Boomer’s Collaborative made significant progress in 2018. We started the year uncertain about how to move forward, but by year’s end we had a site identified and were working to close relationships with several partners.

Highlights

We identified a highly-desirable site in a transit-oriented district (TOD) on Ryan Drive. It is a city-owned property on the Metro rail line that will be subject to a Request for Proposals (RFP) later this year.
We also identified a redevelopment partner to respond to the RFP, a general contractor to build the project, and an affordable housing expert to participate in the City’s Affordable Housing Program. We will soon meet with an architect who often works with our prospective general contractor partner.
We launched our website at www.boomerscollaborative.org.
We were asked to apply and participated in Impact Hub’s Fall 2018 Affordability Accelerator.
We are in discussions with a local Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) for financing of the project (including share loans* for individuals).
In December, the City of Austin Commission on Seniors voted to support the Boomers Collaborative cooperative housing and mixed-use creative space model
The Austin Cooperative Business Association (ACBA) has agreed to work with us, and we are retaining Key Figures Cooperative to keep our books.

Thank Yous

Many thanks to Teresa Ferguson and AustinUP for their support and help with our recent survey.

Thank you Brandi Clark Burton of EcoNetworking for donating lunch hours to mentor us during the Impact HUB Affordability Accelerator.

Since appreciation to Ashley Phillips, Reagan Pugh, and Kelsey Willard for the experience of the Impact HUB Affordability Accelerator — ushering us through the process, opening doors, and helping us refine our pitch.

How You Can Help

Provide Expertise: We need to establish relationships with the following:

A restaurateur
A high-quality artisanal product retailer
Artists
Makers

LOIs: We will be accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) from all prospective residents, partners, and commercial tenants. A draft Letter of Intent is currently under development. Look for it soon!

Volunteer: Consider serving on our board of directors.

Donate: Visit our website to contribute. We humbly and sincerely appreciate donations in any amount to help us grapple with housing affordability in a new way.

Hello, everyone!

Since becoming part of Impact Hub’s Fall 2018 Affordability Accelerator last week, we at Boomers Collaborative Foundation are excited to provide our first published updates, as well as important shares. To familiarize yourselves with who we are and what we offer, please visit our website and feel free to check us out on Facebook and Twitter.

Notable Events

We’ve updated our PowerPoint Presentation which tells our story and plans for the future and we presented at the Aging 2.0 Symposium in Austin on October 1.

Highly Impactful and Significant Shares

Journalists are now writing about the conditions we address in our model and through our supports. Although she is writing about New Yorkers, Winnie Hu of The New York Times describes a national trend in her article, Retire? These Graying ‘Encore Entrepreneurs’ Are Just Starting Up (Sept. 17, 2018).

“A growing number of New Yorkers are starting businesses in their 50s and 60s, even as their colleagues are easing into retirement…

“…The number of self-employed New Yorkers who were at least 50 rose to 209,972 in 2016, up 63.7 percent from 128,282 in 2000…

“…These older New York entrepreneurs are also part of a national trend, driven partly by the financial crisis a decade ago. Still, their numbers have grown even as the economy has rebounded…

“…Older entrepreneurs comprise an overlooked demographic group and require more resources and support services, said Jonathan Bowles, the executive director of the Center for an Urban Future.”

Because it is risky to go it alone in entrepreneurship, we offer better co-opreneurial, co-working, and co-making supports to seniors and our other members as an integral component of our co- / cooperative housing model. By bringing individual entrepreneurs together in a cooperative co-making and co-working space, and collaborating to sell only what sells in a shared retail storefront, we can assure our members a measure of economic security and success.

And in ‘Too Little Too Late’: Bankruptcy Booms Among Older Americans, Tara Siegel Bernard (also of The New York Times, Aug. 5, 2018) reports on staggering news that is not well-known. It may greatly inform how we approach membership. Since our goals are to provide missing middle housing at market rates and participate in City affordable housing initiatives, we may need to provide more supports to seniors with now-meager resources.

Highlights

We have talked to another interested elder orphan over the weekend who will be adding her name to our prospective member list via our new website, BoomersCollaborative.Org.

As we just launched our website in September and since some of our demographic only use technology intermittently, we do not anticipate much activity until we have a building site and relationships tied down. However, we will be taking steps to convert those who are only “interested” into actual participating “members” as we move through our experience with the Accelerator this fall.

On another front, we’ve heard back from the Roosevelt Institute. We approached them two years ago. Now that they fully embrace the threat of economic insecurity for older adults, we want to approach them again as a possible source for funding.

Lowlights

Right now, all foundation expenses are borne by our board members.

This situation should change as soon as we announce a nominal membership fee within the next two to three weeks and as we begin to reach out to prospective donors.

Thank yous!

Many thanks to the Impact Hub team for their welcome and efforts on our behalf. Special thanks to Kelsey for helping put our image and logo together for Impact Hub events.

How You Can Help

We are in need of the expertise of an accountant and a real estate developer, as well as an affordable housing expert to review our draft pro forma.

Until next week!

Carol Lilly

It’s 2019 and Boomers Collaborative is on the Move!

Boomers Get Started at Impact Hub