Public meeting set on approach that lets older residents stay in their homes

As people age, many contemplate moving into assisted-living facilities or some other adult congregate living situation.

Two Benicia women, Judie Donaldson and Lois Requist, are organizing a public meeting next month at which residents can learn about a different concept.

The “village model” began in Boston in 2001 as a way to help older residents remain in their homes.

Such a grassroots, peer-to-peer community membership network is run by both volunteers and professional staff who help older residents get affordable services, such as transportation, health and wellness programs, home repairs, social and educational activities and trips, Requist said.

Since the first village organization was begun nearly 14 years ago in Boston’s Beacon Hill area so residents could stay in their neighborhoods, more than 120 villages have begun operating in the United States, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Another 100 are in development.

Five of the villages are in Marin County and two are in San Francisco. Others are being developed in the East Bay, including Lamorinda Village.

Donaldson and Requist recalled the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” attributed as an African proverb, and have applied it to the village program for older adults, explaining that the village concept relies on volunteers and referrals to professionals who provide services older Americans need to keep living independently in their homes.

Ruth McCahan, founder and president of the board of Lamorinda Village, will describe how her village has been designed to serve older residents of Lafayette, Orinda and Moraga.

McCahan also has been chairperson of the Lafayette Senior Services Commission and a member of the Lafayette Senior Liaison Committee, the Lafayette Senior Needs Assessment Task Force and the Lafayette Senior Housing Task Force.

At the meeting at Benicia Public Library, she will talk about how Lamorinda Village was developed, its goals and services and its launch, expected to be in April 2015.

Requist said when she and Donaldson asked, the library’s staff agreed to cosponsor the meeting.

She said she and Donaldson had heard about the village concept from multiple sources, including news accounts in Contra Costa County and information from the American Association of Retired Persons.

They also learned Jady Montgomery, who is instrumental in the city’s poet laureate program, has a son-in-law who operates Ashby Village in Berkeley.

Requist, former poet laureate of Benicia, said she became interested originally because she, too, is aging.

“It is in everyday life that people have problems — (such as) driving to the doctor,” she said. “It seems worth investigating, to find out if there’s interest.”

But the meeting next month isn’t to start a committee or task force, she said, though those attending may learn what services are available, how to connect to those services and if there is interest in pursuing a village in Benicia.

They’ll also learn about other area village organizations they might visit.

“We’re not deciding to do it,” Requist said.

She said she expects people will find the meeting interesting. “We’ve got to start somewhere,” she said.

The meeting will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, in the Doña Benicia Room of Benicia Public Library, 150 East L St.

Those interested in the Village to Village Network may visit the website www.vtvnetwork.org. The Lamorinda Village website is www.lamorindavillage.org.

No reservations are needed for the meeting. Those with questions or who want to be informed about new developments may email Donaldson at judiedonaldson1@gmail.com or Requist at lois@requist.com.