A real photo of the house goes here — drop one in static/images/ and swap the src.
A fixture of the community
Several generations of locals have found affordable living space and community in this house, and there is a large network of Fishbowl “alumni” in town who were able to put down deep roots in this community thanks to the Fishbowl. Since we’ve lived here, the house has become a venue for mutual aid organizing meetings and social events, carrying on its reputation as a fixture of the local community.
Who we are
We are Katie, Emily, Laura, Rose, and Cali — the current residents of the Fishbowl. We’re each deeply rooted in the Moab community, and invested in building lives here and making this town a better place to live. We work for the Grand County Trails Department, Moonflower Co-op, Terrasophia Landscaping, Moab Community Childcare, and AllTrails — organizations that steward Moab’s natural beauty and local character, and serve the needs of its residents. Several of us are volunteer organizers with Moab Mutual Aid, a grassroots community group that grows free food for neighbors and offers free community meals once a month.
Why a housing co-op?
Housing cooperatives are groups of people who live together and democratically control, or in some cases own, the house they live in. In this case, the house will be owned by a nonprofit corporation rather than specific individuals, but house residents will have control over all important decisions about the house as members of the nonprofit’s board.
The board will also include several seats for long-term Moab residents who don’t live in the house but support its values, in order to maintain continuity as housemates come and go.
Unlike a typical landlord-tenant model, a housing cooperative empowers its residents to control important aspects of their own housing, such as planning renovations and maintenance, and incentivizes a sense of stakes and responsibility for the wellbeing of the house and the community within. This model tends to attract individuals who want to live intentionally in community with others and are willing to invest extra time and effort into meetings, house work days, etc.
No individuals will gain equity from ownership of the house, nor will any individual take on liability for the house — although the nonprofit itself can gain equity that could one day be leveraged to replicate this model with other houses.