Page 140 - Vibrant Living Scrapbook

Support Spontaneity with House Money
We advise you to build into your daily work and household life the beauty of spontaneity and “permission” for staff and householders alike to engage in spontaneous activities.
Meadowlark Hills, a retirement community
in Manhattan, KS, and one of the first to
build households, supports spontaneity by budgeting “mad money” for each household
to use as it wishes. By enabling access to activities outside the household, this brilliant idea is generating more choice and spontaneity for residents – part of what vibrant living is all about.
Mad (i.e., house) money, is usually a line item in a household budget. It requires a reasonably easy process for accessing the money. Petty cash is doable, but usually only one person
can access it. A debit card belonging to the household with its name on it works well. The facility can transfer money into the account and the household can use it independently.
The only down side to a budget line item is that residents cannot make deposits and increase the available money. A trust fund works well for this. A 501-c-3 fund allows residents to access and make deposits. We simply suggest that you as a team think through whatever process might work best for you.
Community Staff Learning Circle Questions
How could we get money budgeted for household activities?
Does our budget permit spontaneous activities that would get people out of the house?
If there is no budget for spontaneous activities, can we consider creating one?
How about fund raising?
Community Learning Circle Questions
What shall our process be for using our mad money?
What shall we do with our mad money?
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