Feminist Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging
What is it?
A Feminist Cooperative for Vigorous Aging is a replicable model of small, community-based, mutual care. It is a self-governing organization of 4-20 self-chosen older adults who live in close geographic proximity to one another and are dedicated to anticipating and providing for the changing needs of co-op members to grow old and age in place with the most vibrant, meaningful, and companionable quality of life, from vigorous old age to death.
Aging folks often believe that they will not need assistance or assume that paid caregivers, family, and friends will be able to manage their care indefinitely. However, over the long haul that is aging, individually paid home health aides or elder care facilities are financially prohibitive and, “Call me if you need anything” is unrealistic, unreliable, and not at all helpful.
At its core, this model formalizes a system where members assist one another with specific tasks that enable other members to remain independently in their homes while simultaneously planning financially and logistically to hire and share professional caregivers when members' needs surpass what cooperative members can provide.
Members should be able to access one another via foot, four-wheeler, or golf cart, making car driving unnecessary. Co-ops can be created almost anywhere people reside in close physical proximity to one another, generally in their existing homes. Not having to move from their homes is preferable to most seniors, less traumatic than moving to a facility, and far less costly.
Neighborhoods, apartment complexes, condominium complexes, co-housing communities, or sub-divisions are excellent places to form cooperative groups because of their natural geographic proximity and members’ familiarity with the environment.
At the same time, cooperatives operate independent of the apartment building or condo complex in which they are located.
Rather than staying in their existing homes, some people will create or join a cooperative in a specific location. One example is a farm-based co-op outside of Asheville, NC. on which members will build their respective homes on 3.5 acres of shared property. Members of that rural co-op will organize and operate in the same way as other Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging.
Whether community-based or site-specific, co-op members approach this part of life with the assumption that some or all members will experience physical and/or cognitive decline. The interdependent, realistically forward thinking, and task-oriented nature of a Cooperative for Vigorous Aging is organized to plan for and manage this wide array of aging-related eventualities.
The mission of Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging is to provide one another with optimal personal agency, physical activity, comfortable care, and companionship.
A neighborhood-based Cooperative for Vigorous Aging is a model that can be replicated in communities everywhere. Over time the logistics, documents, and other functional mechanics will be refined and shared amongst cooperatives so that the establishment and implementation of the model becomes easier, more familiar, and less cumbersome than it currently is for current pioneers of the model. Optimally, Feminist Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging will become a common option for generations of aging people and a much needed alternative to conventional elder care.
Two Operational Strategies: Independence Support and Professional Caregiving
A distinguishing characteristic of a Feminist Cooperative for Vigorous Aging is the commitment co-op members make to assist one another with the tasks and future planning that enables other members to remain independently in their homes. This personal commitment to fellow co-op members and the system that grows from this interdependence is fundamental to the model and is organized before members begin losing functional abilities.
It is best that incoming co-op members be fully functional physically, emotionally, financially, and cognitively. This enables members to start from similar health and functional circumstances.
Whether gradually over time or suddenly as a result of illness or injury, old age tends to intrude on self-sufficiency. This universal reality necessitates preparing for the various manifestations of aging. Over time, the co-op will organize itself to employ the first of two primary operational strategies.
Independence Support
Members help other members with the following non-medical tasks that, when needed, can enable a person to maintain their independence in their own home. This assistance can be temporary, such as post surgical or injury-related, or on-going, as with general decline or chronic health problems. They include:
- transportation (especially at night)
- errands
- meal prep
- medication management
- bill paying
- laundry
- sorting through mail
- housekeeping
- accompaniment to MD visits and other outings
- range of motion and other exercises as instructed by a medical professional, most commonly needed when recovering from surgeries or injuries.
- advocating for and keeping company during hospital stays
Elders are most often referred to a care facility when they forget or are unable to perform certain tasks independently. Personal hygiene (skipping tooth brushing, not showering, putting on dirty clothes), house cleaning, not eating well, ignoring bills and other important mail, forgetting to take medication or taking meds incorrectly, being unable to take care of business or errands requiring driving, etc. Function and awareness can decline because of depression, forgetfulness, or loneliness. However, consistent, but brief, daily visits from co-op members can provide residents with the reminders and assistance needed for a member to keep up with these tasks and stay in their home, rather than moving to a facility.
