Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Subject: Common meals - aging and parenting

[Liz Ryan Cole (lizryancole]

This excellent discussion thread has touched on many topics.  I'd like to add 
two more items for our consideration. 

First, Pinnacle Cohousing (yes we are finally building in Lyme, NH, but we have 
had nine years of running a hospitality business in the meantime to help us 
develop systems and relationships) is intergenerational.  That means we'll have 
older (and otherwise fragile) members who will need to be able to count on 
meals at least once a day. 

Second, based on some member's (this includes me) experiences in collective 
houses when our own children were younger, we think the opportunity to have 
"civilized" dinner conversation and time devoted to family (admittedly with a 
larger family than is standard these days) helps both parents and children.

For this reason our model will be to offer one meal a day, with our monthly fee 
to include the salary of a part time "kitchen steward" to deal with food and 
kitchen management.  We also have a weekly work requirement (we expect it will 
work out to about two hours per week), which can be met by cooking, cleaning 
up, reading to or otherwise spending time with kids, darning socks, or doing 
some of the many other tasks that are not included in our monthly fees for 
cleaning common areas.  If a member chooses not to eat one or more meals, 
that's fine, but the option is always there.  If all goes according to plan 
(and when does that happen) we'll move in (stage one) in the spring of 2016 and 
we'll report on how this model works out.  If anyone is following a practice 
similar to this now, it would be great to hear from you.

liz

PS - don't forget to visit our cabin based hospitality business - Loch Lyme 
Lodge - consider holding a wedding or family reunion or work related retreat 
here too. :)


Liz Ryan Cole
lizryancole [at] me.com
Pinnacle Cohousing at Loch Lyme Lodge
Lyme, NH
Home 802.785.4124
Work 802.831.1240
Lodge 603-795-2141

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire 
to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White