Winter Community

The Kroka Winter Residential Community provides an opportunity for young adults to enjoy healthy simple living, purposeful work, and a positive tight-knit social community during the winter season from November 1st through March 31st. Winter residents have enjoyed a variety of local work opportunities, including teaching at ski-areas, helping at the local bakery, and working at public school in Keene. Some have taken classes (either in-person or remote), and some have found part-time work or volunteer opportunities on the Kroka campus. Housing assignments in the Kroka staff village are made on a first-come first-served basis, and may range from modern housing through semi-winterized cabins, yurts, tents, or other dwellings. A winter housing lease will be offered by the facilities manager, and must be signed before occupying winter housing. A small monthly fee is charged per-person to cover food and use of the farmhouse.

REQUIREMENTS:

• must be a former Kroka staff member or semester alumni (or partner of staff or alumni)
• must have a future teaching contract for the upcoming calendar year (minimum of one season)
• must have a minimum of 20 hours per week of planned on-campus or off-campus activities: local employment, volunteer work, enrollment in classes, or significant craft or artistic projects

HOW TO APPLY:

1. Sign an employment contract for at least one season of the upcoming year
2. Submit a housing request consisting of (a) your proposed dates of residency (b) your proposed winter activities during residency (c) your housing preferences

BENEFITS:

• On-campus housing with firewood, access to fresh water, access to composting toilet
• Use of shower and laundry facilities in farmhouse
• Use of lights, internet and public spaces of the farmhouse
• Use of workshop tools
• Use of Kroka expedition equipment with explicit permission from expedition manager
• Parking for one motor vehicle at trailhead parking lot
• Participation in any self-organized residential staff community events
• Weekly community potluck supper
• Opportunities for paid hourly work on the office, farm, facilities, or teaching programs..  
• Breakfast provided 5 days a week for anyone doing morning chores
• Option of joining lunch when provided at the farmhouse (typically Monday - Friday only).
• Limited use of Farmhouse Kitchen facilities for lunch or supper when programs are not in session on-campus, and when the Farmhouse Kitchen is not in use for organized Kroka meals. Otherwise, cooking must take place within your housing unit. Storage of personal food in the farmhouse is subject to the current policies of the Food Manager.
• Access to Kroka farm food as posted by farm manager and food manager

RESTRICTIONS:

• Please respect the upstairs farmhouse office space as a space that is exclusively for Kroka's administrative work.
• Winter Residents are subject to all of our community life policies, including those regarding use of technology and use of substances

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Pay $200 per month per person for winter community membership fee (covers utilities & food), (check or cash submitted to the business office on the first day of each month).

• Morning chores 4 days per week (unless you are traveling away)

• Attendance at weekly community meeting & dinner (one evening per week)

• Monthly campus workday (1/2 day)

• Maintain clean safe presentable dwelling

• One day of weekend farm duty per month

• Lunch preparation and cleanup (bi-weekly)

• Snowstorm Response - entire community works in response to any major snowfall of 1” or greater

PERSONAL GUESTS:

These are appropriate times and places where we can welcome your personal guests on our campus:

• A daytime tour of campus
• Attending an open craft-night
• Eating supper with you when no students are present
• Attending farmhouse lunch with pre-arranged permission of one of the directors
• Overnight (anyone staying more than one night must have permission from facilities manager)

These are some situations where it would not be appropriate to have personal guests present:

• Community Meetings
• Interacting with students
• Being anywhere upstairs (third & fourth floor) of farmhouse

NOTE ABOUT YEAR-ROUND STAFF: Note that staff with year-round contracts who are residing on campus will also comply with these responsibilities and benefits, however their fee is covered by their housing rent - deducted from their paychecks on an ongoing basis.