Digital Time Tracking
The model of Feminist Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging formalizes a system where members assist one another with specific tasks to support mutual independence, Co-op members commit to assisting one another with the tasks that enable other members to remain independently in their homes. In order to manage and monitor this arrangement co-ops can use any one of dozens of volunteer/employee time tracking software programs so that residents can log in whenever they
- assist another resident
- are assisted by another resident
- or engage in a task that benefits the community as a whole
The same time bank can be used by professional caregivers when they are employed by the community to assist a resident(s) and/or work on tasks that benefit the community.This type of software program is easily shared on each person’s phone and provides an easy-to-use mechanism for observing the relative equity of residents’ participation over time. It enables all residents to collectively evaluate the system and suggest changes if needed.
Co-op members recognize the universal inevitability of age-related decline and death as well as the dearth of affordable and affirmative options for positively managing this time of life.
Professional Caregiving
When one or more members needs a higher level of care Certified Nursing Assistants, (CNAs) or Home Health Aides, (HHAs) can assist elders with activities of daily living (ADLs), particularly if a member is bed or chair-bound. HHA's and CNA's have been trained and certified to help elders in these ways :
- incontinence care
- feeding
- Transferring (from bed to chair, etc.)
- toileting
- bathing
- dressing
Most care agencies and individual aides have 5+ hour minimum visit times in order to justify travel to one person’s home. An 8-hour shift can cost approximately $300 per day which is extremely costly for one individual requiring aide care.
However individuals often do not require that many hours of continuous care or only require intermittent care throughout the day or night. An aide caring for one individual is rarely occupied all of the time over a 4-8 hour shift, nor is the aide available for necessary 20 minute incontinent care visits around the clock.
Sharing the services of professional aides enables aides to provide assistance to several people during an 8-12 hour shift.
For example, if a person can walk and manage their own meals but is incontinent of bowel or bladder, or needs assistance to go for a daily walk outside, a 15-30 minute aide visit every 2-3 hours is sufficient. The aide can then move on to assist other co-op members in whatever ways are helpful.
A shared care arrangement enables co-op members to share the cost of professional caregivers while paying those caregivers a living wage.
The following is one successful example of shared care.
An independent living facility employed an aide to circulate among numerous residents in increments of 15 minutes to several hours. At 6:30 a.m. the aide spent 90 minutes with Ms. Early Riser, assisting her with a shower and other related hygiene, dressing, making her bed and getting breakfast. She then spent 15 minutes with Ms Med, making sure she took her meds and making her bed. She then moved on to a two-hour visit with Mr. Workout, providing incontinence care, shower, dressing, and taking him for a 30 minute walk. Every two hours she revisited residents needing incontinence care for 15-30 minutes each.
This kind of arrangement could easily be adapted to co-op members in your apartment or condo complex, subdivision, neighborhood, or the residential co-op here in Weaverville.
Clearly, the details of the financial and logistical aspects of employing paid caregivers are many. Collective, creative problem-solving will enable each Feminist Cooperative for Vigorous Aging to determine exactly how they want to finance and manage shared care. Over time, good models for this will evolve and be shared.
To my knowledge, sharing care is the only remotely affordable arrangement that enables elders to stay in our homes when we need professional care, while paying caregivers a living wage and providing them with the length of shift they need to make it worth their while.
Living in close (car-free) geographic proximity enables members easy access to one another for Independence Support, and allows professional caregivers to move comfortably among client
The Weaverville Cooperative for Vigorous Aging
Old Gal’s Landing
We are a group of forward thinking, aging feminists endeavoring to create an intentional, self governing community model for affirmatively managing the joys and universal eventualities of aging, declining, and eventually, dying.
We share a love of the outdoors, animals, social action, community involvement, sustainable living environments, physical activity, laughter, learning, friendship, and a commitment to living lightly on the planet.
Between three and six co-op members purchase shares of and move to this property in Western North Carolina because they want to live rurally and are in circumstances where moving to a small mini farm cooperative makes sense in their lives. Founders/residents will buy into the property for approximately $200,000
We intend to cultivate a community in which we each commit to the importance of our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional health as we age, while recognizing the intrinsic limits of prolonging life beyond a normal course of health or life.
Our mission is to anticipate and provide for the changing needs of our members to grow old and age in place with the most vibrant, meaningful, and companionable quality of life.
