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Group preparing to organize a Hyde Park Village This
page is presented by Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and its website
www.hydepark.org. HPKCC is a founding partner of the HP Coalition for
Equitable Community Development and a collaborator with the Older Women's
League. |
A group of Hyde Parkers, including members of the Older Women's League of Hyde Park, seeks to organize a "Village" cooperative services provider aimed at making it easier for people to remain based in their own home (or home of their choice)--while being able to get about-- as they age. At least five such localized groups are in planning or fully operational in the Chicago area. It is estimated the one-call service needs at least one full time staffer and requires a minimum of 150 members at a stated amount per year or month.
More about below. Links to web information about villages. More on various co-housing and aging-in-place options is in the Affordable Housing homepage. From their brochure. By George Rumsey for the August 2010 Conference Reporter.
TAKE HPV SURVEY THROUGH 5 PM FRIDAY AUG. 13. http://tinyurl.com/HPV-Survey. If you did not receive a email to take the survey and you take it from here, please inform Sue Alitto you took the survey and and are not on their list.
Email questions to http://hydeparkvillage2010@gmail.com. (As for their easy to read brochure and/or to take their survey). or 773-752-6587. Webpage when available: http://groups.google.com/group/hyde-park-village, or from Google Groups site search Hyde Park Village. Watch Hyde Park Herald for announcements.
Update from Sue Alitto July 30 2010
It is probably no surprise that most of us thought "Transportation services" should top the list as most needed and desired! "Health and wellness services" and "Referral services" were also highly rated. Most were very enthusiastic about the concept of a "Village" in Hyde Park.
The steering committee and subcommittees continue to meet, work and plan over the summer. We expect to have some interesting programs in the fall. Watch for announcements! If anyone would like to become more actively involved in our efforts, please let me know.
The Chicago Graduate School of Business student volunteers are working very hard on a business plan for us. They gave us a promising mid-project presentation last Saturday and will present the final project in late August.
Toward a Hyde Park
Village--a neighborhood organization designed to enable members to remain comfortably,
safely, and happily in their own homes and apartments whatever their age or
physical abilities.
They are currently in the committee work and meet-small-groups phase having
held four successful larger meetings. Organization work is underway with students
from Chicago Booth.
Susan Alitto, leader of the group, explains in her call for the second planning meeting April 6 2010, Tuesday, 7 pm, Treasure Island lower level: (their contact: hyde-park-village@googlegroups.com.)
We hope you will join us for our second meeting to discuss and plan for the creation of a Hyde Park Village designed to enable us to remain comfortably in our homes for the second half of our lives. Bring friends, neighbors, questions and ideas. I've attached a brief announcement that you can pass on to others.
We've been working on creating a Hyde Park Village Google Group where we all can share ideas and information, but it's not quite ready. In the meantime, the following are some links to media coverage of the Village concept.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/08/AR2010020802459.html?sub=AR
http://www.usnews.com/money/blogs/the-best-life/2010/2/8/how-to-build-your-own-retirement-village-.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/health/14aging.html?_r=3&scp=4&sq=Villages+and+Jane+Gross&st=nyt
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101101426.html
http://www.asaging.org/at/at-302/pdfs/AT302_Cohen.pdf://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/yourhome/articles/declaration_of_independents.html
www.beaconhillvillage.org
http://www.lincolnparkvillage.org
http://vtvnetwork.clubexpress.com (Village to Village Network)[another: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-26-aging26_ST_N.htm]
And we'll have some handout information available at the meeting.
Toward a Hyde Park Village
A village will give community members “one phone number” access to whatever services, support, and connections they may need to remain comfortably, safely and happily in their own homes. It can also provide social, educational, travel and cultural programs.
A model for such a community began in Beacon Hill, Boston,* about 9 years ago. It has spread rapidly to nearly 100 communities across the country, including 5 in various stages of development in the Chicagoland area. Some villages have specified a minimum age for participation; others have not. All “Villages” share a common mission of providing resources and support for members, but each is unique based on local needs and characteristics.
Our Hyde Park Village can be whatever we decide we want it to be.
Come participate in its creation.
