Cohousing-L Mailing List: Convent as Cohousing

[Bob's Cohousing Mailbox (coho]

     This weekend my family and I took a trip to Mankato, MN, to visit 
the convent where my wife's great-aunt lives.  Sister Eulalia is part 
of the School Sisters of Notre Dame convent (recently featured in a 
Life magazine article on aging -- many of the sisters are over 100 and 
still quite active: a couple even teach).

     Sister took us through the institution:  the newly refurbished 
chapel; the kitchens; the common rooms; the gymnasium; the spare 
sleeping-quarters; the community-rooms on each floor; the ward where 
they care for sisters who are living with Alzheimers; the other ward 
where they care for their older "retired" sisters.

     I looked at this and I said "This, this is how cohousing should 
work".  The institution is self-contained, but serves the larger 
community.  It nurtures the young and cares for its elderly.  Sister 
Eulalia is 85, and has lived in the convent, off and on, since she was 
16.  She taught for 50 years in the convent school.  She helps "take 
care of the older sisters".

     Additionally, the shrinkage of their order is making it likely 
that this facility will eventually be sold.  While the eldest sisters 
are exiting peacefully and with care, the "younger" sisters like 
Eulalia face an uncertain future.

     Looking at this fine facility, it seems a shame that its future 
is so troubled.  Before "progress" claims it, maybe there are lessons 
that cohousers (?) can learn from it and similar institutions.

--
Bob Alberti's Cohousing Mailbox                coho [at] wings.network.com
Network Systems Corp.                         bob.alberti [at] network.com
"My views do not represent those of my employer, although nobody here
thinks it at all unusual to  cohabitate a common workplace,  organize
meetings, share resources,  and have both private and public spaces."