Family of three with 10.26 acres in Wilmer, AL

Hi! My husband and I are considering buying a piece of land in southern Alabama. We came across 10 acres for $98,000. With owner financing, it will be just $5,000 down and $1,014 a month.

We are conservative Orthodox Christians, 21 and 22 years old respectively. Our son is a toddler. We would love to find 1-3 other families who are interested in building a community!
We have long been interested in intentional community living. We've read extensively on chickens, rabbits, permaculture, etc. I hope to start with meat rabbits and chickens for meat/eggs, and soon after get pigs. We love the idea of becoming as self-sufficient as possible, growing and raising most of our food. Our current housing plan is to move a cheap manufactured home onto the property and renovate it. We also love the idea of tiny homes and shed homes, and would 100% welcome RV families.


I'm thinking we could split the monthly payments equally between each household, and each of us would have an equal share of the land. I'm in the process of drawing up a contract specifying how the land sharing would work, and I'm open to other ideas as well, like splitting the land so each family/group has their own parcels.

I think this set-up could be beneficial to all of us for a few reasons, the main one being the cost of land.  We could afford the down payment and monthly payment alone, but lower bills/expenses will make it much easier for us all to live self-sufficiently. It would also be so nice to have a community of like-minded friends to help each other out.

If you're interested you can email me at abbierodgers676@gmail.com or respond to this thread!

Wishing you great Blessings and success in this journey!

Hello Abbie Bender,

My name is Mark Steagall. I have 5+ years of gardening and 4 years livestock experience as well as having a library of information on different trades that I have experience in. I currently own my own landscaping, garden, and tree service business. My wife and I desperately want to move out of the desert here in Arizona. We are pursuing a live on-site work/trade position or landshare opportunity. I specialize in low-budget survival gardening. If interested, please call/text Mark at Mowers&Growers 928-641-8565. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Regards,
Mark Steagall

I am a single near senior that would love to financially assist and participate.

Paula Bennett
Most affectionately known as “Mauma Loa”,  altruistic, benevolent, jack’’ette’’ of many honorable trades, seeks to share her discipline of compassion in thought and actions for the greatest healthy unity of all beings by offering her service to you, in your service to others.  

I’ve traveled and lived outdoors since 2021 as a personal preference.  I trust you will find me good natured,  community minded,  self sufficient (financially too), generous, willing and able to equitably aid in all community aspects.   Ahimsa.




Animal Care  
“And your mind is refuge for all living beings.”  I have had so many blessed experiences with horses and other animals, we arrrgh won   https://kadampa.org/buddhism/prayer-to-buddha

Painting & Artistry
A master craftsperson does not blame the tools he finds a new technique.- unknown

Agriculture
Healing our soil is healing our soul for its yoU & I in the sun (Latin sol) -Mauma Loa

Maintenance/ Deep Cleaning
“The objective of cleaning is not just to clean, but to feel happiness living within that environment.” -Marie Kondo

Painting Contractor
d.b.a Immaculate Details, “Sharp on the Cut in Edge” - Paula Bennett

Plant Based Chef
“VeganEarth teaches and supports ways to eat and live that are healthful, sustainable, and compassionate towards animals, people and the earth”

Public Speaking
“Today I want to remember how we see the ones that came before, how we carry them on our backs and our shoulders.  In our arms.  How the past remains a deep and bleeding wound in the present. And yet, a balm.  Strange how we know this– that we have survived and continue to survive because as artists and activists, as storytellers and change makers of all kinds, we know that no matter how crazy and deadly a moment seems, we continue to stare the future down in order to show the way to it. –Vanity Fair, Jackqueline Woodson

Organizer
“For every minute spent on organizing, an hour is earned,”  –Benjamin Franklin

845.663.0797 or 772.300.6690
maumaloa851@gmail.com



















EXPERIENCE

Private Homeowner, Cincinnati, Ohio
Senior Care

April 2023 - Present 2024

Company, house assistant while client recouped from fractured spine, animal care

Travel, Washington D.C., Florida, New Mexico, Arizona
Personal exploration

December 2022 - March 2023

Visiting family and friends

Private Homeowner, Accokeek, Maryland
Patient Care

November 2022 - November 2022

Deep cleaning house, cleaned refrigerator, flipped mattress, removed rotted wood structure attached to home, cooked healthy meals, did dishes, heated with wood stove so all related cutting, hauling, efficiently burning, cooking and cleaning, garden care

Housing: open barn till weather turned them unheated bedroom

Windswept Farm, Accokeek, Maryland
Volunteer

October 2022 - October 2022

Deep cleaning house, cleaned sheep and chicken pens,  yard cleaning

Housing: long unused donkey shed


Bill Henry Farm, Amenia, New York
Volunteer

March 2022 - September 2022

Agriculture:  removal and repurpose of invasive plants, double dug garden area and plantings.   This includes time in Colorado Rainbow Gathering.