General Location
This 3.5 acre mini farm is in unincorporated Weaverville, North Carolina and is part of the Beech Community of Weaverville. The Beech Community is one of five Weaverville communities, consisting of small farms, old residential communities, numerous Baptist churches, a fire station, Beech community center and the Reems Creek Country Club.
The town of Weaverville, population 4799, is 7 miles from the property in Buncombe County and is considered part of metropolitan Asheville, NC. Weaverville Exit 21 on Hwy 26 goes southwest 9 miles to Asheville and north to Hot Springs, Marshall, and Johnston City, TN .
A new hospital and medical center are being built in Weaverville due to the increasing population. Reems Creek Road has become inundated with condo complexes. For the most part they are set back from the road. Nonetheless, the road is changing and I heard last summer that they might add shoulders to Reems Creek Road.
From Asheville hwy 26 Exit 21, one takes the 7 mile long Reems Creek Road to its end at Blackberry Inn Road. One half mile down the paved Blackberry Inn Road, turn left onto Mcdaris Cove Road which is a dirt road. Our property is ½ mile up Mcdaris Cove Road.
Surroundings
Mcdaris Cove Road is named for the Mcdaris family who came to the area 135 years ago. The family owned the entire cove, (which we assume they appropriated from the Cherokee Nation) before it was subdivided among family members and some newcomers. Oscar Mcdaris built my house and both cabins in the campground from timbers he cut from these woods and milled himself. He was an expert builder by trade and he and wife Lois raised their family on this property. Three of their five kids are my neighbors while a grandson and his family live across the road. The other 2 kids live elsewhere in Weaverville.
They have all been great neighbors, as long as we don't talk politics. They have looked after me and been wonderful. The Mcdaris and Buckners live along this road between my house and Blackberry Inn Road, mostly in double wides and premanufactured houses. Some have goats, chickens, horses, grassfed beef cows, hunting dogs, or pet dogs. Bruce Mcdaris, Oscar’s nephew, is now the eldest in the cove and the only remaining member of his generation. He is a lovely and generous man.
From my house I can see Bobby’s and Kenneth’s houses. I can also see an out-of-place chateau-like vacation house higher up and sticking out from the mountain across the street from me. Ironically, having lived in cities my whole life, this dirt road is actually the busiest road I’ve lived on. This is because Oscar built this house in 1952 and set it conveniently on the road. At that time Mcdaris Cove Road only went as far as Bobby’s place and there was one road off of it for the Buckner family. Now, however, people live all the way up Mcdaris Cove Road mountain and a newer dirt road branches off in front of my house to go up the mountain across the street.
My neighbor reminds me that we have a micro-climate here in the cove because we are in a valley surrounded by mountains. I should have recognized this just by looking around. A creek runs down the mountain along Mcdaris Cove road and just across the road from my house. Oscar made sure that this road was the responsibility of the state so it is well maintained. Oscar was the boss. He ran everything around here. He also made renowned wine from the grapes in the yard but that is another story for another time.
Buildings and Grounds
On the road and next to my house is the barn and garage or workshop. These buildings will be part of the co-op’s communal property. Like most everything he built, these structures are extremely well-built but neglected over many years. The garage/workshop is 352 sq.ft and newer than the house and barn, has a paved floor, metal roof, and could easily be insulated. The barn is 997.4 sq. ft., has a dirt floor and the beams overhead are actual trees, bark and all. The barn must be rewired for electric.
The back corner of the barn was eaten by carpenter bees and wasps but was recently power-washed, exterminated, sealed, primed and painted. Also, behind my house, the workshop, and barn is a 1.5-2 acre sloping pasture. Horses and cows used to graze here. The pasture is south facing and gets sun all day. It has a shed for animals to get out of the sun but is not currently fenced. This is a good thing since we don’t yet know who will be grazing or what we will grow there. Another spring/summer project when I am not the only one deciding about and working on it.
I believe that 2 small homes could be assembled or constructed beside the pasture where it backs up to a stand of enormous white pines, the middle of which marks the property line. After finalizing the co-op's legal structure I will hire a surveyer to clarify what and where we can build two new small homes. It would behove us residents to install off grid solar panels in the pasture to provide our electricity. The power company here is gouging us to the max.
