Cohousing-L Mailing List: Including disabled people in cohousing, especially forming communities

[Allison Tom (allison.tom]

Hello all,

This is a significant tangent from the discussion on slush funds, but the 
spirit of the conversation has moved me to write with my question/topic.

What have communities done to include members who have significant 
disabilities?  In particular, has anyone successfully negotiated the challenge 
of including disabled people in a forming community?

I ask because I regretfully left a forming community almost two years ago 
because of an exhausting chronic health condition.  I’m now on the waiting list 
to return to that community, and I’m thinking hard about how I could return 
successfully or be part of any other forming community.

My condition makes the frequent marathon meetings of planning an almost 
insurmountable challenge.  I believe that living in cohousing is a very 
different pace from creating cohousing, and I think that I can contribute and 
thrive in a community - with some accommodations to my condition. Joining an 
existing community in my city is very difficult because there are so few spots. 

I’m a former professor now on medical leave.  I’m self-sufficient and currently 
own and maintain my own home (I pay for household and garden help).  

What strategies have groups explored or implemented to extend the cohousing 
goal of inclusivity to people with various disabilities?

I look forward to hearing from folks with experience or advise on- or off-list.

Thanks, Allison Tom
allison.tom [at] telus.net

NB: I am planning on submitting an article about this to the “Race, class and 
privilege” issue of Communities magazine.