A COMMUNITY ROOM
FOR YOUR HOME
suggested by Geoff Smith of Marangaroo, Western
Australia
The Problem:
Our families and communities are falling apart as we become
isolated from each other. Our lifestyles and the architecture of
our homes are not conducive to allowing extended family members, or
others from our personal networks to spend time with us,
where we can reciprocate support, provide respite, or share our
thoughts and lives.
The Idea:
- If you are building a new home, add a room/bed sitter/granny
flat to the design. If you are buying or renting an established
house/flat/townhouse, choose a property with one more bedroom than
you need.
- Use the room for relatives and friends to stay over in need
of temporary support and a sympathetic ear. Or use the room for
students and others from different parts of Australia and the
world - international exchange students, overseas tertiary
students; young people from rural Australia who need to board in
the capital city, city people who want a stint in the Australian
bush. Could be long term, weekends only, weekdays only, school
holidays only, school term time only.
- Use the room to provide foster care for a child. Or provide
accommodation for an adult living alone (maybe couples) who can
live independently, but who would value a supportive and warm
niche in the complex distant society we're in. This might include
people with mild intellectual disabilities, or mental health
problems.
- Get work closer to home, or change to a job with shorter or
more flexible hours, to free you up to give time to your guest
when needed.
- Some of us have Family Rooms in our houses. Family Rooms are
an acknowledgment of the importance of family members sharing time
together. They should probably be called "Nuclear Family Rooms" because they are of limited value for an extended family.
- If we can have Family Rooms, how about Community Rooms. A
Community Room in your house is an acknowledgment that we have
relationship responsibilities and opportunities beyond our selves,
our partner, or our nuclear family.
- A Community Room is a first practical step in facilitating
opportunities for people from your extended family, the local
community or other communities to share lives. It is in sharing
lives that we will begin to heal our families, heal our local
communities, heal our nation, heal our world, and heal
ourselves.
- Having a Community Room may cost extra (not necessarily) in
mortgage or rent payments, but it is a statement to yourself about
the value choices you are making &endash; social, moral and
spiritual values over material values. It may mean you are unable
to buy a later model car, perhaps fewer (or no) overseas holidays,
a ten-year-old lounge suite instead of a new one, fewer or cheaper
meals away from home. Your choice.
- It may not be for everyone, or indeed for anyone, except at
certain periods in their life &endash; perhaps only for those
without children (yet), or after they have left.
- There's little doubt it will not come without inconvenience
to our lifestyles. Living with other people always does. Living
responsibly, and open to the possibilities of community, even more
so.
- Is this really a social innovation? Hasn't this sort of thing
been happening for generations? Yes, but now to a diminishing
degree. There is little innovation ex-nihilo, if at all. Most
innovation is borrowed from other places, other times, other
contexts. This is one of those innovations borrowed from another
time, and needs to be encouraged anew.
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