News / Articles

"... friends are more than ever the heart of happiness, of family and of love itself." Learn how having friends to support you can add years to your life.

All Villagers received restaurant gift certificates to use for take-out meals. This effort was made to help local restaurants and to let our members and volunteers know we are thinking of them in this time of social isolation.

Adapting to the current social distancing environment

Boston Globe article highlighting the need for more research about the effects of loneliness and isolation on older adults and what can be done about this issue.

A home-sharing program operated by the New York Foundation for Senior Citizens pairs people who have extra living space — but want company, help with chores, extra income or all three — with those desperate for affordable housing.

January 29, 2019: Megan Kimble of City Lab, writes:
"The lives of the young and the old rarely cross in many American cities. After I moved to Austin, I used a volunteer opportunity as a way to change that."

Read Megan's article to enjoy her experiences making friends with the older residents of Austin, Texas.

BREWSTER — When it got too hot for her to sleep with a fan and she could no longer lift her air conditioner, 79-year-old Ann Miller turned to her village.

On May 21, 2018, the New York Times published an article about being prepared so you can stay in your home as long as possible.

Governor Baker signed Executive Order 576 establishing the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts on April 12, 2017. According to the Order “the Council shall be responsible for advising the Governor on the development of governmental policies, community resources, best practices, and informal supports that will promote healthy aging in the Commonwealth. The Council will formulate a plan to achieve the goal of making Massachusetts the most age-friendly state for people of all ages.”

Tufts Health Plan Foundation is investing $250,000 over the next five years to accelerate Massachusetts' age-friendly efforts. The Foundation is the only regional funder focused solely on healthy aging. This includes supporting efforts to build communities that thrive and work for people of all ages.

The Chronicle news article titled "New Aging: Architects of Aging," showcases two Villages, the Beacon Hill Village and Wellesley Neighbors. Members of each Village explain how their involvement has expanded their sense of community and engagement and simultaneously lessened the inevitable challenges of aging.

On National Public Radio's "All Things Considered," NPR correspondent Ina Jaffe reports about aging and the Village movement in a series exploring unique adaptations of the Village concept:

- The original and affluent Beacon Hill Village
- The city-sponsored Villages in Chicago neighborhoods
- And a rural Village called "Community Connections" in northeast California

The series concludes with an article entitled "Sometimes it Takes a Village to Help Seniors Stay in Their Homes."

Click the arrow to access links to the series.

On November 29, 2017, the Washington Post ran an interesting article under the headline “Baby Boomers Join 'Aging-At-Home Villages' for Yoga, Happy Hour and Biking.” The writer interviewed many people in Villages across the country and in the Village to Village national organization. Click the arrow to get a summary of the surprising findings and for a link to the full article.

The Greater Newburyport Village hosted a special "watch party" interview with Atul Gawande, M.D., author of "Being Mortal" on Sept. 25 at the Newburyport Senior Community Center. Robin Young of WBUR interviewed Gawande on his ideas about aging well, which focus on the benefits of people staying in their homes and communities as they age.

On a mild afternoon in early January, sunlight warms the room inside Claire and Peter Macy’s house on Baddacook Pond in Groton.

This is the house that the Macys, married 50 years, had built for them and have lived in since 1973, the home where they raised their two daughters; where the family canoed, swam, and skated; where Peter, 94, a retired Air Force major and businessman, built stone walls and a barn, dug gardens, and planted perennials, including daisies like the ones his wife, vibrant and lovely at 81, carried in her wedding bouquet.

The Greater Newburyport Villagerecently celebrated its 6-month anniversary with more than 50 original members and an enthusiastic team of volunteers. Its mission, “to promote living well and independently for a lifetime through community engagement and a network of neighborly support,” means the nonprofit Village focuses on helping people live happily in their own homes and community as
they age.

When Newburyport resident Paul Harrington began helping organize a local nonprofit Village some three years ago, he never guessed he’d later become one of the first Village members to need its services.

Industry market trends, research and analysis

In the past people often knew their neighbors or had family living nearby, people to call on for help, support and friendship. That’s not often the case these days. To fill that hole an “intentional village” was created

Friendships can save your life, literally. Active social lives have been shown to reduce a person’s risk of death by at least 50 percent.

Now, a new study has compiled research from four long-term health studies to examine how social connections contribute to health throughout life, finding that close, supportive relationships are especially important to physical health in adolescence and old age.

The Village offers an option for meeting the needs of the growing older population by making it possible for people to stay in their communities and “age in place.” Neighborhood residents create villages to help coordinate and deliver services and supports within their communities. This consumer-driven and person centered approach can help delay or even prevent the need for institutional care.

According to the Greater Portland Pulse, there were over 190,000 people aged 65 and older living in the Portland metro area as of the 2010 census. By 2030, that number is expected to grow to almost 395,000.

Moving is expensive, and it can be difficult to make friends in a new place.

An informative local resource on the trends relating to working and aging in America

The Ben Franklin Returns event at the Newburyport Firehouse launchs the Charter Membership drive of the Greater Newburyport Village.

Neighborhood villages allow members to stay at home and have access to everything from pet walking and grocery runs to a list of vetted workers.

Senior citizens whose finances fall IN THE MIDDLE -- not rich, not poor -- can find themselves in a real bind if they need home care. And their loved ones can find themselves caught in the middle as well.

This CBS video features how the Village network addresses some of these issues with a focus on Massachusetts' Beacon Hill Village.

For the article please use the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/09/garden/09care.html?_r=0

To access this article please use the following link...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/health/14aging.html#