research-l Mailing List: Research Needed on How Communities are Supporting Members in Financial Crisis

[Mark Musick (mark-musick]

I'm writing to enquire whether anyone has conducted a survey of ways cohousing communities are assisting members hit hard by the financial crisis accompanying the Coronavirus pandemic.

I serve on the Finance Team for Vashon Cohousing, which is an 18-home community on Vashon Island, near Seattle. Some of our members are retired and several others are working from home, but a few have had their incomes drastically cut and at least two are on the verge of loosing their businesses.

More than 20 years ago our community established what we call a "Hardship Year" policy under which we allow members who apply to forego paying dues for up to a year. The only restriction is that no unit can get the dues waiver more than once every 10 years. Until now we've only had two instances where members have requested Hardship Years, but we just recently approved two more.

The problem is that waiving dues provides only limited support for members who may loose their homes. Below are links to threads with periodic discussions I found on the national cohousing list about ways communities assist members weather a financial crisis. Although they provide glimpses of what some communities are doing, much of the information is superficial and I'd love to learn about other models. 

Helping members with Covid-19 related hardship
http://lists.cohousing.org/pipermail/cohousing-l/msg44931.html 

A Slush Fund for Temporary Financial Relief

http://lists.cohousing.org/pipermail/cohousing-l/msg42350.html

Do any communities defer dues?

http://lists.cohousing.org/pipermail/cohousing-l/msg44266.html

How do communities deal with members who can't pay their condo fees or assessments?
http://lists.cohousing.org/pipermail/cohousing-l/msg40125.html

In addition to the examples mentioned above, I'd like to know if any communities provide more significant support than deferring dues or making small grants or loans. I was particularly intrigued by Raines Cohen's mention at last year's national conference in Portland of a "Squirrel Fund" which communities could use to establish their own internal reverse mortgage programs to  prevent displacement of seniors. I wrote to Raines following the conference to request more information about the concept, but haven't heard back. 

I'll be interested in hearing whether anyone within the cohousing research network has conducted or is considering conducting an in-depth survey of the various techniques communities are using to help keep people in their homes.

Yours,

Mark Musick

Vashon Cohousing
10421 SW Bank Rd #2

Vashon, WA 98070
Cell: 206-941-3393

Web: www.vashoncohousing.com

Celebrating 30 Years of Vashon Cohousing
https://youtu.be/Q62cihY2koE?t=3