Garden Design

Nonprofit groups called ‘Villages’ which provide assistance to seniors and enable them to stay in their own homes, are becoming increasingly popular in the US. Each village is made up of of young neighborhood volunteers who help seniors with tasks they cannot handle on their own. For a small annual fee, seniors get access to 24-hour call lines that put them in touch with volunteers who help them with trips to medical checkups, grocery shopping, technical help and regular exercise.

The idea of villages is clicking with elderly people who would rather stay independent rather than live in assisted homes.

NPR reports:

There are already 50 of these nonprofit groups around the country, with 100 more in the works — and it’s a trend that’s expected to gain steam as baby boomers hit their golden years. Village organizers say the key is training seniors to reach out and request help, something that doesn’t come easily.

“We spend our lives from childhood being told, ‘Be independent, do this for yourselves,’ ” says Gail Kohn, executive director of Capitol Hill Village in Washington, D.C. “Then we get to a certain point when we say, ‘We want you to ask.’ That’s alien to all of us, and it feels like dependence.”

In three years, Capitol Hill Village has signed up 350 members. The $500 to $800 annual fee pays for a small staff, which helps coordinate a long list of volunteers.

The village office is a borrowed row-house basement, where Julie Maggioncalda manned the 24-hour telephone help line one recent morning. She connected one member with a carpet cleaner, one of an array of vendors the village vets for reasonable rates and reliability. On another call, she lined up a volunteer to water someone’s garden. Organizers stress that no need is too small.

Village to Village Network

NPR: “‘Villages’ Help Neighbors Age At Home”

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