"We don't subscribe to 'Children should be seen and not heard, '" Scharff said.

WSJ: For the aging, a commune-like alternative in NY

Fewer than half the adult home residents at Fellowship Community have any connection to anthroposophy, at least when they enter, Scharff said.

WSJ: For the aging, a commune-like alternative in NY

"We provide a space in which people can prepare to die in a way that is accepted and nourishing to them and fraught with meaning, " Scharff said.

WSJ: For the aging, a commune-like alternative in NY

Karen Scharff of Citizen Action of New York says many legislators first get elected intending to work for their communities then learn they are in a system where money determines outcomes.

WSJ: Advocates call for reforms after NY scandal

But Fellowship has an exemption from state law that allows dying residents to stay there because "people have wanted to stay, and we have wanted to keep them, " said administrator Ann Scharff, who helped found the community.

WSJ: For the aging, a commune-like alternative in NY