YORK – York Housing Executive Director Patricia Martine said that for years, she’s been thinking about how to serve the needs of older people who want to remain in their homes.
“The need is demonstrated to us every time we try to house people and can’t because the waiting list is so long,” she said of the elderly housing complexes the organization runs in York.
“How can we help people who don’t have connection, who don’t have community? This is a question we’ve been tossing around for a long time,” she said.
With baby boomers beginning to age, the need to provide that community for greater numbers of people will become more critical in the years to come, she said.
The solution is to create a “neighborhood” of aging people, she said, in the same way as neighbors might help shoveling snow or with a home improvement project, or might gather for a book group or a potluck social.
With that in mind, York Housing and York Hospital are teaming up to start Neighborhood Network, a membership organization that will provide a one-stop connection to resources, service providers and social opportunities in a six-town area including York, Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick, Ogunquit and Wells.
As envisioned, people age 50 and older become members of Neighborhood Network on sliding fee basis up to $500 a year for a single person or $600 year for a family. For their membership, “we will be your resource for anything you might need,” said Sandy Shapiro, recently hired as coordinator of Neighborhood Network. “People can call with any question or with any issue and we will try to solve it for them,” she said.
One of the key components of the network will be a referral service to pre-approved vendors such as plumbers, dog sitters, computer technicians or hairdressers. Beyond that, Marine and Shapiro envision Neighborhood Network as providing something perhaps a little less tangible – a sense of community. That could run the gamut from social events, to a speaker series to a men’s night out – activities that bring together people who may all live in the same town but who don’t necessarily connect with each other.
“A neighborhood is a neighborhood,” Martine said. “It doesn’t have to be bricks and mortar.”
The concept of providing a “neighborhood” or “village” is a relatively new one, but it is catching on throughout the country, said Laura Connors of Beacon Hill Village in Boston. That pioneering organization was formed in 2002 by neighbors “who were looking for a solution to aging in place. They did not want to leave Beacon Hill.”
The neighbors partnered with Harvard Business School faculty, who told them nothing like they envisioned existed in the United States. “Little did they know they were on the leading edge of what is now a very popular movement.”
Connors said the power of the model “is that older adults are taking charge of their own aging by designing the supports, services and programs that they want for themselves.”
With a 2014 AARP study indicating 87 percent of those 65 or older want to remain in their homes, the desire for this kind of program is perhaps not surprising, she said. Today, there are more than 200 villages around the globe that are modeled on the Beacon Hill model, she said. She’s fielded visits and calls from as far away as Australia, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan.
Among those 200 organizations is the Neighborhood Network. Last spring, Martine and board chair Jud Knox, president of York Hospital, went to Beacon Hill Village to see the program first hand.
Knox said, like Martine, he also has been searching for ways to help seniors stay in their homes.
“We may have the medical expertise, but so many issues involved with serving the elderly are social,” he said. “It’s not the kind of thing you can find in an ER or an ICU. There’s nothing wrong with institutions, but it’s not the right answer for everyone.”
Knox said one of the reasons York Hospital has decided to partner with York Housing is because of the dedication of the York Housing staff.
“This is going to take a lot of work, and refurbishment and refreshing over many years,” he said. “I respect the staff’s skills and perseverance because that’s what it’s going to take – people with a deep understanding of elderly needs and elderly sensitivity.”
York Housing and York Hospital are jointly providing the startup costs, with the help of a $14,000 grant from the Huntington Commons Foundation of Kennebunk Savings Bank. Shapiro was just hired a week ago. In the next few months, she and Martine will be visiting each community in the network, talking with town officials, senior centers, social service agencies, service organizations and anyone who can help spread the word.
Critically, right now they are looking to hear from small businesspeople who provide a service. Anyone who wants to be put on a list for referral must be willing to fill out an application and undergo a background check, Martine said.
“This is going to be invaluable to small businesspeople,” Shapiro said. “We can keep them employed. We’ll have a treasure trove of people they can do business with.”
They are also looking for volunteers. Connors said at Beacon Hill Village, they’ve found the 50- and 60-year-old members volunteer their time, knowing when they are 70 and 80, they will need more intensive help.
Martine said she’s looking forward to this new venture.
“Our mission is patience, acceptance and compassion for all. That’s huge for us,” she said. “Neighborhood Network gives us a larger audience,” she said.
For more information, call Shapiro at 351-1828 or email neighborhoodnetwork@yorkhousing.info.