Cohousing-L Mailing List: Senior Cohousing Workshop

[Charles R. Durrett (charles.durrett]

Dear Friends:
 
As interest in senior cohousing continues to increase, I have received
innumerable requests for a workshop or curriculum that takes people through
the inquiry process and enables people to explore community and various
aging in place issues. As a result of the many requests I have received over
the last several months, a workshop has been developed for people who are
interested in facilitating Study Group I, which is referred to in my book,
Senior Cohousing: A Community Approach to Independent Living ­ The Handbook,
Ten Speed Press 2005 ISBN 0-945929-30-7.
 
This ³Train the Trainer² facilitator workshop will be highly experiential.
Thought pieces and exercises will be done as ³homework² for each interactive
session. Participants will engage in a comprehensive exploration of
cohousing and the issues that surface when working with diverse groups of
people considering cohousing.
 
This ³Train the Trainer² workshop gives participants the tools needed to go
back to their home communities and conduct Study Group I sessions in the
hopes of fostering interest in establishing senior cohousing communities
throughout the United States. The workshop is designed to help people
examine issues related to senior cohousing and aging in place within the
context of a safe and comfortable environment of inquiry and discovery.
 
In the context of striking the difference between living in a community or
the alternatives, issues explored in Study Group I include topics such as:
 
·    Aging in place and community
·    The economics of the alternative living arrangements
·    Co-healing and the role of community
·    Co-care and assistance in community
·    Psycho/social issues in the aging process
·    Self determinism in the elder years
·    Physiological/anatomical changes inherent in the aging process
·    How to strike the difference between addressing these issues in
isolation or in community
·    Downsizing
·    Emotional and social well-being
·    Philosophical and spiritual questions (mortality and beyond)
·    Sage-ing: What we have to offer the world
·    Community design
·    Designing for aging in place
 
WHAT:         ³Train the Trainer² for Senior Cohousing Facilitators Workshop
WHEN:         April 24 ­ 28, 2006 (9:00 am ­ 4:00 pm daily)
WHERE:         Nevada City Cohousing Common House, Nevada City, CA
WHY:         Provide participants the tools to go back to their communities
and conduct training sessions to help promote interest in creating
senior cohousing communities.
COST:         The cost of the entire 5-day workshop is $800.00 and includes
a comprehensive syllabus/workbook, breakfast and lunch.
 
The ³Train the Trainer² workshop will be conducted by me, and you, the
participant. I will share my considerable exposure to the process used by
European elders who choose to live in senior cohousing.
 
This workshop is not only about the issues of aging in place and how
community really makes that possible. This workshop will also provide
mechanisms for seniors to get together and solve their own problems for
themselves. The design of the workshop provides seniors with direction and
support to decide if community living is for them.
 
I extend an invitation to you to join in this exciting workshop. Use your
energy and interest to help foster the cohousing movement in the United
States, and help others to understand the enormous social and psychological
benefits of community. Please let me know of your interest in attending so
that I may follow up with the reservation form in the very near future.
 
If you have questions, please email charles.durrett [at] cohousingco.com
<mailto:charles.durrett [at] cohousingco.com>  and include ³Senior Cohousing² in
the subject line.   Please feel free to forward this letter to other people
and organizations whom you believe would have an interest in knowing about,
and/or attending, this workshop.
 
Thank you for helping to promote the enhanced quality of life for seniors.