Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Homeless Cohousing

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

On Jun 1 R Philip Dowds wrote:

>An alternative model -- one with its own set of challenges -- is that
>of cohousing owned and operated by a majority of "normal" people, but
>also having a few specialty units for special populations.  This helps
>dodge the problem of housing projects that concentrate special needs
>people all in one place -- sort of like a nuclear reactor with no
>damper rods.

And there are challenges getting "special" people accepted into a community.
I've seen it with children with special needs.  If a member who is accepted
and known develops specialness, communities tend to adapt but it is harder
to accept someone who is not known when they have special needs.  Maybe a
very careful and extensive honeymoon period would help. And an open minded
community.  Of course having a limited number of special needs helps
the rest of the community accept them.

Fred

--
Fred H. Olson  Minneapolis,MN 55411  USA        (near north Mpls)
     Email:        fholson at cohousing.org      612-588-9532
My Link Pg: http://fholson.cohousing.org         My org:
Communications for Justice -- Free, superior listserv's w/o ads