What is MatriArk?
Single-Mom Families Thriving Together.
MatriArk Village connects single moms who work hard to create opportunities for their children in a shared community, where their families can benefit from collaboration, economies of scale, and intentional design. That simply means that Mom doesn’t have to cook every meal, that she has a safe place where her children continue to prosper while she is working or going to school, that her children develop deep and lasting relationships with other kids in situations similar to theirs. On the most basic level, she and her children will not have to worry about where they will live, if they will have enough food and clothing, if they will be safe, if she will have the means to get to and keep her job. That’s a lot. But MatriArk is so much more.
Everyone here understands the difficulties of being in a single-parent household. And we are all committed to those challenges not holding back a single one of our villagers—adult or child—from blossoming into the fullness of who they are designed to become. MatriArk is not a program that families graduate out of; they don’t have to leave and start over somewhere else once their finances are on track or mom reaches a significant life milestone. We seek to become a long-term home for those without a support network; the community helps prop one another up when life becomes too challenging to tackle alone. MatriArk is about eliminating the inequities that can otherwise limit options. It’s about increasing the family’s stability, capacity, and margin in every possible way so our children can benefit from the same opportunities as those from two-parent homes.
Sustainable Community Design, Mainstreamed.
For too long ecologically friendly, independent lifestyles have been relegated to the very wealthy, to hippie types, and to doomsday preppers. But what’s not smart about regenerating our planet’s health and biodiversity? What’s not smart about homes that cost little to build and maintain and everyday choices that minimize resource consumption? What’s not smart about reducing waste and ensuring your family has plenty of nutritious food and clean water regardless of supply chains and politics? MatriArk’s founders believe these concepts should be available to the masses in practical, cost-effective ways that integrate cleanly into modern life. They should be embedded in the design of every new community and retrofitted to those already established.
MatriArk is a model for intentional design that marries people and planet. Our homes are living buildings made of locally sourced, renewable/recyclable materials that help capture and conserve water and energy. Their roofs provide native pollinator habitat, while lawns and walls are transformed into lush, food-producing gardens. Residents utilize shared transportation, meals, and communal spaces that build relationship and keep costs low. Waste coming into and out of the community is minimized with nutrient and resource recycling. Our agricultural and animal husbandry practices include native breeds and heirloom seeds to preserve biodiversity, as well as intense pasture rotation and multi-species integrated management. Soil health, water retention, and respect are the foundations of our agricultural practices.
Great design makes it easy for every person to be a good steward of our God-given resources.
