Cohousing-L Mailing List: Work Participation at EC

[APS, LLC (cdm]

I used to get all worked up about what I perceived as an inequity in
participation, and then came to embrace the idea that the group does what
*the group* is able to do, and everything individuals do for the community
is an act of love and commitment.

In our community, I think the biggest barrier to participation (whether
required or voluntary) is time.

A high percentage of our households are either working single moms or both
parents working (about 27% of our households) and it's a struggle for them
to meet the needs of their own families, much less give up a Saturday
morning a month to community yard work or cleaning the CH.

In order to be a supportive environment, you've got to to accept that some
people are in a place in life where they can't participate very much, if at
all.

Having said that, let me add that in our neighborhood we have a 91%
participation rate on cooking teams, so even the most time-stressed of us
meets a good level of cooperation. (The remaining 9% either have health
issues  or are in the process of moving out.)

Also, very few of us in this group are uptight about things like overgrown
landscaping or unsparkling CH bathrooms. It's easier to weather individual's
down times if nobody is breathing down anybody's neck. People who feel
guilty (from real or perceived pressure) tend to withdraw even more and act
resentfully towards the community.

Speaking only for myself, I am
Christine Della Maggiora
Eno Commons Cohousing
Durham NC 
USA





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