[monthly, 1st Tuesdays], 2010, 7 pm
Treasure Island Meeting Room, lower levelQuestions? Contact: hyde-park-village@googlegroups.com
*Check out: www.beaconhillvillage.org
http://www.lincolnparkvillage.org
http://vtvnetwork.clubexpress.com (Village to Village Network)
Susan Alitto added in a letter to the Herald April 28 2010:Thank you [Herald] for your fine article on our effort to organize a Hyde Park Village to provide resources and services which wil enable community residents to remain comfortably and securely in their own homes and apartments as they grow older. I would like to elaborate on some aspects of our work and the discussion in your article.
Our conversations so far are based on examples from other villages around the country. While these provide useful guidelines, our own village can take quite a different form based on the needs and wishes of our own community. For example, it is our hope that membership fees will be as modest as possible and that we wil be able to offer assistance to participants who need it. Most important, we hope our village will reflect the interests and diversity that we know and value in Hyde Park.
We are still at early planning stages. We welcome everyone who is interested to join our discussions and help shape the kind of village we will become. .... Top
Beacon Hill is a membership (dues $500 to $800 a year) organization with ideas and initiatives that partner with agencies and businesses for discounted rates and services. This includes escort or driving services to the doctor, store etc., deliveries, even handy- or trades persons. The sky seems to be limit, and some places are already providing these services to the less affluent under pilot programs, according to the boomer-senior research institute Civic Ventures.
Hyde Park Herald, April 21, 2010. Aging gracefully- Hyde Parkers form group to aid elderly. By Sam Cholke
It may take a village to raise a child, but for Hyde Parkers it also takes a village to grow old. Members of the Older women's League and like-minded neighbors have begun discussing forming a new nonprofit to help connect seniors living at home with services, a system based on the Beacon Hill, Boston, "village" project.
"It's one phone number that gives you access to whatever you need to stay in your home comfortably as you get older," said organizer Susan Alitto at the group's second meeting April 6. "We're a neighborhood taking care of each other -- maybe our parents had that, but we don't.
There are about 64 "villages" nationwide, all with slight variations on the same mission to help seniors grow old in their homes. In Chicago, the North Shore, Lincoln Park, Streeterville and Lake View neighborhoods have all formed villages. "Part of the village concept is it is whatever we want it to be." Alitto said.
Options for village member services include arranging transportation, finding reputable home repair contractors, arranging social gatherings and being a repository for best practices. It is a sort of institutional memory, "rather than each of us reinventing the wheel on our own," Alitto said. "And so we know we're not taken advantage of by the roofer downstairs ringing the doorbell."
Though still in the early planning stages, the Hyde Park village would operate under the Older Women's League until it could establish itself as an independent nonprofit. The group would need roughly 2509 members to be sustainable and ideally would have 400 members, according to Alitto. For the Lincoln Park village, fees range from $400 to $900 for an individual yearly to $600 to $1,000 for a family, according to Alitto.
The group has not yet determined and estimate for dues to join a Hyde Park village and is still in the process of determining boundaries and what services to pursue. "It's no something we're going to create and you're going to join, it's something we're all going to create," said Betsie Zerlin, another organizer for the group.
For more information, email Susan Alitto at salitto@dacc.uchicago.edu.
Report on findings and issues from the April 2010 meeting of Hyde Park VillageToward a Hyde Park Village
Report to the Chicago Area Village Network
April 15, 2010
Hyde Park is off to a very promising start. As we look ahead, we see a number of challenges that we look forward to meeting. Fortunately, we have been able to recruit some exciting new members to help us in our endeavors.Achievements:
• We have had two successful community meetings, one at a home (March 2) and one at the local Treasure Island (April 6). Each meeting attracted different participants, with some overlap. [Attendance list is attached]
• We are compiling a list of many who wish to be kept informed of developments and meetings.
• We are in the process of setting up a Hyde Park Village Google Group as a secure site for members to access information and discuss issues.
• We have recruited 10 members for our organizing committee, which meets regularly to develop strategy and plan meetings.
• OWL Illinois has agreed to act as a fiduciary agent for us so we can start collecting donations even before we have our own 501(c)(3) status.Early issues:
• How can we keep a momentum without seeming to move too quickly?
• Research questions: How have others proceeded? What steps are necessary?
What proved most effective? What didn’t work?
• How can we best share and disseminate information?
• How can we best engage potential participants/meeting attendees?
