For Elders, It May Also Take A Village

Pamela A. MacLean
RedwoodAge.com

The desire to keep living at home as we age has spawned a movement known as the “senior village” in which volunteers – from Boston’s Beacon Hill to Northern California’s Marin County – provide mutual support for elders living at home.

The “villages” aren’t places, but grassroots membership groups that hook up neighbors and local volunteers. They help to link people to community services, coordinate social events, provide transportation to doctors or shopping, and vet fix-it services or contractors. More than 60 such groups have sprung up nationwide.

“We are trying to supplement other services, not take over what others are already doing,” said Sharon Seymour, an organizer of a new village in Sausalito in Marin County.

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