For seniors, it takes a village




Two free meetings are planned for Mon., Oct. 26 for residents to learn about and discuss bringing the Village to Village concept to Thousand Oaks.

Village to Village is a national program designed to help seniors remain in their homes as they age by providing services like transportation, home repair, home visits, meal prep and pet care. In California, 29 “villages” are now open, including ones in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, and 26 others are in development.

A June meeting about the program, hosted by the Thousand Oaks Council on Aging, was so well attended that the council decided to host back-to-back meetings this time around to avoid overcrowding.

Both Oct. 26 meetings will take place at the Grant Brimhall Library in Thousand Oaks, the first from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and the second from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

“The concept may appear simple, but establishing a ‘village’ is not an easy task,” Council on Aging member Harry Norkin said in an email.

The COA’s Senior Adult Master Plan ranks the need for more affordable housing as its top priority, he said.

“This housing problem motivated the (Council on Aging) to explore the aging-in-place movement, dedicated to figuring out ways in which seniors could remain in their homes, independently, for as long as possible,” he said. “This led the council into looking at the Village to Village movement as a viable solution, one of many, that allows seniors to age in place.”

Volunteers Nick Fotheringham, Nancy Healey and Dinah Frishbin formed a start-up team to see a Conejo Valley Village become a reality, Norkin said. The three have been looking into recruiting staff and volunteers to run and service the organization, sources of funding to start the organization and in setting up a nonprofit corporation.

People can RSVP by calling the Council on Aging at (805) 381-7262. For online registration, go to www.toaks.org/seniors.

For more information on the Village to Village movement, go to www.vtvnetwork.org.

Acorn staff report



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