How? by empowering local families here to create businesses that can support other kids with disabilities also and their families. Perhaps by helping to make places/a homestay here where families can come and stay and be supported also (either for a holiday or more permanently), training locals who may be employed as care-givers for people with disabilities, employing local builders and designers to make eco-friendly dwellings and sustainable support systems (food and amenities) that may also provide a local example for sustainable development, employ local guides and tour managers and help establish collective local businesses. How? Perhaps by making places here where families can come and stay and be supported also (either for a holiday or more permanently), training locals who may be employed as care-givers for people with disabilities, employing local builders and designers to make eco-friendly dwellings and sustainable support systems (food and amenities) that may also provide a local example for sustainable development, employ local guides and tour managers and help establish collective local businesses.
I'dliketoconnect with other parents that might be interested in forming a village for our kids. Also a community business or enterprise for them to be involved in when they are adults. I'm looking at researching how such villages have been set up in Europe. eg. Camp Hill communities (not sure about American ones) and Waldorf villages. A co-operative model that is managed/voted on by the parents of the 'kids' with disabilities where you know that when you die, you can feel trust and peace in the other families managing having the interests of the kids first and foremost (not bottom lines or kpi's). I would hope the parents can choose and employ the CEO and that they will be accountable to the parents directly - not bureaucratic boxes.
I guess it is also like a model for investing in 'private housing' so we know our 'kids' have a safe and secure environment in which to live more independently and also share supervision/free our time as parents/caregivers. (Where we can also live as well and be included in their lives). My child is special and she's awesome, and she can bring people together to have fun and purpose (just on my own continually inventing activities and not getting a break is: nerve-breaking because i'm on high-alert constantly). I don't mean to insult any adults with a disability by referring to People with different abilities as 'kids' - it's just that my daughter will Always be my 'kid' and many parents of special needs children say the same thing... so no offence. I would love people with disabilities who are adults to of their own accord want to join our village/s - or replicate the model for their own use...
Revivement
Village-living
Imagine a
village-community where you can live close-by your person with a
disability; where carefully screened paid support and volunteer
carers may also reside and share in a village-lifestyle. There is/are
co-operative businesses that look after/run service aspects of the
village-community such as a cafe/restaurant, transport hub,
care-giving/volunteer org, .
A Revivement Village is
based on the model of a retirement village where you have a central
community centre/hub and a “village-style” housing
cluster/clusters. Land is rented but you own (or may) rent your
house. The land is held by a Co-operative and managed by the
Co-operative. A CEO may be employed but the central decision-making
and ownership lies with the co-operative. There is no “external”
ownership syphoning off money to shareholders. Co-operative
management and duties are shared by parents through a management
committee that looks after interests and aspirations of all the
village and also residents' interests after their primary caregiver/s
die.
CO-OP HOUSING
Building homes and/or
home-stays - internships for learning natural building techniques (course/workshop or volunteers who come and stay helping in the village)
I imagine a kind of
building cooperative being formed where say 5-10 families contribute
a base amount of money to secure lease on land and relevant
permissions, legal setup, training for local people as carers and
sustainable technology infrastructure cost for an area to develop
into a village-community. Then I imagine there being a yearly fee for
the cost of building housing so that in the first year – if one
house is built, each family is allocated or chooses a “time-share”
option and everyone gets to spend a portion of the year there in a
“family holiday” environment. Depending on the scale and speed of
building, how many local people are employed in building housing and
the availability of local carers (or bring a friend with you) then
maybe 2,3 or more families can have a holiday together the first
year... and then perhaps 4-6 families the following year.
There may be some areas
of improvement to develop in working out compatibility of kids for
grouping families together for each holiday. For example, you
wouldn't want a kid with noise intolerance and high sensitivity in
the same group as say my daughter who can't get enough noise and
sound/light stimulation. Maybe there could be a 1-2 day family
gathering in Australia so parents can meet eachother and work out
some compatibilities for the kids/children that seem to click with
eachother.
I think if a family,
after investing found a lack of compatibility or interest with
others, there would be a way they could switch to another group, or
else sell their “share” or “interest” (with no interest or
inflation) I think a better word would be “seed” or “pocket”
as these terms allude more to the ideas of grouping together rather
than being apart. (just a thought).
I really believe and
want this venture to be “non-commercial” and a true social
enterprise in that there are not stake/shareholders involved that are
interested in what profit they can derive from our children being
disabled. ALL the benefits; ALL the revenue must go back into the
village and to help seed other projects. Yes in the long-term
people/parents need localised employment; funding can/may be
allocated to help seed localised businesses; to help propagate side
projects that aim to maintain and develop local ecosystem knowledge,
protection and diversity... And to build businesses that are truly
sustainable and help sustain local populations and Include people
(Co-opertive) without being “in control” of them.
Community Agriculture - A community “cottage industry” business engages PWD in daily activities – whether it be a craft product, natural medicine/health care product, or food product.
See Rikki's post school ag project with carp fish production.
Involving PWD in
cottage-industry farming activities can gain the benefits of
community involvement and a more natural “supervision”-style
inclusion activity. Carers help in the farm activities as well as be
there to supervise our kids. Examples of inclusive fun activities are
carp-farming, flower-picking, weeding, raising seedlings, watering...
it really depends on the group of kids and on what activities are
most appropriate. Community gardening can further social reaches for
people with disabilities, but caution must be taken for people who
are vulnerable and organised supervision always present.
One way I thought to
reduce the cost of carers and free up parents' time would be to have
like a cooperative roster with other parents for a group of kids that
do a farming activity together. Paid carers would also have to be
present but as a parent, I want to know my daughter is always being
supervised by someone whose interests are the same as my own. Human
psychology seems to show that if people think/know they're being
watched, they are less likely to be dishonest.
For example, I happened
to go to the same beach where my daughter was with an 'employed' carer.
I saw my daughter was alone swinging on the swing while the carer
some 20-25m away (out of direct sight from my daughter) was cleaning
out her car. There was no other public around. The carer then went
into the public toilets adjacent to the swings for around 4-5 minutes
again leaving my daughter on her own on the swing. I'm sure had she
known I was there – she wouldn't have been leaving my daughter
unattended.
Family supervision is
much more natural – in the sense of a group of people – not
necessarily biological family only. I hope that as humans we can gain
a sense back of what it's like to do things together, working
co-operatively and having fun at the same time. It's something I've
only really seen in tribal and indigenous cultures. The bhutanese
people who came to grow stuff at the Wah Day farm displayed it
perfectly. I guess a picture is more valuable than words so...
Cooperative Supervision
I drew this as an
example “time schedule” where parents can share the supervision
of daily/community farming activities. I think there would also have
to be paid or trained volunteer carers but as a basis for monitoring
what's going on with our kids – I think this could work.
M Tu W Th F Sa Su
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Family A
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Family B
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Family C
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Family D
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Family E
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Family F
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