This is a rather new trend in helping Senior Adults age happily in place. The first village opened in the Boston area in 2002 called Beacon Hill Village and now there are many many more opened around the world.
One of the first privileges to give up during aging is driving! Bigger cities have better bus and mass transit systems but suburbia is a bit tougher. Now we have Uber and Lyft but those trips certainly add up.
Portland has nine Villages open or almost open. Our Village includes West Linn and Lake Oswego, two suburbs just south of Portland. Some of the services we will offer:
- Transportation (Up to THREE trips per week
- Help at home
- Occasional housekeeping
- Occasional pet care
- Paperwork management (calendar, filing, phone calls)
- Help with technology (computers, phones, iPads)
- Light home maintenance (changing light bulbs, etc)
- Light yard/garden help
- Personal support (run errands, get groceries, accompany to appointments, go for walks)
- Companionship visits (chat, read, play games)
- Check in phone calls
- Access to fully vetted professionals .. plumber, electrical, painting, etc.
Anything else is worth a call to find out.
I'm proud to say I am (finally) the FIRST VETTED volunteer driver for WLLO Village, in addition to the Board Transportation Coordinator.
I'm proud to say I am (finally) the FIRST VETTED volunteer driver for WLLO Village, in addition to the Board Transportation Coordinator.
I don't know whether my state has anything like the Villages in Portland. Thank you for volunteering to be a driver for such a worthy cause.
ReplyDeleteI love driving! I took a neighbor to Dr appt last week. She called the next day to say it was the highlight of her day! I just bought a chauffeur’s cap ....
DeleteWow, good for you!. It sounds like a great kind of village and one I wish we had around here. We can hire many of those services but they aren't all under one umbrella.
ReplyDeleteLots of social events, game night, organized tours ... a lot like your Senior Center!!! But the transportation is a deal for sure. Who can afford taxi or Uber 3x week?
ReplyDeleteI'm having trouble warming up to the idea of using Uber. We spent our lives being warned and warning others not to get in cars with strangers and then we do it with Uber. Two years ago an Uber driver near me killed 5-6 people with a gun and took riders in between.
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