The Goodenough Community is a 50 year old, decentralized community of practice in the Seattle region, focused on personal and relational development. It includes a land-based intentional community and event space, the Sahale Learning Center, on the Kitsap Peninsula, which the community has operated for almost 25 years, and is the community’s primary vehicle for fulfilling its mission. 

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We have been in a major transition phase for several years. This has included deep healing from trauma experienced under the now-deceased founders, moving from central leadership to cooperative governance, inviting new people to engage more deeply in leadership, and redeveloping key community systems. It has involved a deep inquiry into the essence of what this community is about, and what needs to be cleared to allow for new growth. 

 

In some respects Goodenough is a long-term, established community. In other respects we are a new, forming community. While we have generated some momentum, we also have limited and diminishing capacity. Our future is uncertain and we need more people to revitalize the community and ensure it can thrive.

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The community has some important strengths and resources:

• A committed group of people who love and care for each other, and know how to bring new people into that sphere of love and care. 

  • This group holds an immense body of wisdom and experience, having stuck with it through a lot of beauty together and many trials and tribulations, and share openly about what they’ve been through. 

  • They are willing and able to engage in a process of evolution and succession for this community.

• A beautiful piece of land (approximately 50 acres) with substantial existing infrastructure and relatively low expenses

• Established community governance, membership, communications, and financial systems

• An existing network of relationships with individuals and communities in the region

• Space to co-create new programs, practices, events, and activities

 

There are several key problems we need to solve:

• A predominantly older group

• Lingering wounds and dynamics from the past under the founders

• Limited capacity for programs and practices that manifest the community’s purpose and that would provide entry points for new people

• Limited capacity for the organizational, administrative, and managerial needs at Sahale, including substantial deferred maintenance, and for the organizational systems of Goodenough

• A financial situation that is not dire, but is not sustainable

• Limited housing, economic, and social opportunities at Sahale

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New people joining the community will be part of figuring out the solutions to these problems.

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The essence of Goodenough

The essence of this community can be summed up in this inquiry: What does it mean to be relational? We seek to understand ourselves and grow through our relationships. 

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The key guiding documents for the community have been historically its Covenant, and more recently our Code of Conduct. This work has fostered relationships of deep care, and a culture practiced in showing up for each other and staying constant through conflict. 

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Our stewardship of Sahale has been a powerful vehicle for that work, and has expanded our understanding of what it means to be relational to include the natural world. And as the world around us changes, our exploration of relationship is expanding to include our relationship to other communities, movements, and larger society. 

Our Vision:
Inspiring a conscious, just, and peaceful world through deep connection to self, community, and nature

Our Mission:
We serve individuals and communities by creating opportunities for lifelong, experiential learning that cultivate personal transformation, deep relationship, and regenerative community.

What we do

Our mission is expressed through a handful of online and on-land programs, support groups, and events that fulfill this mission, and through events by other groups hosted at Sahale. Sahale supports our mission by being a space to host, as a path to practice relationship with the land, and through the residential community that is a transformative learning experience in itself. Similarly, the operations and administration of our community governance system supports the activities that fulfill our mission, and is a way to practice our values.

 

All of these have been more robust in the past, and are currently more minimal. We are in need of new energy to expand our activities and practices.

 

There are a lot of systems in place that new people will need to get familiar with. There is also a lot of room for things to change and expand, and for new people to bring in their interests and gifts. 

 

The community operates a 501c3 nonprofit, which holds title to the land, and utilizes a sociocracy-inspired governance system.
 

Who we’re looking for

Because of our limited capacity, our need to bring in new people is somewhat urgent, but it makes it all the more important that they are a good fit. What is needed from new people at this stage is not necessarily what will be needed down the road as we increase our capacity. 

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Right now, we need people who:

• Are excited by potential and like a project

• Are self-starting, understand systems, have a head for organizing and management, and are good communicators

• Who can work with the existing systems while working to develop them, who thrive on “riding the bike while we fix it”

• Are adaptable and comfortable with complexity and uncertainty

• Are committed to personal growth, healthy relationships and culture, and giving and receiving feedback

• Have prior experience in intentional community or other kinds of cooperative, land-based organizations

 

The community encompasses many areas for activity, providing opportunities for a wide variety of skills and interests:

• Hosting events (for the community, and for other groups)

• Program admin and development (for the community, and for the public)

• Developing and facilitating practices that tend to relationships and culture

• Facilities management

• Permaculture and land tending

• Infrastructure maintenance

• Organizational admin and development

• Communications

 

Understanding your needs and how they can be met as a member of this community will also be an important part of the process.

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We are open to individuals joining, especially when it comes to membership in the extended community. Particularly regarding residency at Sahale, we are also open to an existing group of people who may want to join together. Because there are so few of us living here, this may make it easier to meet the needs of new people and the community. 

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For those interested in residency, one thing to be clear about is that Sahale is part of the Goodenough Community. Being a resident at Sahale also means being a member of the community. As the residential community at Sahale grows, we will need to clarify the relationship between the residential and extended communities, particularly regarding the balance of accountability and autonomy, and new people will be part of figuring that out.

The process

We want to take the time needed to build our relationships with each other, including the relationships between new people exploring this community. This will be an evolving process. Here are some of the opportunities and steps:

• Join an online Community Orientation to learn more about the history, systems, and connect with current members and other interested people

• Review our Path Forward 2026 to get a sense of what the plan is for this year

• Attend our Sahale Care Weekends, which are opportunities to work and play with others in the community

• Participate in a biannual community retreat

• Participate in the Women’s Culture

• Come to our Summer Gathering

• After a Community Orientation and one or more events at Sahale, apply for a visit to explore residency

• Get involved in some area of work or governance for the community

• Get on track for community membership

 

Thanks for reading!