I recently came across a truly heart-warming story about a neighborhood initiative in the Washington, D.C. area.

Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, along with nine of their neighbors started an aging-in-place “village” in their Bethesda, Maryland community to help their elderly neighbors with basic services such as transportation and home maintenance, helping them to stay in their homes longer as they aged.

Their first request for assistance came in November 2008: they helped an 81-year-old widow take out her trash and drover her to the doctor. The organization has a budget of $4,000 collected solely through donations. It charges no dues and has about 65 “friends” who volunteer, receive help, or are otherwise are associated.

And while it doesn’t receive many requests for assistance Harry and Barbara say it is still a viable presence in the community hosting neighborhood walks and restaurant outings. There are now six similar “villages” in the city itself, two in the Virginia suburbs, and eight others in the planning stages in the Maryland suburbs.

The first such aging-in-place community on record was called an “intentional community” in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood to which members paid dues to provide collective services. The idea spread and “intentional communities” popped up in California, Illinois, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, New York, and other states, and the first international intentional community was in Australia.

Retirement communities are expensive and aren’t always the best option. Not every older adult needs the care of trained staff but could use, perhaps, the helpful hand of neighbor every now and then. If you are interested in learning more about aging-in-place initiatives or starting one in your community you can learn more at http://www.aginginplaceinitiative.org/.

James D. Perry