●●● high
There is no confirmed −; independently verified + decide the position (B). No unreachable strike-through.= non-additive meter
Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA): The largest worker co-op in the U.S. — making caregiving ‘quality work'. Home care — helping older and disabled people live at home with dignity — is one of America's fastest-growing and lowest-paid jobs, plagued by poverty wages, instability, and high turnover. In 1985, Rick Surpin and Peggy Powell launched Cooperative Home Care Associates with 12 aides in the South Bronx, to show that care can be good for both clients and workers. Today it is the largest worker-owned cooperative in the U.S. (across all industries), employing about 1,600–2,000 staff — almost all Latina and African American women, in one of the nation's poorest counties. Its motto: “Quality care comes from quality jobs.” Caregivers get guaranteed hours (at least 30 a week), health, dental, and retirement benefits, peer mentors to guide the tough first weeks, and union membership. After three months, anyone can buy a $1,000 equity stake through small weekly payroll deductions to become a worker-owner, with dividends, free tax help, and the right to elect 8 of 13 board members. Peer-reviewed research records market-beating wages and turnover about half the industry average — meaning more continuous, higher-quality care for clients. CHCA also founded the national training and policy institute PHI, training hundreds of low-income women a year. The letter is B; certainty is high. Unconfirmed concerns are placed under “Watching.” (As of 2026-Q2; estimate based on public information.)
Main narrative
Home care — helping older and disabled people live at home with dignity — is one of America's fastest-growing and lowest-paid jobs, plagued by poverty wages, instability, and high turnover. In 1985, Rick Surpin and Peggy Powell launched Cooperative Home Care Associates with 12 aides in the South Bronx, to show that care can be good for both clients and workers.
Today it is the largest worker-owned cooperative in the U.S. (across all industries), employing about 1,600–2,000 staff — almost all Latina and African American women, in one of the nation's poorest counties. Its motto: “Quality care comes from quality jobs.” Caregivers get guaranteed hours (at least 30 a week), health, dental, and retirement benefits, peer mentors to guide the tough first weeks, and union membership. After three months, anyone can buy a $1,000 equity stake through small weekly payroll deductions to become a worker-owner, with dividends, free tax help, and the right to elect 8 of 13 board members. Peer-reviewed research records market-beating wages and turnover about half the industry average — meaning more continuous, higher-quality care for clients. CHCA also founded the national training and policy institute PHI, training hundreds of low-income women a year.
One person’s story (N1)
+ before → after
The Bronx, one of the nation's poorest counties. A Latina/African American woman who was unemployed or in low-paid, unstable work. She takes free training at CHCA's nonprofit training institute PHI and becomes a CHCA home-care aide — with guaranteed hours (30+ a week), benefits, and a peer mentor for the first 12 weeks. After three months, with about $3.65 deducted weekly, she buys a $1,000 stake and becomes a worker-“owner” — receiving dividends, a vote to elect directors, and the EITC (earned income tax credit) via free tax help. Her elderly client, too, receives continuous, person-centered care with low turnover.
Source nature: Health Affairs Scholar / Community-Wealth.org / P2 academic study/B Lab. Positive effects are not used to offset negatives.
Positive / negative effects
+ effects
- CHCA is a certified B Corp, widely known as the largest worker cooperative in the U.S. (across all industries). Peer-reviewed research in Health Affairs Scholar (Oxford) and on NCBI records that care cooperatives pay higher wages than traditional providers (about $2/hour higher on average) and have turnover about half the industry average, yielding greater continuity and quality of care for clients. CHCA founded the national training and policy institute PHI in 1991, training around 600 low-income women a year.P1 peer-reviewed study/independent certification / Health Affairs Scholar (Oxford) / B Lab
− effects (confirmed)
- No confirmed −.
- Continuous independent verification of wages/turnover/care quality; improving absolute wage levels (reimbursement policy); scaling and ripple to other regions; the reality of dividends/asset building
A second look
Care work remains low-paid in absolute terms (due to structural factors like Medicaid reimbursement caps), and even at the co-op, dividends are thin. The “magnitude” of the wage advantage varies by source (twice the market / about $2/hour higher, etc.). It is large for a cooperative but a tiny fraction of the total care workforce — at the “model that shows what's possible” stage. Some indicators are self-reported.
Sources
How to read this assessment
- Reachable upper bound (ceiling): a confirmed − sets the ceiling, and independently verified + decide the position within it. + do not cancel out −.
- The weight of evidence is not symmetric: only confirmed − are counted; the volume of disputes or allegations goes under “Watching.” + are counted from independent evidence, while an organization’s own PR is treated as “reference.”
- Size is not value: scale is not used in the assessment. Matters that stay within money or competition—investors, shareholders, sanctions, trade secrets—are also excluded.
- The letter (assessment) and certainty (how reliable the information is) are separate axes.
This is a translation; the Japanese version is authoritative. The assessments here are generated automatically by AI based on published criteria. The operator does not alter individual results. Because they are AI-generated they may contain errors, and they are opinion and commentary, not statements of fact. Where evidence is insufficient, the entry is marked “On hold.” Requests for correction are accepted via the form.
Terms: Narrative Value = an assessment (A–G) of the distance between the story an organization tells and its reality / Ceiling meter = a visualization of the reachable upper bound / Watching = unconfirmed matters not counted / Protected stakeholders = people, animals, nature, and future generations. | Generated by: AI | As of: 2026-Q2 | Back to top