By Deborah Craig.
TOPPENISH — A new approach to home care is taking shape in Yakima County, where Mariposa Homecare Cooperative is preparing to begin accepting clients as the county’s first worker-owned cooperative.
The idea began with Toppenish caregiver Hielda Mendoza, HCA, who participated in the Northwest Cooperative Development Center’s Homecare Co-op Academy in spring 2024. The program guides participants through the stages of developing a home-care cooperative.
Inspired by what she learned, Mendoza began talking with local caregivers. With help from the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, she organized community meetings to introduce caregivers to the cooperative model and its potential benefits for workers, clients and the community. “I was interested in a different way to do homecare. One where caregivers are valued and where they make the decisions,” Mendoza said.
Those conversations eventually led to the formation of Mariposa Homecare Cooperative. Founding caregivers Mendoza, Veronia Bustos and Dayana Abundiz now make up the cooperative’s Board of Directors and provide the vision for how the organization will grow and develop.
The cooperative has also brought in Yakima Valley native Alejandra Beltran to serve as its administrator. Born and raised in Sunnyside, Beltran brings experience in community care and organizational leadership to the position. Beltran said her connection to the Yakima Valley and her experience in both fields inform her approach to leading Mariposa. She hopes to build a workplace where caregivers feel supported and empowered to provide exceptional, person-centered care.
Unlike a traditional home-care agency, Mariposa is structured so caregivers can have an ownership stake and a voice in decisions affecting the organization. Supporters of the cooperative model say worker ownership can give caregivers greater control while creating a stronger connection between the people providing care and the community they serve.
Home-care workers provide essential support that can help older adults and people with disabilities remain in their homes and connected to their communities.
For Mariposa’s founders, the cooperative is about more than creating another home-care agency. It is an opportunity to build a business around the value of caregivers, while providing compassionate, person-centered services to local families.
After more than two years of development, education and organizing, Mariposa Homecare Cooperative is preparing to take its next step: accepting new clients in Yakima County. For the caregivers who helped launch the cooperative, that milestone represents the beginning of a new model of home care built around worker ownership, community and dignity.
