Revolutionize Your Retirement Radio

Aging in Community: New (and Old) Ways of Living Well Together with Dorian Mintzer and Raines Cohen

• Dorian Mintzer

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Episode Guest: Raines Cohen, community organizer and co-housing coach

Episode Description:

The stereotypical modern ideal of independent solo living and aging is really a new modern experiment that doesn't work well for many people. We can achieve greater independence through interdependence if we're willing to engage with neighbors or housemates to take care of one another. That's what aging in community is all about.

Many structures and ways help people preserve their privacy while they share, such as setting clear limits and building relationships over time. Having a deeper shared purpose or value can support deeper relationships and caring, more than just housemates or places to live. You can get more of what you want or need in a community living arrangement by starting with a clear list of your own priorities, but instead of treating it as a list of demands, use it as a guide to your listening, and then prioritize.

About Raines Cohen:

Raines Cohen, CSA, CLIPP, is a community organizer pioneering the field of Aging in Community. As a Cohousing Coach, he works to help people find and co-create sustainable communities, cohousing neighborhoods, EcoVillages, and all forms of cooperative shared living that blend privacy and community. He has visited over 125 North American cohousing neighborhoods, lived in two, and served as a Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) Ambassador.

As a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA), he loves to connect life planners and folks serving elders with new options for their clients. As a Certified Living in Place Professional (CLIPP), he looks for ways to help folks feel safer and more secure in their existing homes as they age and evolve to incorporate new neighbors and housemates.

He wrote the Aging in Community chapter in the book Audacious Aging, was a founding member of Elders Action Network (EAN), and serves on the boards of Sage-ing International and Gray Panthers of the Berkeley/East Bay Area. He lives with his wife, Betsy Morris, at Berkeley (California) Cohousing.

Get in touch with Raines Cohen:

Raines' Handout: Download his chapter called "Aging in Community" in the book, Audcacious Aging https://www.agingincommunity.com/RevolutionizeRetirement/
Raines' website: https://www.agingincommunity.com/
Purchase the book, Audacious Aging: Eldership as a Revolutionary Endeavor: https://revolutionizeretirement.com/audacious
Grab our free guide, 10 Key Issues to Consider as You Explore Your Retirement Transition, at https://10keyretirementissues.com/ 

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