Housing: camping and when the bedrock made the ground too wet I slept a van,  a block brick structure "milk house" structured into a working simple kitchen which was more efficient than making outside fires in a contained space.
Mandala Naturals, Barnardsville, North Carolina — Volunteer
January 2022 - March 2022
Mobile home restoration; frozen pipes heated and wrapped, rotted roof repair, drywall repairs, ceilings/walls painted, windows washed, stove exhaust hood rehung, cabinets deep cleaned/shelves built, refrigerators/ovens cleaned, cooking for extensive community, all tools organized/rust removal, brought general organization and daily cleaning of household needs.

Housing: manufactured home that had low heat retention.
Blueberry Village, Barnardsville, North Carolina — Volunteer
October 2021 - January 2022
Tropical Storm Fred devastated an artist community, so I assisted with flood damage control, cleaning the environment/ buildings, packing of possessions for relocation, animal care, painting artistic accents, moving solar panels, cooking for many and housekeeping for their associated AirBNB.  

Housing: a nicely decked out mini bus "Blessed" and the Airbnb

The Garden, Lafayette, Tennessee— Speaker/Volunteer
October 202
Adobe floor- aided in creation, cooked/cleaned for community, participated in other community activities.

Housing: open air/camp fire
National Forests,  —Pennsylvania, Maine,  Volunteer
June 2021 -August 2022
Allegheny Forest and White Mountain; primitive camping,  cut trails with others, built with community stone stove/ kitchen tarping, prepared community meals, cleaned dishes/kitchen area, assisted in site erasure of human activity. First exposure to the Rainbow Gathering

Housing: open air/camp fire
Camp Cowboy, Kempner, Texas — Volunteer
February 2021 - March 2021
Ice storm hastened the need for assistance.  While they worked on 72 pipe breaks I took care of grooming  horses and cleaning  their environment.  Other activities included multiple homes deep cleaned, including appliances and windows, learned safety and implementation of 2,000 sq ft controlled burn.
Housing: bunkhouse, quansit hut, housing restoration site, open air/camp fire
Lotus Bend Sanctuary, Manchaca Texas — Volunteer
January 2021 - February 2021

Began with a day visit, developed into 3 weeks of grounds and sacred space spring cleaning for an auspicious Buddhist Monk to perform a purification ceremony before heading to India after a year of being co-vid delayed with mandate changes.  Cared for chickens, peacocks, plants, aided in greeting, directing parking, reader of scripture, fire keeper.

Housing: camping
Immaculate Details Painting, Michigan — Proprietor
1996 - 2009
High end quality with affordable prices, interior/exterior.   Specialized in surface prep (cleaning), drywall, paint application faux finishes of all types, and fool the eye murals.   2005 business expanded into antique auto faux wood grain restoration, nationally toured.  Skilled with power tools and construction basics.  Built moving parade float lion, theater faux wallpaper, wood, stone, signage and backdrops

Housing: home owner, open air/camp fire
EDUCATION        Learning something new every day  
Collective Trauma Healing, Thomas Hübl online course

2022

50 hours of varied speakers on how to create a better environment for all beings through recognizing ancestral coping skills that no longer assist the present and replacing them with mindful thoughts and actions.
Kadampa Buddhist Temple, Glen Spey New York
August 2021
Expanded perception of various forms of faith and values.  Two week event, I camped on site. Assisted with landscaping care, painting, event preparation, event tent construction/tear down
Indigenous Wisdom Permaculture Conference, Pine Ridge, South Dakota — Volunteer and Participant
June 2018
Working with and for community; aided in event set up and clean up, kitchen crew, aided in gardening, built with community abode walls in building with rocket stove seat/bed,  worked soil into tires for Earthship, drove backhoe, emergency shovel work diverting flooding from rain. Camped.  Street medic training.
Civic Garden Center, Cincinnati Ohio — Master Gardener
September 2015 - May 2018
Soil, propagation, composting, community development, events, volunteering
Northwest Michigan College, Michigan — Dual Associates
September 1995 - May 1998
Geology/Earth Science and Child Development
Ferndale Adult Ed, Michigan —Classes
1990 - 1991
Mechanical & Architectural drafting
Camp Wolverine, Michigan — Horsemanship
1980 - 1986
Grooming, hoof care,Western/English riding, jumping, barn/equipment maintenance, feeding
PROJECTS
SKILLS
Active listener
Adaptable
Artistic
Attention to detail
Cold-calling
Communication skills
Compassion
Computer literate
Data Entry
Emotional intelligence
Empathy
Ethical Work
Excellent with most beings
Filing/paper management
General Business Knowledge
Grant writer and receiver
Leadership skills
Logo Creation
Mechanically adept
Motivation
Openness
Organization skills
Patient Care
Public speaking
Problem solver
Patient
Planner
Research and Analysis
Resilient
Teamwork skills
Time management
Trustworthy
Typography; layout, font, etc







AWARDS
Artistic eye- award winning from youth
Golden PaintBrush Award through Keep Cincinnati Beautiful for delapid lot transformation to garden