“Getting old isn’t for the weak.” My dad used to say this a lot before he passed away last January.
In addition to age-related debilitations to their bodies and dementia, my parents were lonely.
With her second broken hip, my mother lost interest in attending adult day healthcare.
Assisted living was out of financial reach for either of them unless they returned to Costa Rica.
As a Latino, you don’t put your parents in a home.
Even though I might have more flexibility to care for my mother because I am self-employed, that time gets limited by my business and personal obligations.
It also put enormous pressure on my individuality.
I felt immense pressure to juggle the responsibilities of caring for my mother, running my businesses, and taking care of my family.
It became unsustainable to balance all of these demands.
I knew I wasn’t the only person in this boat and that a solution was out there to consider beyond #assistedliving.
Cohousing is an intentional community of private homes or condos clustered around a shared space.
Physical space design encourages neighbors to interact with each other and helps prevent social #isolation.
The secret sauce is the “common house” where “social interactions and community life begin” (as noted by architect @Grace Kim in her Ted Talk).
These are not communes nor mobile home parks.
They address a changing way of life, including the disappearance of the nuclear family.
This week, I will share how cohousing
- History and trends are valuable in a world where #BTR (Build-to-Rent) is popular,
- Proves #BTR by itself is not a panacea to the housing shortage,
- Facilitates better offerings for mis-housed, ill-housed, and unhoused people,
- Reduces the use of non-renewable resources,
- Is an answer to the ecological effect of sprawl,
- Creates family, community, and belonging across all spectrums of lifestyles, and
- Increases resident diversity
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✅ Accelerate value,
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