will ask you questions.
- Then you can come for a 3-day initial stay in our Airbnb or hipcamp
- Next we have you come for a 3 week work and commitment period to figure out your fit
- Review at the end of this 3 week period
- Then a 3, 6 and 13 month review during trial period
- If it’s a good fit for all, at the end of 13 months you will become a Lightning Ranch member
- Our membership process is constantly evolving, so this process not set in stone, and we can work on a case-by-case basis with your situation.
Membership Fee for all members = $100 per month, with increasing rates depending on your housing situation.
- $100/mo provides tent camping, yurt, tiny home, or vehicle camping/RV with no utilities/hookups on property
- $200/mo provides same as above, but with utility hookups
- $400/mo provides full tiny home with all utilities
All members are expected to provide a fair energy exchange consisting of attending project, meeting and goal time blocks throughout the week at flexible times. This would be equivalent to ~20 hours/week or a part time job spent on various community activities listed below. To get away from corporate oppressive structures and mindsets, we do not meticulously count hours, but measure our individual contributions in a fair, honor-based, energy-exchange system that is held accountable by all members. This is a primary focus of the periodic monthly reviews with all new members. We are open and free to do as we want and have plenty of our own free time, but just as much we come together to accomplish goals that support our collectives needs and desires. If you do not care to provide a fair amount of intentional time & energy into the community, building, sharing, growing, having fun, etc., both personally and collectively, then you should consider finding elsewhere to spend your energy.
Voting is a simple 80% consensus amongst members. Considered members obtain partial voting status after the 3 month review and become a full voting member after the 13 month review. Considered members must have unanimous current member support to join.
What do you get to participate in, learn, develop skills in and build with your community membership?
We envision a community where members consciously participate a certain amount of time each week to communal activities that include:
- Vegetable garden – composting, bed preparation, planting, weeding, seed saving, watering, harvesting and food preserving like large batch salsa & pepper sauce (also support Earthship garden).
- Orchard – pruning, watering, harvesting and preserving (currently in planning stage).
- Pasture – removing cactus and mesquite, replanting areas.
- Animals – tending to the animal operations of feeding, watering, paddock moving, egg collection and meat processing. We envision chickens, goats and cows. Producing healthy food products like goat cheese and others.
- Houses – help with the construction of earth bag and aircrete tiny home buildings, and installing utilities.
- Skyhouse – help clean and maintain the communal space & plants, and help with communal meal preparation and cleaning.
- Income – help with communal activities that raise money including Airbnb, Hipcamp, retreats and workshops.
- Of course not everyone will participate in every activity and members can choose which activities interest them. The amount of time donated to these common operations will be decided by the community, but initially a lot of time is required to build the basic infrastructure. The reward is a food and housing system with quality superior to that available to the general public at far reduced monetary cost.
Members are encouraged to build up their own entrepreneurial activities to bring in personal income but these activities need to be in alignment with our overall regenerative and healing ideals. Examples could include healing work, art, music, pottery, furniture and other manufactured goods, software, canned or baked goods, fermented foods, teaching regenerative agricultural and building skills, writing books and poetry and many other possibilities. But again we must be pragmatic and allow some less desirable activities to bring in money.
The community would like to have some income generating functions to also help cover operating costs. Currently we are running an Airbnb and Hipcamp. We envision expanding these enterprises to include retreats and gardening, regenerative farming and natural building workshops.
At this time we are not in a position to take on members that have no income. We do not have schools or child care for children so initially, if you have children, you will need to meet their basic needs. Also, because we are an agricultural operation, outdoor pets will be subject to strict review to make sure they are compatible with our operations.