Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Checking on Residents Who Live Alone

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hi Julie — 

Happy to hear you are engaging this issue.

Here’s something one of my neighbors and I do:  we text each other at 7 a.m. 
everyday even on vacation if that works out ok.

If one of us doesn’t check in by 8 a.m. we telephone (sometimes we over 
sleep!).   By 8:30 a.m. if one of us fails to reply the other one knocks on the 
door.  I’ve done that once for my neighbor and he for me.  In both cases each 
of us had slept a lot longer than normal.

We’ve been doing this almost a year.  Our early morning texts to each other 
have alternately become elaborate, simpler, funny, and topical.  This past week 
I’ve been sending text images of eclipses.  We also send jokes.  This takes 
about 3 minutes.  Brings a sense of safety and relief knowing someone is keyed 
in to my well being … daily.  I recently heard that two other neighbors are now 
doing this.

Best --

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church, VA
202.546.4654

As long as you have two or fewer … your ducks are always in a row.  The Covert 
Comic



> On Aug 19, 2017, at 1:05 PM, Julie Gallagher <jgall63 [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Does your community have a system for checking on residents who live alone,
> especially older or frail ones? Does it work to have a "buddy system," with
> two people keeping track of each other? But what if one of them is gone for
> a few weeks? Are there better alternatives?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Julie Gallagher, Cantine's Island Cohousing, NY
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