Village Company 360 wasn’t my first pick for a business name, but the website addresses of names I wanted were taken or cost thousands of bucks.
The word “company” fixed those problems, and had the added benefit of communicating that my work is about villages and business.
Some find the idea of melding villages—caring communities for & by neighbors—and business to be distasteful. Me, I find that somewhat distasteful, as well as concerning:
It seems to say that it’s normal for businesses I won’t name to make billions hurting people and the environment, but it’s objectionable for people providing unpaid care worth billions to make money for their efforts through businesses.
Care is considered the work that makes all work possible.
I concur and am unashamed to suggest that neighbors pay neighbors for care, which doesn’t mean that care can’t happen without involving cash.
In this story, I asked if people would feel comfortable with a neighbor babysitting their child or being an unsupervised companion for a loved one. My hunch is that most folks wouldn’t, but I see that as an issue neighbors can address together.
Care is the work that makes all work—and rural prosperity—possible.
My friends over at SaveYour.Town believe that small towns can be saved by their own people using their own resources, and for ten years have collected data from thousands of rural people on their challenges and insights.
From about 2019, a lack of affordable housing topped the challenges list.
Child care was the second leading challenge.
A lack of child care not only keeps people out of the workforce, but can also limit the influx of workers from other places.
In one SaveYour.Town survey, several respondents mentioned a new housing initiative in their community, but only a couple reported progress on child care.
According to the Center for American Progress, more than half of the U.S. population lives in a neighborhood classified as a child care desert.
(A child care desert is an area with too few licensed slots for the number of children needing care. Visit ChildCareDeserts.org for an interactive map.)
I’ve not struggled with child care, but struggled with nail care in my dad’s final years: His hands were contracted into fists, and unfurling his fingers was a two-person job requiring morphine that could take close to an hour.
Oh, how I longed to pay someone in my community to tend to my dad’s nails with an aide so that I could knock out other tasks and get to bed on time.
It might seem boring to those not in the know, but building businesses that offer child care, nail care or care to help with activities of daily living are among the most important kind for America’s prosperity.
What kind of care do you wish you could pay your neighbors for?
Along with nail care, I wished I could pay a neighbor to pamper my father with warm shampoos and head massages. Alas, I did it myself a bit rushed.
At WhatIfCare.com, I have a two-question survey to gather your wishes to share with caring business builders. Please share the link and order up what you want!
P.S. Speaking of building businesses, I was accepted into a program offered by the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. Until graduation in June, I’ll be working on a service to foster vertical villages, or caring communities in multifamily housing.
P.P.S. After writing this story, I learned from The Care Gap that child care costs more than in-state college tuition in 38 states across the U.S., with infant care averaging around $11-17K per year while in-state college tuition is around $10k.
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