US: Life comes full circle

Meet the worker cooperative Circle of Life and hear them looking back on their achievements as they turn fifteen.

This article was republished with permission from CICOPA and was originally published in the August 2023 edition of CICOPA’s Work Together newsletter.

The Circle of Life Caregiver Cooperative (COL) was created in 2007, and it is located in Belligham, Washington, US.

The idea to start a cooperative came from Jo Ana McNerthney, who in the year 2007, was looking for round-the-clock care for a parent. She was someone who had worked with a community cooperative and wanted to see if there was something similar available in the care sector.

After discussing it with some acquaintances, the way to go forward was decided and the worker cooperative was founded. The choice of the cooperative model came naturally to Jo Ana, who has always been an activist and has always advocated for social justice.

Jo Ana went on to become the administrator of cooperative and stayed in this role for 8 years. We had the chance to speak with the third administrator of Circle of Life, Kris Buettner, who has been in charge for the last three and a half years.

At the beginning, the cooperative started slow, but by 2013 they were extremely successful financially, and they were already providing care to 70 patients, as well as giving employment to many caregivers in their area.

The story of Circle of Life is an inspirational one, and their aim is to show that it is possible to be successful in the caregiving industry through a cooperative model that truly cares about their employees.

Circle of Life provides home care mainly to elders; however, they also have clients that have development challenges or that suffer a brain injury. The care plans are carefully and individually designed for each client, and the cooperative works to find a tailor-made team of caregivers that can provide the services needed. The service provided can cover from a few hours a week, to a 24/7 presence, and they work in both urban and rural areas.

Circle of Life also provides companionship to its clients. That is why they also work with people that are already in hospices but need extra care. Indeed, the shortage of caregivers, due to poor working conditions offered by big corporations that own hospices, makes the work of Circle of Life of vital importance.

As it happens to all businesses, things go up and down and at the time Buettner came, the cooperative was facing some challenges. Membership was low, and they weren’t financially stable, but they could overcome their difficulties.

That was mainly thanks to the support of cooperatives’ networks, particularly from the unrelenting support of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC) and the Cooperative Development Foundation (CDF). During COVID-19 received a grant from the CDF group and were gifted face shields from Engineering Coop, Isthmus. In addition, they received a large grant from the US Small Business Administration. Another taproot to COL’s successes is their cooperative and mutual support of a small network of five home care cooperatives in the region, supported by the NWCDC. This network of coops is forming a formal network to expand benefits to all members and expand training opportunities for their members.

Moreover, the board has been working hard to strengthen relationships with members and engage in a more efficient structuring of membership. They are democratically elected by the members of the cooperative and it takes care of the financial decisions, it hires the administrators, and supervises them. They meet once per month and the meetings are open to anyone, even to non-members of the cooperative, in order to guarantee complete transparency about their work.

Circle of Life highly values the exchanges with its workers and its members, which is why a member forum, and board meetings with caregivers are organized.

Those are a great opportunity to have the floor and are mainly used in order to collect new ideas, concerns, and questions. Moreover, surveys and regular check-ins are organized to see how everyone is doing and match the needs of the caregivers with those of their clients.

The cooperative now has 21 worker- members, and additional workers, employed part time in the organization. The majority of the caregivers are members of the cooperative. To become a member, aspirants must undertake a three-month evaluation work. After that, the Administrator of Operations can recommend the person to the board and the board reviews the membership and discusses it with the other members.

Becoming a member of the cooperative is very advantageous as there are financial incentives being the board structured with PayScale. Moreover, sick time, and paid time off (PTO), are accumulated at a better rate. Circle of Life continues to explore increasing benefits for members, and this is part of the work being done through the network of Washington homecare co-ops (Peninsula Home Care, Ridgeline Home Care, Capitol Home Care, and Heartsong Coop). There are also efforts to expand opportunities for members and their Boards to offer shared resources and training. Thanks to the NWCDC, this network of coops is possible.

Cooperation is essential for Circle of Life, and therefore they are part of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (CICOPA member), the Cooperative Development Foundation, the ICA group, and the Northwest Cooperative Development Center. The development center provides them with training, consultations, funds, and brings together the cooperatives that are part of it. This service is vital for cooperatives like Circle of Life that want to show that they are alive, the cooperative business model is a good model and that they are part of the movement.

Circle of Life blew 15 candles last year (2022). This was an important milestone for the cooperative, that since 2007 is empowering caregivers, is co-creating the environment of work, provides healthy work environment, provides good-quality services to the community and educates about the cooperative movement.

Now it’s time for a quinceañera for this worker coop!

Circle of Life Caregiver Cooperative is a member of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, our American member.