We are looking for active community caretakers – could it be you?

We are looking for community caretakers for three of our locations to listen to and meet other tenants and bring up their needs. Every community has hidden needs that can go unnoticed if we don’t talk to each other.

Three TOAS locations, Tuulanhovi, Pekola and Rantalinna, are involved in the pilot service Yhteisörakentajan työkalupakki (Community builder’s toolbox) launched this autumn. There are five residential communities involved in total, and they have been chosen in cooperation between TOAS, VTS and Kotipirtti ry.

For the TOAS locations, we are now looking for community caretakers, i.e. individuals who have the ability to bring people together. You don’t have to be a super productive workhorse; you can be, for example, the person who always creates a friendly atmosphere by greeting others outside and asking them what’s up – sort of a glue holding the community together. The task of the community caretaker is to find people who are, for example, enthusiastic and productive in their own individual projects, fountains of knowledge who are happy to share their tips with other members of the community.

The community caretakers are provided with preparatory training for the task, support services and the necessary tools. A highly experienced ‘community clown’ from Tampere, Mona Ratalahti, is involved in the search.

The purpose of the pilot service is to activate tenants to promote the sharing economy of their neighbourhood through their own actions. In the future, if possible, the goal is to make the concept available to all housing cooperatives and communities.