It all began in early 2016, with Shutesbury resident Susan Rice’s reading of the book “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande. This was the book featured in a town- and area-wide public library read. Touched by the book’s wisdom of intentionally cultivating meaningful connection to our neighbors as we age, she began getting to know her neighbors better-- and discovered she loved the process.
Susan’s warm enthusiasm sparked the imagination of David Dann, a neighbor and also Chair of the Shutesbury Council On Aging. Soon 6-10 neighbors began getting together regularly to consider the realities of growing older in our rural and sparsely- populated towns: what might we need to put in place to support ourselves and our elders growing older at home?
This group soon became formalized into the Aging-In-Place Taskforce, a sub-committee of the Shutesbury Council On Aging. Residents in the neighboring towns of Wendell, Leverett and New Salem were invited to join the exploration of what community-based program models were working well in other rural towns across the country.
In April 2016, a gentleman from the Monadnock-at-Home organization in New Hampshire was invited to a taskforce meeting. He presented a compelling case for the Village-to-Village model, a national non-profit network that offers practical resources for starting-up new “villages”. His heartfelt stories of the ways people in his area were connecting to help one another inspired the taskforce to actually begin the work of starting-up our own local version.
A series of very many in-person meetings and discussions ensued. With the help of the Village-to-Village network website materials, a program infrastructure was assembled, a mission statement was crafted, and the name “Village Neighbors” was chosen.
In March 2017, Village Neighbors was invited by Lifepath, the Area Agency on Aging, to apply for a Community Services Special Projects grant. In April, a grant of $15,000 was awarded to Village Neighbors to cover the start-up costs of setting up a 501c(3) non-profit organization.
During the next year and a half, thoughtful volunteer residents in all 4 towns met for more conversations around kitchen tables and town hall tables. A shared sense of care and concern for the ongoing well-being of our elders and of one another sustained a vibrant spirit of collaboration. These relationships became the heart of the organization.
October 2018 saw the formal, public roll-out of Village Neighbors. This new connecting hub kindled great excitement for everyone present. Now we had organized new ways for good-hearted, capable neighbors to offer caring assistance to our elders living at home. Brochures and membership packets were distributed. People signed on to become members and/or volunteers. The work of building practical, volunteer support for growing older in our beloved rural towns, had begun. We are a member of the Village to Village Network, linking it with over 200 open Villages and more than 150 Villages under development across the United States.