From 2005 through 2011 the MSC Fund has made over half a million dollars in grants to help find cooperative solutions to issues facing rural seniors in the U.S. Here are some of the results of these grants:
- Three rural home care cooperatives: Cooperative Care in Wautoma, WI, Circle of Life in Bellingham, WA, and Paradise Home Care in Volcano, HI
- A tool kit entitled “How to Start and Manage a Worker-Owned Home Care Cooperative”
- A social services cooperative in Glens Falls, NY that enables seniors to age in place
- An education and marketing plan for replication of a five-unit housing cooperative for rural areas
- Eleven conversions of privately owned mobile home parks to cooperative ownership
- One purchasing cooperative for senior housing co-ops
- One collection of resources on home care
See below for the stories of some of these achievements.
Conversions of Privately Owned Manufactured Home Parks to Cooperative Ownership
While residents of mobile home parks own their homes, they do not own the land underneath. Thus they are vulnerable to rising rent and sale of the park. If a park is sold, residents may lose their homes and their largest assets as “mobile” homes are not truly mobile. Forming a cooperative, buying the park, and managing it as a cooperative not only gives residents security of tenure but also control of the park’s governance and thus over decisions that affect them directly in areas including management, fees, and maintenance.
Through grants from its MSC Fund, CDF has helped eleven privately-owned mobile home parks convert to cooperative ownership. Two of these grants were made to ROC (Resident Owned Communities) USA. ROC USA then pays its technical assistance provider closest to the park to work with residents throughout and after conversion.
For the story of Alice Sadoski and her neighbors in Wamsutta Mobile Home Village, click here. Subsequently she and the other residents, with the assistance of ROC USA and technical assistance from the Cooperative Development Institute, purchased their community and it is now a cooperative.
Cooperative Care
Established in 2001, Cooperative Care provides homemaking services and certified nursing assistance to elderly and disabled people in their homes. It is the first such co-op in the Midwest. It both assures quality care of clients and empowers low-income women and men with a voice in running their own business. It thus addresses the two problems of the increasing need for supportive home care for elderly and disabled persons and the low wages and lack of benefits for care providers, which is a disincentive to enter this field and contributes to the 40-60% turnover rate nationwide.
CDF’s MSC Fund made three grants to Cooperative Care in 2005-2007 totaling $39,567 for the education of caregivers for seniors and to create a training program for home care co-op members. As a result, values-based caregiver training has improved the quality of care of Cooperative Care’s clients and a DVD was produced as an orientation tool and for the promotion of Cooperative Care and the cooperative model. Cooperative Care’s video on home care cooperatives will be posted soon.
To read the essay supporting Cooperative Care’s nomination for the 2002 Innovations in American Government award, Click Here. It was written by Dianne Harrington, a social worker consultant who assisted with the exploration and development of Cooperative Care.
Click Here for an article on home care cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Foundation, Cooperative Care, the Northwest Cooperative Development Foundation, and Paradise Home Care Cooperative.
There are videos of Cooperative Care posted on the internet Here.
Circle of Life Cooperative
CDF’s MSC Fund gave Circle of Life Cooperative (also known as Circle of Life Caregiver Cooperative) two grants: $15,250 in 2007 for market analysis and strategic planning to start a home care cooperative and $14,000 in 2008 for community education for seniors and about senior needs. The co-op’s organizers wanted to provide high-quality care to seniors and the disabled, end the case manager-caregiver divide, stabilize the community, and pay member-owners a living wage.
Circle of Life Cooperative, established in 2009, is a worker-owned cooperative licensed by the Washington State Department of Health to provide in-home personal and home care services for seniors and disabled persons in Whatcom County. As the caregivers are the owners of the cooperative, they have a stake in the business and are highly motivated to provide the very best care to their clients. All caregivers are experienced and fully trained; they are insured and bonded. Caregivers are empowered to influence the plan of care, resulting in services that are carefully planned using the perspectives of the client, the client’s family, the client’s caregiver(s), and the caregiver coordinator. This results in integrated caregiving, which was not happening previously. In a small way Circle of Life has stabilized the community in that seniors know of their services even if they do not need them yet.