• Should there be an age minimum/maximum?
• Should we have boundaries and if so, what should they be?Next steps:
• Currently we are working on a draft vision for a Hyde Park Village, a suggestion at our last meeting, as a means to eliciting ideas, desires and discussion.
• Our goal is to create an inclusive process that takes advantage of all the enthusiasm and good ideas of those who are interested in creating a Hyde Park Village.
• We hope to keep up monthly meetings at least through June.
Reporters/Editors: Susan Alitto, Margaret Huyck, Ken Schug, Betsie Zerlin
A VILLAGE IS... a community with its own "concierge" which provides access to activities & to members suggested services so that members can live safely and comfortably in the home of their choice.
EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE CONCIERGE SERVICES. One telephone call arranges access to whatever you might need or enjoy
- HOME
Transportation to appointments
House cleaning, yard work
Suggested service providers
Arrangements with trades people
Home and personal security
Computer and digital tech
Money management, bill payment-HEALTH
Exercising, walking, cycling
Medical advocacy}Affiliation with medical clinics
Visits, meals for the homebound
Caregiver support
Government and public assistance programs-DIVERSIONS
Activities, classes, day trips
Photography, nature groups
Discussions, lectures, music
Theater and sporting events tickets
Links with local groups
Dinner clubs, restaurant trips-VOLUNTEER REGISTRY
Volunteer assistance
Volunteer opportunitiesVILLAGE KIND OF PEOPLE. Those for whom Concierge Services might prove especially attractive are people who need support to age in place, busy working people, those with unusual needs, people mindful of the benefits they may need down the road, and people whop want to get together with others who are interested in the same recreational, cultural or educational pursuits.
Village life can secure independence and provides activities, support, advocacy, companionship and fun, through the varied services it offers.
BENEFITS AND COSTS VARY WIDELY ACCORDING TOTHE CHOICES VILAGES MAKE
- Financial success depends on many decisions made by Villages about other issues, for example:
- Success in raising funds
- The extent to which staff will be hired or volunteers wil be counted on to administer the village
- The size of the membership also influences the quality of benefits a Village will be able to offer
- Members are surveyed to determine what services they feel are desirable for their Village to provide
- Villages are sometimes able to obtain grants or outside funding, or to attract benefactors
- These considerations enter into determining the yearly costs of memberships
- Villages seek grants and funding to provide scholarships for those who are unable to afford all of the fee
- Contributions for our Village may be made to our fiscal agent, OWL ILLINOIS, a registered 501(c)(3) organization.
- JOIN US NOW AND CONTRIBUTE YOUR IDEAS TO OUR VENTURE!
By George Rumsey for the August 2010 HPKCC Conference Reporter (Vol. 16, No. 2)
Toward a Hyde Park Village
There is a new local group in process of forming called the "Hyde Park Village." A "village" is a "community with it own 'concierge' which provides access to activities and to member suggested services so that members can live safely and comfortably in the home of their choice" (quoted from the working group's brochure). It is modeled on the Beacon Hill Village (www.beaconhillvillage.org), and has formed working relationships with other Villages in eh chicago area, including in Lincoln Park and Evanston.
The organizing group, spearheaded by a wide variety of South Siders and pulled together by Sue Alitto, has been working steadily since February to frame how a Village might work in Hyde Park. Examples of possible services being examined include transportation, house cleaning, home adn personal security, caregiver support, exercising, medical advocacy adn referrals, classes, day trips, dinner clubs, and a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.
The kinds of people who could benefit from a Village include those who need support to age in place, busy working professionals, those with unusual needs, and people who want to join others for shared interests.
Financing depends on fund-raising, obtaining grants, finding volunteers, size of the membership, and services to be provided. A yearly cost would be passed on to members.
For more information, visit the groups website at http://groups.google.com/group/hyde-park-village. You can also email hydeparkvillage2010@gmail.com or call (773) 752-6587. Top
Summer-Fall 2010 activitiesJune- last introductory meeting. Helped Lincoln Park celebrate ist first year and heard author Gail Sheehy
July- A set walked the 4th on 53rd parade and distributed material and a survey.
Booth School students prepared and analyzed paper and online surveys and a cost and pricing analysis.
August 1 picnic in Nichols Park.