Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Questions re senior cohousing

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Mar 18, 2005, at 12:45 PM, Eris Weaver wrote:

> But how many/what percentage of people with limited abilities could one
> community sustain? Even if a senior cohousing started out with
> relatively "young" and fit seniors, over time the amount of decreased
> function and disability that can often come with age would increase and
> thus the amount of energy/time/work that individuals contribute would
> decrease. What would this look like over the long term?

I think this is a real concern but it goes both ways. Right now I'm 
feeling the crunch in the other direction. Since we moved in it has 
been the younger people who needed all the help -- from breast cancer 
to babies to multiple adoptions. We do have a wheel-chair bound 
quadriplegic who actually requires NO extra support because he has his 
own support network. Other than helping him get a heavy box home that 
UPS has delivered to the commonhouse or walking his service dog he has 
not required the weeks of food and child care support that younger and 
more able people have required.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org