Community of Urbana-Champaign Cooperative Housing, or COUCH, is an association of student housing cooperatives [1] in Champaign [2] and Urbana [3], Illinois [4]. It is a member of NASCO [5].
COUCH began in 1997 as an umbrella organization for the independent housing co-ops in the Champaign-Urbana area, but was also founded with the vision of creating a larger co-op community to advance co-oping, establish community, and achieve economies of scale within the co-op community. It currently consists of four houses:
- Gwendolyn Brooks Cooperative [6] (Urbana [7]), a 14-member house, opened its doors as a member-controlled co-op house in August 2001.
- Harvest House Cooperative [8] (Urbana [9]), another 14-member house, was also founded in 2001.
- La Casa Grande Colectiva [10] (Urbana [11]), founded around 1970, houses seven members and is the oldest independent co-op in Champaign-Urbana.
- Green House [12] (Urbana), a nine member co-op, sprang from the ashes of the Pheonix House cooperative (2001-2010) in 2010.