“Warehousing elderly people, whether in beautiful rural settings or in urban towers, not only consigns them to a life of isolation and inactivity, but also bankrupts the community they came from. If we can stay in our own communities as we age, everyone gains.”
Member, Beacon Hill Village, Boston, MA
“Community-based models for aging in place designed by the people who use them are the wave of the future, experts say, an alternative to nursing homes and assisted living centers run by large service providers.”
NY Times, February 9, 2009
“The Beacon Hill Village founders all wanted to remain at home, even after transportation and household chores became difficult or dangerous, the point at which many older people quit familiar surroundings. They also wanted to avoid dependence on adult children. And they were unwilling to be herded by developers into cookie-cutter senior housing and told what to do and when to do it by social workers half their age.
‘I don’t want a so-called expert determining how I should be treated or what should be available to me,’ said 72-year-old Susan McWhinney-Morse, one of the founders. ‘The thing I most cherish here is that it’s we, the older people, who are creating our own universe.’”
NY Times, February 9, 2009
“Lincoln Park Village’s executive director, Dianne Campbell, 61, doesn’t have a background in social work or gerontology; her experience is in fund-raising for charter schools and museums, and she lives in Lincoln Park. To village member Warner Saunders, 76, that’s a big plus. ‘She doesn’t see us as elderly clients who need her help,’ says Saunders, a longtime news anchor for Chicago’s NBC affiliate, WMAQ-TV. ‘I see Dianne as a friend. If she were a social worker, and I viewed my relationship with her as that of a patient, I would probably resent that.’”
AARP Magazine, “The Real Social Network”
“‘The village movement is ‘consumer-driven and consumer-run,’ says Judith Willett, Beacon Hill’s executive director. ‘It’s not a social service agency.‘”
“Villages let elderly grow old at home,”USA Today 2010
“The Village movement continues to be a bright spot demonstrating American democracy at it’s finest. These new ‘Village People” are saying, ‘We know how we want it so we will do it ourselves.’ “
Louis Tannenbaum, Aging in Place Ideas, 2010
“The Village model is an innovative solution to the recent economic downturn that has had catastrophic impact on lives of older adults. Villages offer people, 50 years and older, an affordable option for staying in their own homes and remaining active, independent, and civically connected to their communities.”
“Village to Village Network Launches,” Feb 2010