Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Shared services

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Mar 8, 2023, at 10:14 AM, Maraiah (Lynn) Nadeau <welcome [at] olympus.net> 
> wrote:

> People talk about wanting to “age in place.” Thirty-some years in, our 
> community has more and more members in their seventies and eighties. So far, 
> health crises and terminal illnesses have occured one at a time, and we’ve 
> been able to respond adequately as volunteers. 
> 
> But inevitably, there will be more. Already, we have some members who pay 
> someone to clean house or cook for them. We are brainstorming ways members 
> could collaborate, such as employing help that would serve multiple 
> households, possibly providing housing? Weekly soup production, for 
> subscribers? What about care for people who live alone and are in decline? 
> Home nursing?
> 
> What would the need be, for scheduling, paying, managing employees?

The issues are complexity, balancing personal preferences, liability, 
insurance, and tax status. When money enters the transaction, it becomes a 
business and every kind of business has unique legal requirements and risks. 
When we asked our lawyer about sharing the workshop with neighbors who might be 
woodworkers, she said, “Then what kind of organization is that? It doesn’t fit 
under “condominium” which is your registered legal identity.”

For us when we organize anything that might affect only a few members and 
involves money and is discretionary, it has been best to handle it in a 
parallel way, not as part of the operating budget or represented as a service 
of the community or the homeowners association. As you mention providing soup 
and sandwiches on a subscription basis. Using the CH kitchen without charge but 
the work is not part of work share. 

When we donated money during the pandemic to be given to any household in 
stress, it was done by one member who accepted and distributed the money 
themselves. No one else knew the donors or the donees.

We have a “Sunshine Club” that sends flowers or gifts to people who have lost a 
loved one or are in the hospital. One person initiated and handles that 
herself. Every once in a while she asks for more donations. Gifts are sent as 
from the community but she doesn’t track who donates or doesn’t.

Several people share housecleaners but do it amongst themselves. The same for 
home care aids and sharing nannies.

Once a service is part of the organizational budget it falls under all the 
governance documents and policies. Everyone is making decisions, bearing the 
costs, and taking the risks, not just those using the service.

In sociocracy, this is described as the ego of the organization. Where is the 
ego? Charity and non-profit organizations have this problem when they have a 
celebrity founder. Where does the energy come from? Who makes what decisions? 
The celebrity, the celebrity’s friends, or the executive director?

The community in the UK that has a formal carsharing operation found that it 
was much better to have a separate organization even though all the members 
live in the community and the services are available to everyone in the 
community. They don’t mix money.

The morning walkers pick up prescriptions.

While 70% of all people over 65 will need long-term care at some point, 
according to the NIH: The most common type of long-term care is personal 
care—help with everyday activities, also called "activities of daily living.” 

https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-long-term-care

Much of the care is related to transportation, food and medicine delivery, home 
cleaning, laundry, picking things up off the floor — things that friends and 
competent teens can provide without medical expertise, or cleaning and delivery 
services that are available to everyone. Most needs are related to elders being 
less ambulatory, partly by preference.

A long response to the question. Sorry, but the question rests on assumptions.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org