Peter Maclean is the founder of The Caring Project, a vegan intentional community to be formed by carers, caring and cared for people. Here he describes the vision for the community.

The Caring Project is an Intentional Community to be formed by carers, caring and cared for people. The vision is to care for each other, other creatures and the ecology to the best of our ability.

This project has been inspired by:

1. Personal experience with the inefficiencies and corruption in the human services industry,
2. The three Four Corners programs in 2017 exposing the abuses in foster, disability, and age care,
3. The success of the first 20 years of the Seven Oaks cerebral palsy facility in Brisbane, and
4. The achievements of the Bridgewater Community project in Portland, Oregon.

The community will own itself via a not for profit legal structure, and wherever possible consensus will be the basis for our decision making processes.

My focus has always been to work towards something that is affordable for all, and to that end the Caring Project is being budgeted at current nursing home subsidy rates and Centrelink pension rates. Home/apartment/room rental rates will be realistic, and far less than current commercial rates.

The plan is to find suitable land in rural Victoria with reasonable access to medical facilities. There will be housing and accommodation for around 70 people initially, with the potential to expand as required. Some of the residents will be paid carers and their families, some will be volunteer carers, some will be older folk requiring increased levels of care, some will be people with handicaps, some will be younger people needing family based support, some will be staff working in the kitchen or gardens or as cleaners or support staff.

The common theme for the community is caring. We will care for the Earth by only growing and using organic food, we will care for our fellow creatures by not using animal based products, and we will care for each other by making this a cornerstone of the community.

Compassionate Communication will be encouraged, taught and practiced at all levels of the organisation.

We will fund the project in a variety of ways. The National Disability Insurance Scheme, philanthropic grants, private loans from residents, crowd funding, and bank loans are just some of the sources of funds we can investigate.

If you wish to register your interest in the project, please send your name (or the name of your organisation), your contact details and some information about yourself to Peter Maclean at [email protected].