Page 17 - Bulletin #67 - November 2020

“Being at the epicenter of the crisis in NYC, we have stopped our short term sublets and guest
room rentals. Our long term residents have worked together to come up with social distancing
and disinfecting guidelines used throughout the house. We have had one resident with Covid 19.
He was quarantined for 20 days. We were diligent in providing him with food and a private
bathroom. The virus did not spread through the house. WooHoo!! It is a work in progress and
has been emotionally exhausting.”
— Robin Drake, Pennington Friends House, NYC, USA

“There were tensions. Some people were critical of the efforts of others, and accused them of
‘not taking this seriously.’ … We also have experienced, well-trained facilitators who guided us
through these difficult times with good humour and grace. We started out in an atmosphere of
fear and anxiety, but as time passed, we adjusted. I feel incredibly fortunate to be living in such a
supportive community during this kind of social upheaval. It bodes well for the future.”
–Kathryn-Jane Hazel, Pacific Gardens Cohousing Community, Nanaimo, B.C. Canada
“We have been seeing conflicts in some of our houses in person differences of how to manage
mental and social health vs physical health. Co-op staff and leadership continue to guide houses to
follow CDC guidelines when these issues are brought up.”
— Nola Warner, MSU Student Housing Cooperative, Greater Lansing Area (Lansing and East
Lansing), Michigan, United States

“The residents have had a number of meetings and opinions vary from strictly following every
single state guideline to looking for ways we could vary some. We’ve had some contention about
acting (example inviting a visitor) without us all agreeing. This has led to good discussion, no 17
perfect resolution but aware that even with our current decision method of Sociocracy this is a
unique situation. Do we all have to agree on everything; if one or two disagree how does it feel if
they choose to self-isolate in their home? No answers just the impact of this situation. Generally
we are being very cautious and careful with protocols to stay healthy.”
— Kirsten Rohde, The Goodenough Community, Washington, USA

“There has been stress. Our community has 30 members. About a fourth think we need very
disciplined health safety measures, about a fourth think there is no need for them to be extreme,
and about half more or less are inclined to have more safety procedures than not but they’re
rather relaxed about it. Those estimates may not be completely accurate but they do represent a
difference in opinion. This all came to the fore when some from the ‘more minimum safety
procedures’ people wanted to create an exercise room (something to which we have never really
given much thought). This horrified the ‘maximum safety people.’ In our last community meeting,
the issue was not really resolved but the gym people pushed forward, many think in a very heavy
handed way, and went ahead and created the gym. The coronavirus situation, therefore,
occasioned a discord that probably would have never surfaced without. First, interest in the gym
was largely driven by the ‘shelter in place’ orders and second opposition was strong because it
was seen as a risky practice. The good news is that there now is a general agreement that our
community should objectify its decision-making process and make it much more clear by putting it
in writing. There was never much motivation to do this in the past due to some unique conditions
in our community. The fracture making this necessary has appeared precisely because of matters
related directly to the virus.”