Re: work-or-pay system - legalities? general advice?
From: S. Kashdan (skashdancablespeed.com)
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:00:56 -0700 (PDT)
I personally don't feel comfortable with a chores system that requires
people to
work or pay. Some people may have family or job challenges that make it 
difficult for them to do community chores for a while, or they may have or 
may develop health problems or
disabilities of
various sorts which may make it difficult for them to do chores, but may be
living on fixed incomes. For those people such a system could be a
significant burden or
embarrassment. This could be the case for older or younger residents. Most
people at Jackson Place Cohousing do what they can when they can, and most
people in our community aren't lazy. I think
there needs to be other more neighborly and humane  ways to deal with
getting community chores done than privileging those with the most energy, 
time or money or the least family or job problems or the least disabilities.

In the 10 years we have lived in our community we have tried various work
systems, all of which have worked for a while, and have required fine-tuning
and change as the needs and desires of our residents have changed and as our
residents have changed over time. For the past year and a half, we have been
using a system that involves four chore groups which take turns doing
community chores. Chore groups A, B and C take turns during different months
doing a list of specified chores. Each of them does chores every third
month. Chore group D does other regular chores every month.  We have a
notebook with the signed-up group members on the cover and the chores
specified for each month on sign-up sheets where people can check off what
they did that month. Those signed up for groups A, B and C try to get
together to do chores together or to coordinate the chores they do during
their specified months. I am the chores group coordinator, so my job is
reminding everyone of when the new chore group takes over, and I also thank
those who have done chores each month, as well as listing those chores that
have not been done each month.

While the current system is not perfect, it seems to be helping people to
encourage each other, and to focus more on what chores need to be done and
to help get them done.

There are always things that we need to hire professionals to do for which
everyone shares the cost in the community budget. This makes it less a
question of blaming or shaming anyone and more a question of figuring out
how best to get things accomplished... Those who don't mind paying for
chores they don't want to do are paying more in their monthly dues, and
those who can't do chores and are less well-off and more financially
challenged are helped out by the cost being shared by the rest of the
community without blaming or shaming. And, those who can do more chores are
encouraged to do so to help bring costs down a little.

In community,

Sylvie Kashdan
Jackson Place Cohousing
800 Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA 98144
www.seattlecohousing.org
info [at] jacksonplacecohousing.org

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