• Help for retirees living at home is the aim of VillageFriends/VillageValues group  

VillageFriends/VillageValues, Inc.  is pleased to announce a newly-established fund within the Community Foundation of East Alabama, Inc. to receive tax deductible grants and donations that  VillageFriends/VillageValues will use to fulfil its mission on behalf of budget-minded, independence-loving senior adults.  

A local non-profit corporation, VillageFriends/VillageValues (VFVV) aims to provide senior adults with easy one-call access to a full menu of services  which allow seniors to reside in their own homes as long as possible, a lifestyle known as “aging in place”. The village model  for aging in place is favored both by seniors who treasure their independence and by their adult children who recognize that the extended family benefits when the village organization shares in the support of the family’s seniors.

Grants are now being sought to underwrite the hiring of a full-time Director, a step which will allow VillageFriends/VillageValues  to launch full operation.  After a start-up period, it is projected that annual subscription fees will be the largest resource to sustain the organization. On-going community support and grants will allow the organization to offer discounted subscription rates to low-income seniors.

Led by Board Chairman Eddie Smith and Executive Director Barbara Patton, the Community Foundation of East Alabama is a local center for philanthropy, working with individuals, families, corporations, private foundations, and nonprofit organizations to help them carry out their charitable objectives and address emerging community issues.  A five-county region is included in CFEA: Lee County and parts of Chambers, Macon, Russell, and Tallapoosa.

VillageFriends/VillageValues is a member-driven organization for adult seniors living in the Auburn-Opelika area.  As VFVV grows, it is hoped that service can be extended to other parts of Lee County and that other communities around Alabama will start their own villages.  VillageFriends/VillageValues  is led by its Board of Directors and members who are themselves retirees, said President Joanna Hoit, who serves with Vice President Mary Burkhart, Secretary Ferne Garrett, and Treasurer Jim Warman.

The village model is a national phenomenon that began with Beacon Hill Village in Boston in 2001 and has rapidly spread across the country.  There are now 90 villages in operation and another 120 in development. Nearby in Georgia, the Athens Area Village will open November 1 with another 4 or 5 villages to be opened in other parts of that state over the next 24 months.   Village groups are linked nationally through the Village to Village Network which provides its member organizations with access to experience, expertise and best practices through online forums, webinars, and information sharing (www.vtvnetwork.org) .

Working locally, each village provides services using volunteers and vendors, all of whom are screened by the village. Typically included services are:  home maintenance and repairs, transportation and driver-companions for medical appointments, grocery shopping and errands, routine household and yard chores, social activities, and others.  Subscribers call the village office to request a service as needed.

VillageFriends/VillageValues, Inc.  was founded January 2012 and immediately met with favorable response at an OLLI Brown Bag Lunch presentation attended by 115 people. In addition, the East Alabama Medical Center contributed office space. Local groups such as Kiwanis, Lions, Civitan, Rotary  and church groups have invited VFVV to speak about the village model and discuss the progress of the local group.  Thirty-four early subscribers have provided seed money.

On October 15-17, VFVV members attended the fourth National Gathering of the Village to Village Network.  Held in Atlanta this year, the conference brought together over 200 representatives from village organizations around the country to share ideas.  

For more information, Google “village friends village values”  for VFVV  website,  
email villagefriendsvv@yahoo.com , or  phone (334) 209-4641.

For more information about the Community Foundation of East Alabama, call (334) 705-5138 or
email communityfoundationofeastal@gmail.com .

The Community Foundation looks toward future growth