The community we're living in was intended to have 37 homes which would pay HOA fees to support guards for the gate, a landscaping crew, pool maintenance, etc. However the builder "went out of business" after collecting most of the money and partially completing only a few houses. Nine homes were eventually completed using another builder. So the HOA fees aren't sufficient to support the staff, maintain what's been built or to complete items that weren't completed (like paving the streets). Also because of short cuts taken in the registration process they can't form an HOA or require dues. But the residents and some of the lot owners have banded together to voluntarily contribute to a fund to pay for these items.
Five years ago the let go the full time staff and started to use "Workaways" to convert the guard shack to the casitas, keep the beach clean, keep the vacant lots from getting overgrown, and do minor maintenance and repair. They accept couples (so we don't get too lonely) and require a month minimum stay (to smooth out the transitions). We each work 15 hours a week. So far we've painted the speed bump, swept the pool area, rebuilt some sketchy outdoor furniture, replaced bamboo edging around the gardens, jerry-rigged the tennis court gates so they can be secured and won't fall off (serious rust issues abound here). We plan to help with programming the automatic gates, and cap off the water line to the cistern that won't be used. The builder plumbed it to accept city water but didn't permit it, etc. It still gets filled by a truck when needed.
Any of the residents can come up with projects for us but so far they don't need much.
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