It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village to keep elder and/or disabled citizens active in the community.
The experience of taking care of elder parents taught me that the conventional structure for aging in our society is lacking in so many ways. I vowed to find a way to keep the wisdom collected through age a part of our communities, networks and social groups. The village movement can provide that and the framework for older folks to stay where they chose to be.
Professionally I have worked in both the environmental and financial fields, so when I moved to Oregon nine years ago those interests dove tailed easily into the area of sustainability where emphasis is on the triple bottom line: environmental stewardship, economic viability and social well being. After six years of working with businesses on various sustainability projects and talking the talk I felt I had to walk the walk. So I moved to a smaller ranch style house setting it up for future accessibility needs and made it as energy efficient as possible within the constraints of an existing structure. I affectionately call my new abode my “pine box house” and plan to be in it until I am carried out in my final box.
Working with Villages NW hub and spoke structure to develop a local village in my own area means I can pursue ways to keep aging residents engaged and building upon that accumulated wisdom. For me it is continuing to focus on the economic and social well being aspects of the triple bottom line.