About us
We are a non-profit co-housing association for international people aged 50+. Founded in 2017 by long-term residents who are moving into retirement, we are dedicated to retaining the richness of life in a connected community.
We believe that our lives are improved by places that bring people together, and have been inspired by co-housing developments across the world.
We joined the building cooperative wohnen&mehr in March 2019 and will rent ~20 apartments and a common room in Westfeld, a new multicultural, multigenerational, community-oriented neighborhood that wohnen&mehr is developing in the Iselin Quartier in Basel. Occupancy is currently planned for December 2022.
For more detail, check out our Annual Report 2021 here.
Our members
- We come from 6 countries.
- We are multilingual.
- We come from the public sector and the private sector, from NGOs, IT, finance, traditional and alternative therapies, communications and the arts
- Some of us are working and some
are retired - We all volunteer our time
Our Organization
Board
- Nancy Gelman (President)
- Ingrid Sanford (Treasurer)
- Claude Sanford (Secretary)
- Andrew Craven
- Beatrice Alder
Committees
- Communications
- Common Room
- Documentation and Legal
- Housing
- Members Only Website
Committee Members and other Volunteers
- Beatrice Alder
- Bernd Rinn
- Brigitte Hänngi
- Charlotte Sitte
- David Staehelin
- Doris Vogt
- Dorothea Eich
- Katherina Kapp
- Lisa von Gierke
- Markus Spinatsch
- Marne Platt
- Mike Golub
- Monique Spinatsch
- Petra Arida
- Vivian Beetle
- Christoph Nikolaus
- Renate Hauser
Andrew Craven
British, married with 2 children. A long-term resident here and now a citizen. Most of my professional life has been dedicated to explaining technical concepts to audiences without a technical background. I believe that initiatives such as Wohnen+ Basel give better options to people keen to enjoy the same fulfillment and richness in life in their senior years as in their younger days.
Nancy Gelman
Married with 2 children. Swiss and American national, living in Switzerland since 1998. I worked in the pharmaceutical industry in Basel and am now retired. I am excited about the potential of Wohnen+ Basel to provide housing that will enable older adults to remain active, engaged and independent within an international, multi-generational environment.
Claude Sanford
Married with 3 children. American national living in Switzerland since 1996. Served 8 years in the United States Army with one tour in Vietnam, left with the rank of Major. For the next 38 years I pursued a career in computer systems, working in the banking, insurance and educational industries. I worked mainly in the United States and in the United Kingdom up until 1996 when my family and I moved to Switzerland where I continued my computer systems career.
Ingrid Sanford
Married with 3 children. Swiss and American national, living in Switzerland since 1996. Worked 15 years in the United States in various industries as a trainer, technical writer and project manager and the last 20+ years has been focused on finance, project and portfolio management in the pharma industry in Basel.
Both Ingrid and Claude are inspired by the vision of Wohnen+ Basel. Working together to help create a community where older adults in the second half of life can easily stay active and engaged in society and avoid isolation.