Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Guest rooms

[Main Email (zabaldo]

Hello Elizabeth and all… 

In my community of Takoma Village Cohousing, we have a guest room pod (Team) 
that is responsible for the smooth working of the guest rooms.

We have a policy or a set of guidelines consented to by the whole community 
that defines the length of stay limiting it to 10 days for one room and five 
days if you have both rooms.

The host is required to make sure that the room is clean and ready for the next 
guest including bedding. 

We ask for a donation suggesting $25 per night per room.

We’ve had this policy/guidelines since very early on in our living together.

If a member host needs more time, they usually write to the community stating 
their needs. I don’t think we’ve ever denied a member to extend their use of 
the guest rooms.

Everyone seems to support and adhere to the use of the guest rooms.

One little editorial bit: you may have more pre-work to do on this issue.  For 
instance, not letting the community know that their  guest is homeless or has a 
mental condition seems there might be a lack of trust issue. 

Also, I think in any situation in which there is a mental health dimension, it 
becomes quite difficult to deal with an individual. The suffering is great on 
their part and the community as well. At some point, you may have to call adult 
protective services.

Elizabeth, I think the first step is to work through the situations that has 
led you to this point. 

Then try to get a set of guidelines or a policy that is consented to by the 
whole community. That way you have something in writing that you can refer to. 
It’s also helpful to have a team of people who manage the guest rooms. 

You may have quite a discussion about whether to charge for the guest rooms. We 
certainly have a difference of opinion on that here in Takomavillage. We made 
it an optional donation. Some people pay it others do not. We just live with 
the discrepancy. 

The guest rooms can be a good income stream for the community.

Just get something on paper that the community can commit to. You can always 
enlarge the guidelines later.

Good luck, Elizabeth.  The situation sounds like another effing opportunity for 
personal growth for your community.

By the way, if I represented anything incorrectly, I’m sure one of my neighbors 
on this list will jump right in and set the record straight.

Ann Zabaldo
Washington DC
Sent from my iPhone
All tiipos ... curtesy of Siri  :-)

> On Jun 24, 2024, at 8:31 PM, Elizabeth Magill <pastorlizm [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> I'm checking with communities about how how you deal with guest rooms
> for people in crisis.
> We require a member host for all guest room usage and have ended up
> with a variety of people in crisis staying in rooms.
> 
> One of my friends stayed for several months, leaving if someone else
> needed the room. A couple struggling with their relationship ended up
> with one of the two in the common house for quite some time. A member
> with hip surgery ended up in a guest room for six weeks, as all our
> homes have stairs. A member invited a friend who turned out to be
> homeless to stay, and she didn't want to leave.
> 
> All except the hip surgery required intervention to end the practice,
> and the intervention happened long after several folk were upset about
> it.
> 
> My question for ya'll--have you had this? Do you have policies that
> don't allow this--if so what tod they say? How do you get someone to
> move on. How much of this is the responsibility of the host? (And if
> so, what if the host thinks it's fine?)
> 
> We have two rooms, mostly unused, but all of these situations
> interfered with someone who wanted to use the room traditionally, as a
> place for the guests. And many people who want the space for guests
> won't ask the long term user to give them space.
> 
> -Liz
> Elizabeth Mae Magill
> www.mosaic-commons.org
> In Berlin, MA.
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