Henry Cisneros talks on Aging in America. Cohousing is one housing solution.

Yesterday I had the great privilege of representing Mid Atlantic Cohousing at the book launch for former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros’s new book, Independent for Life:  Homes and Neighborhoods for an Aging America.

The event was held at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC and was every bit the fan fare that one expects of this kind of event in the Nation’s Capital.

So why am I writing about yet another book about “aging in America?”

Because in his keynote address, Cisneros, one of the editors of the book, mentioned cohousing as one of the housing options for this growing edge of retiring boomers.

We’re getting known!

Used to be one retired at 55, got the gold watch, moved to a Sun Belt State and … died.

Now, we can look forward to another 10, 20 or even 30 years of life.

Boomers will not go gently into that good night of retirement.  A boomer myself, we are redefining what it means to live a much longer, healthier lifestyle waaaay beyond age 55.   Personally, I have no intention of “retiring.”  I’m too busy trying to figure out what to do next!

Most people retiring or nearing retirement say they want to remain in their own homes.  The Village movement sprung up as a solution to that market need.  The Village movement is enjoying quite an expansion as it ripples across the country.

However, not everyone should or can remain in their homes.  The homes may not be adaptable as the owners grow older, may be too big and expensive to maintain (people are already outliving their retirement nest eggs) and once people stop driving, this leaves them isolated in their homes.  Also important is the implication for delivery of municipal services to people living in single family homes or town homes scattered all over a geographic area.  How will this be paid for?

Some options Cisneros mentioned are retirement communities including Continuing Care Retirement Communities if you can afford them, accessory dwelling units or “granny flats” that can be attached or detached from the family home, and … cohousing.

The advantages of the cohousing solution are many fold.  Whether intergenerational or 55+ there are many things the cohousing community can do that not even the very best of service delivery plans can do.  Number one is the sense of belonging and the sense of place.  A cohousing resident  is a stakeholder in the community.  People in the community care about YOU.  You matter.  You belong.

A cohousing community provides all kinds of daily support for all members just as a consequence of living in community e.g. grocery shopping, child care, trips to doctor’s offices, meals when sick or recovering from child birth, minor home maintenance fixes, etc. etc. etc.

For seniors in the community, the residents can either take on the care, organize care for the resident or maintain a list of resources available to members from the larger municipality such as programs paying for prescription drugs.   For people needing more assistance … isn’t it a lot easier and cheaper to have one care giver come to one congregate living site and help 2-5 people rather than driving to multiple different homes located who knows where?

BUT … yes there is a “but” … cohousing’s social economy is based on social capital.  What you get is what you give although my experience is I always get back a lot more than I’m able to give.  Since social capital plays such an important role in cohousing it works best to start or join a community when you are healthy and able to participate not when you are at or near needing care — which is when most people think about this kind of stuff.  Cohousing communities are not nursing homes.  We are able to keep people in their homes longer living independently because we have built up relationships with each other over a number of years and we are willing to do for each other based on those bonds of relatedness and neighborliness.

If you believe a move is in your future … make the move while you are able and you are the decision-maker.  Otherwise, someone else may make it for you and it may not be what you want.

Cohousing provides the best of both worlds:  you can live in your own home and have as much or as little “community” as you choose.  It’s the way we used to live.  It’s the way we can live NOW.

Submitted by: Ann Zabaldo, Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington, DC