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Community Corner

Prospect Heights Babysitting Coop

The Brooklyn DIY Babysitting Coop is in its seventh year and it is still going strong.

If you live in the neighborhood, no doubt you have heard of the famous Park Slope Food Coop, founded in 1973. With 14,000 plus current members the PSFC is the largest wholly member-owned and operated food coop in the country. Members are required to work two and three quarters hours per month in exchange for which they benefit from reasonably priced high quality food. But you probably have not heard of another organization that also operates on cooperative principles and similarly saves its members money: the Prospect Heights Baby-Sitting Coop (PHBC).

The PHBC was formed in May 2005 by Alex Marshall and Kristi Barlowe. Alex said, “Kristi and I wanted to do something practical that would also nurture community. The babysitting coop idea seemed great because it would save the participants money and time.”

Currently there are 18 families in the coop consisting of 35 adults and 29 children ranging in age from one to eight. There are several official position of the coop: Meeting Chair, New Member Chair, Social Chair, Points Secretary, and Yahoo Group Facilitator. The coop meets twice a year to conduct its official business and amend its bylaws, and more often socially. From the very beginning there have been frequent socials, picnics in Prospect Park, waffle breakfasts, as well as open invitations to peoples’ homes for holiday parties made special with Alex’s great granddad’s vintage eggnog recipe.

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The way the coop works is simple:  It’s a bartering system. Instead of exchanging money, points are used as currency. Every family has its own balance of points (like a bank account). When one family sits for another family, the one that has gone out “withdraws” points from its account and “deposits” them into the account of the babysitters– two points for every hour of service. The coop has averaged over six sits per month, some as short as a single hour and a handful of overnights running as long as 12 hours.

With the average cost of babysitting, which can run between $10 and $15 per hour, the PHBC has saved its members roughly $12,000 to $18,000 to date. An average length of a sit is about three hours, saving a family $30 to $45. As a member myself, it’s great to know that if my wife and I are invited to a party or just want to grab a bite to eat in the neighborhood we can often do so without it costing us a fortune.

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Like the Park Slope Food Coop, the PHBC has also fostered something new parents need, which is a community of other new parents and children around them. According to Marshall, “parents need support, and kids need playmates. The babysitting coop seemed a step in the right direction on those things. So far it's worked great and lived up to our hopes and expectations.”

For Ivana Espinet and her three children (Mateo 5, Luka 4, and Aliya 1) the community aspect of the coop has been a major selling point.  She feels it is important and comforting for both the parents and the children that her kids know “so and so’s” mom and dad. Just as importantly, she has met and befriended a group of people that she would not have ordinarily gotten to know.

Mike Kaas, another original member, concurs that one of the best things about the Coop are the socials and picnics, especially for the kids. He used the coop more when his two children, Amanda and Coco, 6 and 5, were younger. Now he prefers to hire a teenager who lives in his building.  

“If I had the time I would use it more,” he admited, with a tinge of guilt.

Without a storefront or other physical manifestations of its existence, and without selling a single product, the Prospect Heights Babysitting Coop, continues to quietly go about its business. Slowly, sit by sit, while babies grew into toddlers and later little boys and girls. A dedicated group of families in Prospect Heights, including my own, have saved themselves tens of thousands of dollars and strengthened their friendships and found a trustworthy community. We are still open for business and welcome new families. If you live in Prospect Heights, would like to save some money and meet new people? It may just be what you are looking for. If you are interested in learning more, please can contact the author.

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