Cohousing-L Mailing List: how cohos can handle babysitting money so all members can attend business meetings

[Jim Bronson (jimbronsonashland]

Howdy Coho Partners,

At River Song we are trying to work out a way to handle childcare expenses
that is fair to all and supports our being a community that welcomes and
supports families.  We have articulated several potential approaches so far:
1) River Song becomes an employer and we put childcare money as a line item
in our operating expenses budget each year (avoids parents feeling
unsupported, but adds expense in the form of taxes, workers comp coverage,
accounting fees, liability and annual paperwork)
2) Ask members to voluntarily contribute to a community 'Good Neighbor'
fund that supports childcare (and, potentially, other occasional needs for
money from and for individual members) so parents can attend business
meetings.
3) Some other informal donations-cash arrangement that gets childcare money
into the hands of the parents.

What do you think?  What can work longterm.
*Jim Bronson*
*www.riversongcohousing.org <http://www.riversongcohousing.org>*
Eugene, Oregon on the shores of the Willamette River

*I was born at 303 ppm CO2.*