It started with a simple phone call in 2021. A new Nebraska resident contacted the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center (NCDC), with a question about home care cooperative job opportunities in Nebraska.
At the time, NCDC was not aware of any home care cooperatives in the state. As an organization dedicated to empowering people with resources to start cooperatives in their communities, NCDC started making calls.
The first call was to Deborah Craig with the Northwest Cooperative Development Center (NWCDC). NWCDC was the development center that assisted with the formation of the home care cooperative the woman for which had been a worker-owner. This conversation led to the development of the Nebraska Home Care Worker Cooperative Project.
The project began with a series of webinars answering questions from interested home care workers and service providers. Worker cooperatives — which traditionally have higher pay, higher employee retention, and higher levels of worker satisfaction — can provide an alternative employment to home care workers who want to have a say in how their home care business is run. In a home care cooperative, caregivers are the owners of the business and make decisions through a democratic process.
The project culminated in a seven-week Home Care Worker Cooperative Academy in the summer of 2022.
At the same time, the Arapahoe Good Samaritan Society care facility closed, leaving the community of 1,002 without an assisted living facility or nursing home. With 25.8% of residents over 65, Arapahoe community leaders began looking for resources to allow residents to remain in their homes and provide employment for displaced center employees.
Through the academy, NCDC and home care workers serving the Arapahoe area connected; beginning the exploration of the Republican River Valley Home Care Cooperative (RRVHC).
RRVHC incorporated in April 2025 with four (4) worker owners and is ready to introduce themselves to potential workers owners and clients in the Arapahoe NE area.
To connect with RRVHC, contact Cathy Bowers by email - reprivervalleyhomecare@gmail.com.
What is a worker cooperative?
A worker cooperative is a business that is owned and controlled by its workers, who constitute the members of the cooperative. The two central characteristics of worker cooperatives are:
- Workers own the business, and they participate in its financial success based on their labor contribution to the cooperative
- Workers have representation on and vote for the board of directors, adhering to the principle of one worker, one vote
In addition to their economic and governance participation, worker-owners often manage the day-to-day operations through various management structures
Examples of worker-owned and controlled business include:
- Service - housecleaning, day labor, restaurants, taxis, childcare
- Retail - grocery stores, bakeries, bookstores, bike shops
- Health care - nursing, home health care, clinics, bodywork
- Skilled trades - printing, plumbing, woodworking, contracting
- Manufacturing and engineering - machine parts, fabricating
- Technology - web hosting, networking, voice and data systems
- Education - charter schools, teacher/student/parent-run schools
- Media and the arts - designers, galleries, performers, publishers
Interested in exploring the worker cooperative model? Contact Cindy Houlden at choulden2@unl.edu or 308-293-6417.
The Nebraska Cooperative Development Center (NCDC) is located in the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. NCDC programs abide with the nondiscrimination policies of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and the United States Department of Agriculture. NCDC is funded in part by the USDA RCDG Grant Program.