Beyond the pasture is the very private, wooded campground. Oscar built this in the ‘70’s to accommodate visiting friends and relatives. This 1.5 acre woods contains
- A cabin,
- A pavilion,
- A storage shed,
- A bath house for two, and
- Five campsites with water and electric hook-ups
The campground was recently rewired and an on demand hot water heater was installed at the bathhouse. The cabin needs a new roof. The Pavillion, bathhouse, and shed were re-roofed last fall. The campground and buildings get water from my well. However, a spring runs through this part of the property and is used by many of our neighbors for their household water. We could tap the spring for water to the campground and its buildings.
The cabin is the building located highest up in the woods. We own the very rough, circular wooded road in front of and behind the cabin and the pavilion. It starts and ends at the pavillion but is not used by vehicles. The cabin itself is 667 sq. ft and has a 147 sq. ft. covered porch with a great view. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and an open kitchen/living room. The rough hewn siding was milled by Oscar and is 1-2 inches thick. The cabin has its own septic system that I have not had inspected. The foundation is on piers. The plumbing works but should be augmented with an on-demand propane hot water heater. The electric needs rewiring and shares a meter with the campground.
This is the place I am most excited to sell to a co-op member to renovate and make into their own haven. If it were my place I would move the inside walls to provide a larger bathroom and kitchen area, and take some of the larger bedroom space to enlarge the living room area. I would either screen in the lovely covered porch or enclose it as a sun room and year round living space. A small wood stove could take the place of the current Monitor heater or a wall-mounted propane heater. With the right fans, the stove or heater could heat the entire cabin. Insulation and new windows will be needed for year-round use. No neighbors are near or can be seen from the cabin. Only forest, pasture, and mountains. This cabin is really sweet and could be cozy, low maintenance, and comfortable.
The Pavillion is one open, 900 sq ft room with a lot of, shall we say, character. It was built as a community space where campers could gather and family events like wedding receptions, etc. could be held. It has a giant stone fireplace that has been outfitted with a propane heater of some sort and is flanked by two very old and heavy wooden barrels. Its one light comes from a very large wagon wheel chandelier. It is interesting that it has no beams or walls anywhere holding up the ceiling but has all of its support above the dropped ceiling. It needs rewiring and does not yet have indoor plumbIng but could be connected to the nearby spring or bathhouse. The foundation is on piers. In the best of all worlds we collectively could keep that building as a small event/community meeting place, bunkhouse, bedrooms and kitchen for caregivers, guests, etc. But who knows.
There are 4 wooded campsites with new electric hookups with 20, 30, and 50 amp outlets and water spigots. Even though things are overgrown back there, each campsite is apparent but not properly graded. There is still gravel on the sites and on the road to the sites but the vegetation needs to be tarped and topped with a load of additional gravel. The campsites and the cabins are in view of each other. However, the forest and distance from neighbors provides total privacy from other neighbors.
There is also a bathhouse in the campground with 2 showers, 2 toilets, and 2 sinks and its own septic system. Oscar made them into separate Men’s and Women’s rooms but we've removed those signs. We recently rennovated the bathhouse with new plumbing, electricity and an on-demand hot water heater.
A couple of months ago I had a road built from the front of the property, (Mcdaris Cove Road) along the property line, into the woods, and up to the back of the property where the cabins and campground are located. I am very glad to have our own access to the campground and am naming the new road Old Gals Landing.
Next steps for the campground is to grade and gravel the campsites to better accommodate friend and family campers as well as a long term RV site. Currently, a “workcamper” is situated back there to help fix up the campground and barn so that other campers can rent the spaces until my co-founders materialize.
Potential Revenue Streams
Many intentional communities have small businesses to provide revenue streams that supplement what members pay to live there. Given the cost of maintaining, improving, insuring, and repairing the communal property, even in a small place like this one, revenue streams are important. The following are my ideas for potential revenue streams.
- The Campsites and bathhouse can be a good revenue stream for the co-op. The same could be said for the Pavillion if we renovated it and kept it as a group, community, event space. Remaining jobs to fix up the private campground for limited use involves grading, 2-3 loads of gravel, and pruning and removing small trees. The upkeep of the campground is also relatively simple and could be one of the jobs co-op members cycle through as a regular co-op community task. We could set up a schedule so that the campground is not always open to visitors, giving an RV-living co-op member and the member in the cabin periodic solitude. Additionally, if a member is living in one of the spaces in her RV, we could limit the rentable sites to three instead of four. Other than an RV-living member, there will be a limit on the size of allowable RV’s. Larger vehicles won't fit or be able to navigate the limited space.
