■ Local interest high in senior living model, organizers say

The next two meetings on the “Village Concept,” Monday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Thursday in the Doña Benicia Room of Benicia Public Library, will continue a conversation that began last month about a new approach to support for older residents who want to remain at home.

Two Benicia women, Judie Donaldson and Lois Requist, introduced the ideas behind a method for helping aging people stay in their homes and have a good quality of life, saying the Village Model applies the proverb that “it takes a village to raise a child” to situations experienced by an aging population.

The concept was first launched in Boston’s Beacon Hill area so residents there could stay in their neighborhoods. From there it has become a grassroots, peer-to-peer community membership network run by both volunteers and professional staff who help older residents get affordable services, such as transportation, health and wellness programs, home repairs and social activities like trips and education.

The concept has grown to more than 120 villages in operation in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Another 100 are being developed.

Requist said the first meeting in Benicia, Jan. 23 at the library, was an introduction and an opportunity to see if residents were interested.

At the meeting Ruth McCahan, founder and president of the Board of Lamorinda Village that servies Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga, described how that village operates.

After the meeting, “Fifty-eight people said they were interested in being part of the effort,” Donaldson said.

In addition, McCahan discovered that nearly everone who attended the first meeting used the Internet. She said that when Lamorinda started in 2007, only a small percentage of interested people were online.

“So she was impressed with the number of people online in Benicia,” Requist said.

She and Donaldson said they encouraged those at the meeting to explore other villages and bring back that information to the February meetings.

“One person was interested in the cost, which was understandable,” Donaldson said. “But we can’t answer at this point. We were just getting a general perspective.”

Nor had they started looking at what would best serve those living in Benicia.

However, at the February meetings, the women expect to organize work groups to start specializing in Benicia needs.

“We’ll be on the ground, thinking about Benicia,” Donaldson said.

But the beginnings of the Village Concept in Benicia already have taken root. Donaldson is taking one woman who lives alone to hospital visits, and helping another woman, 95, who said she has trouble getting out to pick up groceries.

That’s in keeping with what Requist, Donaldson and others are hearing about other villages: The top need in Mill Valley’s village, for example, is transportation, Donaldson said.

During the next two meetings, those attending will divide into groups to talk about what services are available now, and what are still needed.

Donaldson also may talk about lotsahelpinghands.com, a private online community that organizes support for caregivers.

“This will be a continuing thing,” Requist said. The look at existing services and a survey about unmet needs may use the “Survey Monkey” service, to reach those who haven’t yet made a “Village” meeting.

Another element is to look at how those interested should move forward in forming a village, once other operations have been examined and local services and needs are determined, Requist said.

While this is a grassroots effort, “We have to say the library is very supportive,” Requist said. “They’re sponsoring us for the rest of the year.”

“Lois and I started this, but we envision a group task force heading it up, and that’s key to moving it forward,” Donaldson said. “When the rubber hits the road, we’ll see if people are willing to do the work.”

The next meetings will take place from 1-3 p.m. Monday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 120 East J St., and from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in the Doña Benicia Room of Benicia Public Library, 150 East L St.

Content of both meetings will be similar, the two said.