{"id":433,"date":"2011-06-09T09:07:04","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T09:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/?p=433"},"modified":"2012-03-02T14:19:15","modified_gmt":"2012-03-02T19:19:15","slug":"modern-%e2%80%98dawdy-haus%e2%80%99-young-to-old-help-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/2011\/06\/09\/modern-%e2%80%98dawdy-haus%e2%80%99-young-to-old-help-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"Modern \u2018Dawdy Haus\u2019 Young to Old Help Each Other"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Modern

Sarah Myers (left) and Herb Myers '66 (center) are building onto the home of son-in-law Jason '99 and Janelle '01 Myers-Benner and granddaughter kali. Sarah, who formerly directed a non-profit, and Herb, a psychiatrist, are moving as retirees from Pennsylvania to Virginia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Upon their graduation from EMU, Jason \u201999<\/strong> and Janelle \u201901 Myers-Benner<\/strong> knew that living sustainably would be an overarching priority in their lives. In the decade-plus since, this desire has grown into \u201ca vast and consuming project \u2026 engaging and energizing, even while exhausting,\u201d Jason writes.<\/p>\n

The Myers-Benners minimize their travel by vehicle, heat their house entirely with its passive solar design and backup wood stove, and try to grow, raise or gather as much of their food as possible from their land in Keezletown, Virginia.<\/p>\n

Intertwined and inseparable elements of their approach to sustainability are the Myers-Benner\u2019s significant emphasis on community and connection. They live out these values, in part, by homeschooling their 7-year-old daughter, Kali, building relationships with their neighbors and investing in nurturing, caring interactions across multiple generations. (Janelle works 30 hours per week as academic program coordinator at EMU\u2019s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.)<\/p>\n

As Janelle\u2019s parents, Herb \u201966<\/strong> and Sarah (class of \u201967) Myers<\/strong>, began planning for their retirement, the family saw an opportunity to further develop its commitment to multi-generational living. In 2010, Herb and Sarah began building a 900-square-foot addition to Janelle and Jason\u2019s house. The two living quarters are separated by a shared laundry room, utility room bathroom, and office. Their addition includes a rainwater cistern, a solar water heater, and other features intended to maximize the structure\u2019s energy efficiency.<\/p>\n

The new arrangement \u2013 a modern twist on the traditional Amish dawdy haus for aging parents \u2013 will make it easy for the family to share appliances, vehicles, tools and other household items. Moreover, Sarah writes, moving in beside Janelle and Jason will allow them all to share in the work of trying to live sustainably: tending the garden, harvesting and preserving food, caring for livestock, gathering wood and more.<\/p>\n

Herb and Sarah\u2019s addition also anticipates the physical challenges of aging by building all the main rooms to accommodate wheelchair access. That feature will make life easier both for them and their family caregivers next door.
\n\u201cThis building project \u2026 [will not] render our lives perfectly \u2018sustainable,\u2019\u201d Sarah writes. \u201cBut for us it seems to be an opportunity worth taking for the health of our planet and for our own sense of wholeness.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Upon their graduation from EMU, Jason \u201999 and Janelle \u201901 Myers-Benner knew that living sustainably would be an overarching priority in their lives. In the decade-plus since, this desire has grown into \u201ca vast and consuming project \u2026 engaging and energizing, even while exhausting,\u201d Jason writes. The Myers-Benners minimize their travel by vehicle, heat their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,8],"tags":[73,84,86,178,183],"class_list":["post-433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-spring-2011","tag-herb-myers","tag-janelle-myers-benner","tag-jason-mayers-benner","tag-sarah-myers","tag-sustainability","issues-spring-2011"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":931,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions\/931"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/crossroads\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}