After two years of planning, Carquinez Village will be hosting its official launch party on Monday, April 3 at Carter’s Biz Cafes.

The Carquinez Village Project was announced in 2015 with the goal of helping aging seniors in Benicia live full independent lives at home. The idea was inspired by the “Village” movement that began in Boston more than 15 years ago with the goal being to connect seniors with the community by allowing them to obtain referrals and information, take educational courses, interact socially with others and have easy access to plumbers, gardeners, handymen and more.

For the past two years, the Carquinez Village Project’s Steering Committee has been hard at work gathering research and input and putting on a speaker series to help members get prepared. The series, which were held on the third Thursday of every month at the Benicia Public Library, have featured such speakers as doctors, lawyers, members of the Benicia Police Department and even Mayor Elizabeth Patterson.

Now, co-chair Lois Requist said the village is ready to launch.

“After over two years of research, information gathering, fundraising and forming an organization, the efforts of 30 to 50 people are paying off with this launch,” she said in a statement.

The speaker at the launch will be Andy Gaines, the executive director of Berkeley’s Ashby Village, one of the oldest villages in California. Patterson will also be present, as will chairs Requist and Judie Donaldson.

The launch will take place at 1:30 p.m., Monday, April 3 at Carter’s Biz Cafes, located at the Commanding Officer’s Quarters at 1 Commandant Lane in the Arsenal. Reservations are not required, and the public is invited to attend.

Carquinez Village is also continuing to seek new members to join the 50 or so seniors who have signed up. For more information, call 297-2472 or visit CarquinezVillage.org. Residents of Vallejo are also encouraged to sign up.

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