The New Village
“Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.”
could have imagined twenty years ago. If you are a member of the sandwich generation, i.e., you have kids in college along with parents needing supportive care, you are no longer living the life of your grandparents. For many of us, that front porch rocking chair and family
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Sunday dinner has been replaced by an occasional hit and run visit, a weekly chat with the kids on Skype and lots of emails. If your parents are at a physical distance and financially unencumbered, you are somewhat comforted in the knowledge that they can afford quality in-home help and someone managing their daily needs. Those weekly phone calls are less stressful and you hang up feeling as though your life is still manageable. About 40 years ago one solution for safe and comfortable aging came in the form of assisted living. Many assisted living companies sprang from the roots of the hotel and hospitality industry. Very few researched the changing landscape of aging well, or not. These early residential models consisted of a spacious unfurnished self -contained apartment allowing elders to furnish, as they wished, with their lifetime treasured belongings. Back then most apartments provided a basic kitchenette with a small stove and microwave. While not a medical model of care, residents were offered medi- cation management, safety, community companionship, activities and elegant dining. If you visited an assisted living, back then, those early models were replicated to look and feel like a luxurious hotel. Today, unless one has limitless income or purchased a good long-term care insurance policy, the cost of assisted living would be prohibitive to the average retired person. With 21st century advances in medical care, joint replacements and a greater interest in healthy aging, people have retained their mobility and live fuller lives through pharmaceuticals. They are also researching and seeking out optional living arrangements for their later years. While the desire to remain in the family home or one’s own lifetime community is not a new concept a larger conversation is gaining momentum along with national attention, the Village-to- Village movement;
www.vtvnetworking.org. We know in our hearts it takes a village to raise a child. It also takes a conscious and compassionate village to care for its elders. Being able to live out one’s life close to family and neighbors is a natural desire of most. Feeling safe, respected and valued for a lifetime contribution to our communities and, along with the next generation, most elders given the option, will choose to stay in or close to the familiar. The Village-to-Village concept is already work-
~ Betty Friedan (1921-2006)
ike it, or not, aging in America in 2015 is big business. Regardless of age, if we are paying attention, it needs be our business too. Longevity has come of age in a way few of us
ing successfully in 125 “villages” nationwide. This movement does not exist in a particular town or location. It is a philosophical con- cept coming into vogue in as many traditional and non-traditional settings as there are people making it happen, within their own communities.
As with all grass root movements, Village-to-Village begins
with a conversation around a dinner table, at coffee houses, on planes, trains and in town halls. Maine can now boast several such movements. To date one very successful flagship model, At Home Downeast, is based in Blue Hill and has been operating success- fully for 3 years. While this program is run through the Washington and Hancock County Community Agency, it is also the first mem- bership based Village-to-Village model in Maine. Through paid (sliding scale is available) membership people in the surrounding communities can avail of non-medical services provided by pre- screened trained volunteers. These offerings may include a friendly visit, companionship, occasional meal preparation, help with pets, rides to community events and help with food shopping or rides to doctor appointments.
Other similar models are popping up in Maine. One such Port- land based model, At Home On Munjoy, (a committee of Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization’s 501c3 status) began organizing about 3 years. Now a member of Village-to-Village this “at home” model is gaining attention and interest to local residential and the business community. The town of Cumberland is in the process of creating an aging-in-place model and there are several elsewhere exploring similar models in Cumberland and York County. The desire to continue living within one’s own community is not new but the conversation about helping to connect neighbor to neighbor and explore optional ways of aging-in-place, is gain- ing dedicated interest in Maine and beyond. There will always be a need for residential and assisted living care and as a culture we have an obligation to explore new ways of creating community, create awareness and respect for our community elders while recognizing our own desire to live well and safely into old age, sur- rounded by our loved ones while drawing from the community we helped create. Ann V. Quinlan is a certified geriatric case manager with a
private practice in Portland, Maine. She is a certified Reiki Master, a member of Rotary International and Maine Senior Resource Alliance & serves as a committee member of At Home On Munjoy
ann@spiraljourneys.com. 207-776-3747
www.EssentialLivingMaine.com
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