"We didn't want to grow old alone like our parents. So we built a community"

A group of retired immigrants from the US founded a shared housing community in Jerusalem to avoid growing old alone. The model lets each member live in an independent apartment while providing daily mutual support. The founders, who met in 2013, struggled with real-estate hurdles until they managed to rent apartments in the "Armona Dreams" project in 2020. Members highlight the benefits of chance encounters and shared independence.

A group of retired immigrants from the United States founded a shared housing community in Jerusalem in order to avoid growing old alone. The model, inspired by the Israeli kibbutz and Danish cohousing, allows each member to live in an independent apartment while receiving daily mutual support. The founders, who met at a dinner in 2013, worked to shape the idea and recruit members, but ran into real-estate difficulties. In 2020, with the help of a discount from Shikun & Binui during the coronavirus period, eight members rented apartments in the "Armona Dreams" project. Members emphasize the benefits of chance encounters, mutual help and shared independence, while grappling with questions such as playing music on Shabbat. The article presents the community as an alternative to expensive assisted living, but does not detail the exact costs.

"We didn't want to grow old alone like our parents. So we built a community"