Senior Home Care Cooperative

Annual Report for 2000

In 2000 the Senior Home Care Alternative continued to work toward achieving its first goal - that of developing a Senior Home Care Cooperative in the Chicago area. Specific accomplishments were as follows:

• June/July -- Contacted by Victoria Bowman of the B.C. Institute of Cooperative Studies in Victoria, British Columbia, who had seen the SHCA web page. She requested more information about the history and key decision points of the SHCA for a report she was writing on cooperatives This information was sent to her.

• August -- Resubmitted proposal to the Illinois Department Illinois of Public Health requesting a ruling in advance as to whether or not the Senior Home Care Cooperative would require a nursing home license. IDPH responded, stating, "It is our opinion that the cooperative described in your letter would not require licensure under the Nursing Home Care Act".

• September/October -- Contacted by Lisa Lapp, a free lance writer from Pennsylvania, who had seen the SHCA web page. She stated that she has had a vision of cooperative elder care for years and wants to write a feature article about the SHCA. She initiated several phone calls to learn more about past and current events in the history of the SHCA, and additional information was sent to her by mail.

• December -- Ellen Butkus and Claudia George attended the National Shared Housing Conference in Chicago December 8 and 9. They heard about homesharing programs across the country and resources and strategies for homesharing. They also had an opportunity to introduce the SHCA to the group and to make contacts with interested persons.

• In the year 2000, 4114 file hits were received by the SHCA web pages. This compares to 1941 in 1999 and 254 in 1998.