My father taught us to care for people outside our direct family. That was so important, growing up in a multi-cultural British colony. Our family was member of the Kolping Society (RSA)  which taught to love and care for travelers and other folk.  I have never deviated from this belief till today and enjoy loving ,connecting and giving to strangers. 

From birth till now, I have never lived alone. At home as a child we often had guests living with us. In the old days of apartheid we had live-in maids and gardeners who were considered part of the family, security and joy. Whilst on remote construction projects, I stayed with people of other cultures. When moving to Europe I lived on a three generation farm, then 20 years in "Sigi's" commune. Twice we invited homeless men from under the bridges on the Isar-River to stay with us for a while. "Mike" stayed for two years, living in our kitchen. I became homeless in 2014 when Sigi got married bringing with a 8-year-old step-daughter who needed my rented room ... and then had to realize how rough it was to live in a men's home. Now I have a nice social apartment in Munich-Laim and host travelers.

The gen-europe.org website shows some ecovillage projects in Europe, and ecovillage.org worldwide. I follow the concept of One Small Town and contributionism.

The "Vorbild" to my interaction in a multi-cultural society is certainly "Kolping".. We would attend meetings, church services, events, travel, fund-raising, and I was even on the committee for a year (or two?).

In the Geyerstrasse commune (1996-2013) I did not like to be alone when "Sigi" spent a month or two in Philippines every year and his friends did not visit. Since then, I have hosted more than 200 travelers through CouchSurfing. 

... then I discovered I could also be paid for hosting travelers via AirBnB. These guests were challenging because I needed to serve them. Oktoberfest-time was lucrative but all of it ended when my two guests from southern Italy were caught by police, trying to steal a car to get back home. Since I stay in a city-sponsored apartment, the police quickly realized my own breaking of the law by illegally renting a room and I was fined horribly.

This I should have known years ago and since I am now partially disabled (amputation because of diabetes and poly-neuropathy).... a series of workawayers are lined up to help me with my chores, improvements and entertainment. Workaway has changed my life!

Warmshowers

https://www.warmshowers.org/ Assistance for travelling bikers

In 2014,  I became an awakening from the corrupt and nasty world-system. Michael Tellinger caught my eyes first as a dynamic South African archaeologist, but he also has a plan for a better society living without much money and enjoying life. We met personally twice in Munich. I became a member of UbuntuPlanet.org and enjoy researching methods of reaching ultimate happiness, almost utopia!

Since I became very ill, unemployed and partially disabled, there is one group of people that has helped me survive more than others. München-Tafel provides the needy with free food and assistance. In 2015 I joined Manna e.V. to get involved too, meeting both helpless people and voluntary helpers that inspire.  They meet once a week and sometimes enjoy an outing, day-trip or festivities together. Now that I am in a wheelchair, cannot help them much, and get needy help there.  "Tafel" has become a part of German culture and heritage.  Expanding this concept is also foodsharing.de or your local equivalent.

Entertainment

Kulturraum organizes and offers free tickets to events in Munich for needy seniors and the disabled.

Germany is a pretty cool social country. Folk create groups to help each other. Nobody in Germany should feel alone. Nebenan.de. Folk barter without money at Tauschring.

For those that don't need a car every day, save space, insurance costs and have a new car always, exactly the type of car you need for the moment! eg: Zipcar (US/Canada), DriveNow (Europe) ...  Find an inter-city car with driver at Blablacar or short city trips with Uber.

...

... this will be expanded soon to include car-sharing, food-sharing, guerrilla-gardening, flight-sharing,  and much more... (but not wife-sharing :-)  ...