Cohousing-L Mailing List: Nurses in Cohousing

[lselhai (lselhai]

Hello Diane Simpson.

I am a nurse practitioner and a school nurse. I have been involved in
cohousing for a total of 13 1/2 years, 8 of them living in Southside Park
Cohousing in downtown Sacramento, California. I will try to answer your
questions. Feel free to recontact me via email LSELHAI [at] RCIP.COM if you have
any other questions.

1.  What made you decide to live in cohousing?  Most of my adult life I
lived in homes with other people, including after I had children. I enjoyed
the cooperative and social aspects of group living, and thought that it was
a good environment to raise kids, but wanted a little more privacy. In 1988,
while looking for a duplex or 2 adjacent houses to buy with some friends, we
all went to a slide show on cohousing given by Chuck and Katie. We were very
interested, and formed a group with some other people to explore the idea of
a cohousing community in the greater Sacramento area. Five years later, our
community was built and we moved in.

2.  Have you observed any health benefits from living in cohousing for
yourself or for others?  There are the obvious benefits of helping each
other in times of crisis including health crisis. A few months ago an
elderly woman in our community died at home as she wished. During her last
weeks, with the help of hospice services, the community provided her with
round the clock love and care.  I act as a health resource in the community,
checking ears, throats, lungs, hearing, blood pressure, and giving advise.
I provide 1st aid and occasionally get calls in the middle of the night.
People support each other when they try to lose weight, exercise, are
disabled. I don't know if my health has been impacted very much since it has
always been very good.

3.  Has living in cohousing helped you in your career in any way, either by
making it more comfortable for you to work odd shifts, helping you with
meeting skills, or helping you relate to other people better? I do not work
odd shifts although when my children were younger I could always get someone
to care for them if I needed childcare. If I need anything I do not have I
can usually borrow it. I have learned a lot of good skills by working with
the consensus process and working with others on innumerable projects. I
have learned to work with smart, creative, stubborn, strong-willed people on
a day-to-day basis.

4.  Has it made your life any easier by having people around who look after
you for a change?  Life is better surrounded by people who truly care about
me.  Living in cohousing is not easier in many ways, but for me it is
better.

Laurisa Elhai




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