Cohousing-L Mailing List: getting the work done in senior cohousing

[Jack & Carolyn Salmon (2salmon]

RE: #2   We have been living in Quimper Village (senior cohousing community) 
for 6 years.  In that time we’ve had several changes in ownership— with older 
folks leaving (by natural attrition or choice) and younger (generally folks in 
their late 60s) moving in.  

Some tasks are relatively easy for our members to do— such as driving the 
riding mower.  We  hire licensed local workers for some other tasks, 
particularly those that require climbing ladders, heavy digging, skilled 
carpentry and electrical work.  Our Building & Grounds Team manages this work.  

Fortunately, we live in a fairly moderate climate ( western WA state), so we 
don’t have lots of snow.   When we do have snow (like  this week) some of our 
more physically active  members shovel walking paths and spread de-icer.   If 
there is heavy snow, our landscaping company brings their truck with a plow.  

We budget for hiring folks to do this heavy work.   (side note on budgeting: we 
have a line item in the B&G budget for this kind of work.   We also have our 
big Reserves Account for major replacement and maintenance. 
(side note: at the end of our fiscal year, any unspent funds are rolled into 
our Reserve Account. )

I’m interested in other responses to David Heimann’s  query.

Carolyn


> 
>  
>   2. Work distribution in senior cohousing? (David Heimann)
> 
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> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:05:36 -0500 (EST)
> From: David Heimann <heimann [at] theworld.com>
> To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
> Subject: [C-L]_ Work distribution in senior cohousing?
> Message-ID: <alpine.LSU.2.20.2401151157330.2072 [at] furyy02.gurjbeyq.pbz>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=US-ASCII
> 
> 
> Hello,
> 
>       We have a 70+ gathering that meets periodically to discuss 
> age-related issues.  One issues that came up at our last discussion was 
> a feeling of being pushed on to do physical work tasks that one can no 
> longer easily or even possibly do, with the implication being that the 
> old(er) residents are not doing their "fair share" (quotes are 
> deliberate), and that it would be expensive to contract out those tasks 
> because there are not enough strong bodies to do them.
> 
>       So -- how is the necessary work done in senior cohousing 
> communities, or is most or all of it contracted out as being a necessary 
> budget item in a community with many age-disabled residents?
> 
>       So it isn't "youth wants to know", it's "age wants to know" :-)
> 
> Thanks,
> David Heimann
> JP Cohousing
> Jamaica Plain, MA
> 
> 
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