There are countless applications for cooperatives to enrich and comfort the lives of ordinary people. Cooperatives give us a framework to look at whole systems solutions for individuals, families and communities. By looking at the whole system, we step away from our customary measurement of dollars and cents, and instead look at what we have to give, and what we need to live well. Providing latch key children a safe friendly home, with homemade cookies and milk, and a wise and interested listener is, in MasterCard’s parlance, priceless®. The need is so fundamental, and the benefit so genuine, it cannot be measured financially. Literally thousands of trustworthy people would be honored to fill this critically important role. Moreover, each would be enriched by the experience.

One of the most compelling of human needs is to feel needed. When a community steps up to the challenge of nurturing and supporting each other, everyone wins. A good friend was very fortunate to move into a superb assisted living facility for people with no income or assets when she was in her 80′s. Wanting to stay in touch with the world, she volunteered to tutor disadvantaged children. The 6-year old little boy who was assigned to her, wanted to sit close by. In effect, he wanted to be cuddled. He needed affectionate contact as much as, perhaps more than, he needed tutoring.

A disconnect in our country is that many people live alone, and unless they exert considerable effort to get out and interact, they often live in relative isolation. At the same time, parents often work long hours and their children are on their own until they get home from work. For some parents, the hours between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. are among their most anxious. This happens in all economic groups. A friend, living in the tony suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois, was the only at-home parent in her entire cul-de-sac. The movies Ordinary People and Ferris Buehler’s Day Off vividly illustrate that even wealthy families have their own particular dysfunction.