Self-management

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Self Management

ElderSpirit members are committed to challenging the prevailing cultural view of aging as a time of life that has decreasing value for the person or the community. One of the ways we do this is to live together in interdependent ways: there is no outside organization that takes care of us; rather, we organize to support ourselves and others in the community.

The community was created over a 10-year period via a series of conferences, planning sessions and soul-searching, involving many of the people who are residents or who remain involved today. We were intimately involved in the construction process, we planned and implemented our landscaping and we created the Policies and Procedures and Bylaws through which we govern our community, and which continue to evolve today.

Day-to-Day Life at ElderSpirit Community is managed by the Residents’ Association members themselves, with leadership selected annually through a process known as discernment. Each month the Residents Association meets and decides issues before it. All decisions related to community life are made by consensus where everyone’s opinionis are encouraged and respected.

Members maintain ongoing committees such as Architectural Review, Buildings and Grounds, Care, Common Buildings Management, Common Meals, Finance, Landscape, Membership, Program and Spiritual Life, as well as ad hoc committees for special projects. According to our interests and skills, members choose the committees through which we would like to function. We may join a cooking team and take a turn preparing one of the twice-weekly common meals; we may weed, plant, compost and mulch the gardens; we may help write the weekly bulletins, maintain order in our community library and many other tasks. Oftentimes it is less talking and more doing - we share the work that is necessary to maintain the life of the community so that everyone is involved, but no-one needs to feel overwhelmed (see "Lessons from Geese" below).

A few of the committees meet monthly, although most now meet quarterly. Committees guide community activities and hash out the specifics on decisions based on general directions from the Residents Association, and committees report each month to the Residents Association as a whole. As you can see from the photographs above, the work is often fun, and it seems to help when we incorporate some good food . . .

We also have a “Clearing House” process where issues of an immediate nature are considered as quickly as necessary to discuss and resolve them. From time to time we have Forums for a broader view on issues. In short, ElderSpirit welcomes everyone's participation, and continues to evolve.

Although the "footprints" of the owner homes belong to and are maintained by the various homeowners, the rental homes and common areas are owned by the ElderSpirit Development Corporation Inc., a 501c3 organization which employs a maintenance person for the properties it owns. The Corporation has only one other employee - a part-time book-keeper who makes sure that we adhere to regulations set by some of our initial funding agents. She also collects rents and makes our regular loan payments. Several residents serve on the Development Corporation Board, along with other local individuals. This Board makes a monthly report to the Residents Association.

Most residents here are also deeply engaged in the wider community that surrounds us in southwest Virginia, and we give of our gifts as volunteers for a variety of organizations, whether spiritual, social, cultural, political, ecological.

Shared at a recent meeting of the Residents' Committee - "LESSONS FROM GEESE":
FACTS:	LESSONS:
< As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an “uplift” draft for the birds that follow. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.	> People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
< When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.	> If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
< When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.	> It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other’s skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.
< The geese flying in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.	> We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one’s heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking that we seek.
< When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to earth to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.	> If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.