Denial of age and avoidance of dependency often prevent seniors from seeking assistance and hinders education of seniors, their families, and their communities about senior care options. Circle of Life Cooperative did a county-wide ad campaign, held a public community event, developed a training plan in basic caregiving and first aid/CPR, ran radio ads, and put articles in local papers and newsletters to educate people on the services available for seniors and their families and how people can help each other with aging issues across generational lines.
“It’s your life and your home. Please allow us to work with you to make things right for you.”
http://www.circleoflifeco-op.com
First Home Care Cooperative in Hawaii: Paradise Home Care Cooperative
In 2004 a grant from USDA’s Rural Home Care Cooperative Demonstration program assisted in the establishment of a task force to start a home care co-op in East Hawaii County. Results of the feasibility study, completed in 2006, were favorable. In 2007, CDF’s MSC Fund made a $23,240 grant to the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) to help the incipient co-op create a business plan and develop internal leadership. NWCDC also helped the co-op secure a working capital loan.
Today, Paradise Home Care Cooperative (PHCC) is a worker-owned business with a mission to be the premier home care provider in East Hawaii County on the Big Island. PHCC member/owners are professional, compassionate home care workers devoted to helping their clients live comfortably and independently in their own homes. PHCC is a major employer in the sparsely populated Puna District and employs about 15 caregivers and support staff. It expects to grow to 50 caregivers over the next five years.
To-be Paradise Home Care Cooperative’s member/owners learn about cooperative business and governance
To-be Paradise Home Care Cooperative’s member/owners learn about cooperative business and governance
Click Here for an article on home care cooperatives, the Cooperative Development Foundation, Cooperative Care, the Northwest Cooperative Development Foundation, and Paradise Home Care Cooperative.
See page 16 of USDA’s Rural Cooperatives magazine for an article on Paradise Home Care. The site is Here.
Service Cooperative of and for Seniors: Aging in Place-Glens Falls
In the summer of 2008 a group of seniors in Glens Falls, NY began exploring the needs of local seniors who had chosen to remain in their homes in their aging years. They formed a steering committee and examined the Beacon Hill model, which requires professional staffing, paid vendors for many services, and a rather high annual fee for members. However, by using the service co-op model and the Timebanks principle of giving and earning service, they could form a service cooperative that would provide many services for minimal cost. In 2009 CDF’s MSC Fund made a $4,000 grant to help the steering committee expand its efforts through informational publications, insurance for volunteers, a website, and Timebanks software.
Aging in Place-Glens Falls is a cooperative service exchange that helps people age in their homes with dignity. It supports aging in place through an exchange of services (transportation, cooking, lawn mowing, minor home repairs, etc.) and the collection and sharing of information about community services beyond what the Co-op can provide and helps members maintain connections to each other and to the community. It also provides information about local events that may be of interest to seniors. It has grown from 35 to 63 members, is well known in the community and beyond, has developed relationships with area senior centers, has entered into partnership with Retired Seniors Volunteer Program (which provides member/owners with liability insurance as well as volunteer opportunities), and kept expenses to a minimum.
Lesson learned: People often find it difficult to ask for help.
“We are extremely grateful for the assistance of the Cooperative Development Foundation, whose grant made this year of development a success.” Harvey Noordsy, President, Aging in Place-Glens Falls
www.aginginplaceglensfalls.org
Direct Care Alliance
Founded in 2006, Direct Care Alliance (DCA) is a nationwide and state-based alliance of direct care workers, employers, and people of all ages and disabilities who use long-term services, care, and support. It is the only national advocacy organization focused on improving care for seniors and the disabled. In 2010 CDF’s MSC Fund gave DCA a $15,000 grant to improve the quality of direct care jobs and care in rural areas through the co-op model, specifically by recruiting 25 rural participants for DCA’s Voices Institute training program, developing an on-line membership and resource center for DCA members, and providing technical assistance to link direct care workers with cooperative development resources. One result of this grant is the March 2011 publication of DCA’s “How to Start and Manage a Worker-Owned Home Care Cooperative.” Click here to download a copy.
CAP Services, Inc.
CDF’s MSC Fund gave CAP Services, Inc. a grant of $27,830 in 2006 to create a collection of resources to support the creation of home care cooperative businesses. This resource can be found at http://uwcc.wisc.edu/coopcare/care.html and has samples of documents including by-laws, policies, wage comparison, business plan, and position description.