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BC Seniors build a new way to age in place - a Karin Wells documentary

A bold way to live. As they age, people are coming together to build their own communities, make their own rules. It's called co-housing. It's big in BC and gaining ground across North America.
CBC Radio ·
Harbourside on Sooke Harbour (Credit: Warren Moore)

Dateline: Sooke, British Columbia.

A school bus driver, a mountain guide, a teacher, a hard living old DJ, several nurses, and an anthropologist - more than forty people - have built  their own community. They call it Harbourside.

Five years ago they didn't know each other. Now, they are a tribe - neighbours prepared to live together and look after each other, with any luck, till the end of their days.

Their mantra - flourishing through mutual support.

The concept is called co-housing and it originated in Denmark. Now it's big on the west coast of North America and is gaining ground across Canada, as people search for new forms of community, support and caring.

Harbourside is co-housing for seniors. It is one of the first of its kind in Canada.

Karin Wells spent a weekend with this "tribe", as decisions were made and the buildings went up.  

Her documentary is called "My Last Big Adventure".
Margaret Critchlow, one of the founders of the Harbourside community (Russ Fuoco )


 

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