Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Laundry and Workshare

[Eris Weaver (eris]

> If you have community laundry, how does that get funded?  If it's per
> load, how much?

At FrogSong, we do not charge for laundry. 
We also buy soap in bulk, and folks are expected to use it (some have
allergies/reactions to other soaps).
It all comes out of the general fund.

Our community culture: for just about every common feature/space/amenity,
some people use it heavily and some never use it. As a community, we all
benefit when all folks needs are met, and we do our best to make sure that
happens. So we all pay for all of it. I think of it as a culture of
generosity. (Some might call it socialism.)

In terms of workshare, we also explicitly acknowledge the reality that
participation will vary, some will do more and some will do less, no matter
what the "official" agreement is.  If you are feeling resentful of your
neighbor doing less because you feel you are doing too much, STOP DOING
whatever it is that you are resenting. If there is a real community need
that is not being fulfilled, we figure out how to get it met (which does
include hiring out -- we hire out cleaning our common house and have hired
out some landscaping tasks).  Sometimes that also means decreasing
expectations and/or standards.

It seems to work, at least as well as any other system I know of.

Fair and Equal are not the same thing..

------------------------------
Eris Weaver, Facilitator & Group Process Consultant
eris [at] erisweaver.info
707-338-8589
http://www.erisweaver.info


fa cil' i tāt: to make easier