Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Cohousing for mobility-limited people

[Crystal D. Hall (crystal]

>On or before Mon, 14 Aug 1995, wisdom [at] pobox.upenn.edu ('Judith Wisdom) 
>wrote:
>
>> My mobility is a 
>> bit limited often and, also, although most of my life I was perfectly 
>> mobile and worked and went to school and did lots of other things, I now 
>> have to stay at home, working at a new career (as a ghostwriter and 
>> editor) and writing.  Having activities very nearby and neighbors nearby 
>> would afford me the opportunity to interact and socialize that I now 
>> have only with friends who, because they don't live close, I don't see 
>> often enough.  I would hope and assume in coho the seeing, even the 
>> casual hello from close people, would happen daily...
>
>  You have raised an issue that very few people have talked about here, and
>that we need to talk about. That is the need to accommodate people who are
>what I call "transport-limited". This includes both people who have diffi-
>culty walking and the overlapping population of people who, for various
>reasons, can't or don't drive. 
>  I don't have this problem myself, but I have had second-hand experience with
>both problems, and I can attest that it is very isolating. It's also true that
>people in this situation are usually not prosperous and therefore can't afford
>to live in newly constructed market-rate housing, which includes many cohousing
>communities.
>

ALL OF THE ABOVE IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE!  I'm very pleased this issue has come
up.  I just got on the co-housing list last week so I missed the original
message, but this is the reason I subscribed to the list.

I guess this is a good time to introduce myself.  My name is Crystal and I
live in Bar Harbor, Maine most of the year.  I have muscular dystrophy, and
like Judith, was perfectly mobile most of my life.  I also have had to
change careers and am now working at home as a indexer and proofreader.  I
also have the same complaint about social isolation.

I believe this is a very important co-ho issue.  I would welcome the chance
to live in a community that allowed me to socialize more, and also give me
the chance (through transport help and other support) to offer my skills and
talents up to a community that helped each other.

I am not familiar with co-ho in general, but I do see it as being
potentially very beneficial for those with disabilities.  However, I think
it would be important to integrate, able and dis-abled.  (I hope no one is
offended by my disability terms, I know there are many, many ways to
describe this)

Anyway, let's continue the discussion.  Does anyone on this list currently
have those with special needs living in their co-ho community?

Crystal