Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Hardship funds/resources

[Patricia Lautner (lautnerp]

At JPCohousing we set aside $30,000 for no-doc loans to members. We will
lend up to $1,000 to any member for any reason. They pay back the loan
without interest in the timeline of their choosing.  We require that a
timeline be discussed and managed, but the borrower can make the payback
terms anywhere from a few weeks to a few years.  The loan must be paid back
in full before they may borrow again.

What I find interesting is that since we set up this program (over 10 years
ago) we've only made three loans in total.  I learned from members though,
that they feel really good just knowing that the help is there should they
need it.

Patti
Jamaica Plain Cohousing, Boston MA

On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 9:17 AM Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> I am Also at Mosaic, where as Buzz and Liz have said we have a good
> neighbor fund. I'm the bookkeeper and treasurer. One of the reasons we are
> keeping the good neighbor fund separate from our HOA accounts is because I
> couldn't figure out a good way to deal with it from a tax perspective. On
> paper (1190-h) it looks like non-exempt income, taxed at 30%. So instead,
> volunteers are dealing with it separately without formal organization.
>
> If other organizations have a similar fund, but are including it in their
> HOA books, can you tell me how that works for you?
>
> Thanks,
> Diana.
>
> On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 9:01 AM Buzz Harris via Cohousing-L <
> cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>
> > Hi Ruby.
> > We have such a fund at Mosaic Commons.  It's called the Good Neighbor
> Fund.
> > Members of the community who want to contribute give either a monthly
> > amount or occasional one-time gifts.  It's administered by three of our
> > members.  Those in need make private (and, I believe, confidential)
> > requests to the Fund for assistance if they need it.  I believe that the
> > funds are kept in a private account at a local financial institution and
> > tracked by the three member body.
> > The Fund reports to the community from time to time on how much money
> > they've issued in grants, but not to whom.  They also let us know when
> they
> > need additional funds.
> > Speaking as someone who has worked in the nonprofit/public interest world
> > for a long time, I am not aware of any reason that a 501(c)(3) public
> > charity could not issue cash grants to people in financial need.  I think
> > that the way we handle it is simpler than creating a (c)(3) for the
> > purpose, but to the best of my knowledge you could.
> > If you want more detail about the Good Neighbor Fund I could ask one of
> my
> > neighbors to give you more details.
> > Thanks,
> > BuzzMosaic Commons CohousingBerlin, MA
> >
> >
> >
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> > Buzz Harris
> >
> >
> > What used to be called liberal is now called radical,
> > What used to be called radical is now called insane,
> > What used to be called reactionary is now called moderate, and
> > What used to be called insane is now called solid conservative thinking.
> >
> > -Tony Kushner
> >
> >
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> >     On Thursday, March 21, 2024 at 03:50:02 PM EDT, Ruby Reay <
> > rurubux [at] hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >  Hello all,
> >
> > I am curious how communities deal with financial hardship experienced by
> > their residents, specifically, do any of you have a fund that is used for
> > such things, and if so, how to do approach the accounting of such a
> fund. I
> > am thinking non-profits can't do such things, so there might be
> > alternatives. I am aware that religious organizations (churches) have
> > hardship funds/resources and have a means of accounting for them.
> >
> > At any rate, curious to hear what others are doing.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Ruby Reay
> > Phoenix Commons
> > Oakland, CA
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