- Landclearing Goat Rental. Several years ago I worked for a woman outside of Atlanta who had a large and unmanageable herd of goats which she rented out to clear people’s property of invasive vegetation like English Ivy, Poison Ivy and Oak, Crown Vetch, Kudzu, and many others. This has been an established business for many years and in many places including NC. There is much to learn about goat care and a goat rental business, as well as the market for this service within a one hour radius of Weaverville. Nonetheless, it is my dream and aspiration. I would like to do this research and have a small herd of (6-8) female and castrated male goats that are of a smaller breed that can be managed by a bunch of older women. Again, this is not a high investment venture. Fencing, marketing, gas, a used trailer to transport, and vetting are the big expenses. Goats themselves are frequently given away. If one or two other co-op members wanted to be involved in this it could be done so that there is always someone around to look after and transport the goats when the others are away or unavailable. A couple of neighbors are also will to care for the goats in our absence.
- Cash crop. We have only a small amount of space and hopefully, one or two of us would want to grow some amount of food for co-op members. So, I’ve dabbled in exploring a crop that is high value and requires relatively little space. How about saffron? Again, the viability of this proposition requires total market and agricultural research. I do know that a little goes a long way, it does not require a lot of space, must be planted and harvested at very precise moments, and much of the labor involves the tedious but meditative task of separating the saffron fibers from each other and from the plant. It could be our version of a quilting bee. The number of foodie towns around here, (Asheville, Hendersonville, Sylva, Brevard, Saluda, to name just a few in WNC alone) would be happy to source their saffron from a band of local old ladies, saving their earnings to provide well-paid professional caregivers when we need them.
- I also have a small business of my own, manufacturing and selling (on-line) floor-to-ceiling cat climbers that mount to the end of a partition wall or doorway, install in minutes, and require no drilling, floor space, or hardware. I invented Kiwi’s Climber and hold the patent for this product. This too would benefit from collective efforts but it is too much to go into at this time.
My top property improvement priorities include:
- Operationalizing the campground
- Doing what is necessary to make use of the barn and workshop
- Having the inspector determine the zoning and infrastructure options for residents building 1-2 small houses beside the pasture.
- Working with a lawyer to determine a legal collective ownership arrangement of the property
- Determining the use and function of the pasture
Future Improvements
- Installing solar
- Determining the use(s) of the pasture
- Fencing the pasture accordingly
- Renovating the pavilion for community use
Something I would love to do if and when possible, is to dig a pond in the woods behind the pasture for coop members to cool off in the summer, swim small lengths, and do water aerobics, which I think is so fun and great exercise for us older folks.
JJ Firestone
About JJ Firestone
JJ Firestone is a recent transplant to Weaverville, NC where she purchased a 3.5 acre mini-farm for the purpose of creating a model, 4 to 6-person, self-governing Cooperative for Vigorous Aging. She conceived this model during 17 years in hospice and geriatric social work and caring for her 90+ year old parents for the last six years of t
JJ Firestone is a recent transplant to Weaverville, NC where she purchased a 3.5 acre mini-farm for the purpose of creating a model, 4 to 6-person, self-governing Cooperative for Vigorous Aging. She conceived this model during 17 years in hospice and geriatric social work and caring for her 90+ year old parents for the last six years of their lives.
She is also the inventor and manufacturer of Kiwi’s Climber, a modular floor-to-ceiling cat climber and scratcher that mounts to the end of a partition wall or doorway, and requires no floor-space, drilling, or hardware. Firestone owns the patent for this invention.
For 16 years she coordinated the artificial insemination program at a queer community health center in Boston as well as organizing other community services for queer parents, prospective parents, and their children.
During that time she conceived and raised her, now 32 year old, daughter, Hannah in a cooperative arrangement with Hannah’s 2 dads. For two years prior to her conception Firestone and the dads created a 35 page co-parenting agreement to supersede any “legal” definition of family. The success of this long-term arrangement, based on the written intentions of the three parents, inspired her faith and confidence in people’s abilities to establish and maintain enduring, deliberately chosen, and thoughtfully developed relationships and arrangements.
Contact Us
Old Gal's Landing
67 Mcdaris Cove Road
Weaverville, NC 28787
Owner: Jenifer J Firestone
Feminist Cooperatives for Vigorous Aging
