Survivor Housing: Masahusettes, USA

[storyteller2001.livejournal.com]

We saw this in another community we are in, and thought that sine some of the members here are survivors, someone might be interested.

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ONE-OF-A-KIND SURVIVOR COOP NEEDS 10 MEMBERS IN 2 MONTHS

(please forward to ANYONE who might be interested!)

Zuzu's Place, if successful, will be one of the only survivor-controlled cooperatives in the world. Unlike a "group home" or a "halfway house," the cooperative will be controlled and run entirely by the members, and will demonstrate that loving human relationships are the best way to heal from severe emotional distress. Zuzu's Place can offer an alternative to the horrors of coercive psychiatric treatment, and will be a place where those who have endured such treatment can support each other.

Zuzu's Place is in crisis. We've got a beautiful, furnished, 20-room house, properly zoned (no small feat) -- but not enough members. We have 2 months to find 10 survivors who want to form a thriving cooperative community. Unless this happens, the project will run out of funding and a vital and unique opportunity for the survivor movement will be lost.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

- Become a coop member, or refer others who may want to live in the house. Contact us at 617-527-0995 or contact@zuzusplace.org

- Make a tax-deductible donation ( http://www.zuzusplace.org/index.php?id=money )

- Volunteer. Zuzu's Place needs help with fundraising, publicity, and finding new members. (email contact@zuzusplace.org)

- Join us at the March conference on survivor-run alternatives (see http://zuzusplace.org/ index.php?id=conference )

With your help, Zuzu's Place can be as important to our movement as the Underground Railroad was to the fight against slavery. You can help us keep this opportunity alive!

Please call us at 617-527-0995. For more information, go to http://www.zuzusplace.org

Your allies in the struggle for human rights,
Members and Friends of Zuzu's Place

Comments

[ksol1460.livejournal.com]

Well, good luck. Be sure that rules and boundaries are clearly delineated and carefully maintained. The last time we heard about a co-op like this, it fell apart because one member claimed to be too fucked-up to do even the simplest chores.

She drank four or more pots of coffee a day, but couldn't go out the front door to pick up her (non-psychiatric) medicine because she feared she would have a panic attack. She left half full cups of coffee all over the house, leaving none for others. She said each of her selves poured his or her own coffee and forgot that the others already did. Apparently none of these selves were capable of picking up after themselves, and resented being asked to do so.

She ran up huge long distance phone bills and couldn't pay them. Some other co-op members believed her claims utterly and did her work for her. She could have gone through mass rehab for nothing and learned basic bookkkeeping and business administration, but she would panic when these were suggested.

I'm not saying it can't work, all I'm saying is be careful to set boundaries, and enforce them. This is the kind of community that can easily be taken over by users. Their survivorship might be genuine, but their commitment to healing might not be.