SAN DIEGO—The San Diego North County Coastal Village, an Aging Adults Village concept that plans to launch in early 2018, aims to allow older adults to age in their own homes in a safe and dignified way, boar chair of the village Liam Dunfey tells GlobeSt.com. Currently in startup mode, the SDNCCV is set to launch in early 2018 and is part of the movement to create senior villages across the globe; there are currently 205 open Villages in US, including many in California.

We spoke with Dunfey, who is also director of major gifts and planned giving at St. Paul's Senior Services in San Diego, about what the Aging Adults Village is, what it hopes to accomplish and its implications for local real estate, businesses and the community.

GlobeSt.com: Tell us about the Aging Adults Village you're working on now.

Dunfey: The concept started in Boston 15 years ago in Beacon Hill, and since then, there has been a growth to 150 villages, all independently operated as non-profit organizations. Villages have proliferated over the last 15 years in strategic locations around the country; there are several here in San Diego. It's based on the concept of creating a village-like atmosphere. The purpose of the village is to allow older adults to age in their own homes in a safe, dignified way. Some have 50 members, and some have more than 100. Here in California, the California Coalition of Villages is trying to do advocacy at the state level; some villages are volunteers and some have paid staff.

Each village is a little bit different. For the North County one, we don't have the membership structure in place yet; however, through grassroots efforts we have found that some of the volunteers that come to our meetings are very interested in meeting other peers in North County Encinitas and Carlsbad. That's the number-one value proposition for villages. Second, if one needs to find an estate-planning attorney or a resource for home care, for example, the village can give them lists of different agencies that can support some of their wishes. We've all had plumbing problems, but older people don't necessarily trust people coming into their homes. We will provide kind of like an Angie's List for older adults; that's one of the other big value propositions. The third is with transportation. Our village is a little different than others. Some villages have volunteers to provide transportation for other members—able-bodied seniors able to drive taking other seniors not able to drive to run errands, etc. We are not able to do this at this point, but we are certainly looking at that.

GlobeSt.com: What are the impacts of villages like this one on real estate?

Dunfey: From a commercial real estate perspective, there's not a huge impact, but from a residential real estate, there's a significant impact. Research has shown that aging results and Baby Boomers want to remain in their own homes. They want to age in place, and in order to do that, they need to have resources and a network like a village that will continue to allow them to live in a home safely. From a residential real estate perspective, there are still opportunities for buying and selling. Many older adults want to downsize, but don't want to move to a senior community.

What we foresee the village having a huge impact on is our home-safety assessments. We've talked about members of our village being able to get a complimentary home assessment where a village social worker will go into homes and assess their needs. There are some things that might be trip hazards for seniors, so we will be making recommendations for home safety a big part of our village, as well as key partnerships with in-patient and outpatient facilities, i.e. discharge planners from Scripps. If a senior falls and breaks a hip, they might need rehab; the village wants to help with the transition back into their home. We can help make sure that they're remembering to take meds and that their home is set up for success. We have been in communication with home health teams, and there's a whole range of teams we foresee our village being able to include on that end of the spectrum.

GlobeSt.com: Why is North County San Diego the ideal place for a village like this?

Dunfey: There are currently more than 25,000 residents in Encinitas and Carlsbad over the age of 60. The SDNCCV is in startup mode, but we anticipate having 100 members in 2017. North County is a big area; there are a lot of retirement communities and just two senior centers. I've worked in senior care for eight years and feel compelled to work with older adults in some capacity. I'm passionate about working with older adults.

GlobeSt.com: What implications does this village have for businesses and residential communities in the area?

Dunfey: We've already met with one elected official in Carlsbad and one in Encinitas. We want to have a synergy with elected officials to utilize the senior centers in those cities. We foresee ourselves working with them. The difference between a village and senior center is that a senior center is a concept that came up in the 20^th Century—it's a physical place to go—but a village could be anyplace: a book group in home, a day trip to L.A. There are a lot of different ways a village could augment that experience. We foresee working with officials, senior centers and the other part of coordination with community: the health and wellness sides. Staying well through walking groups, tai chi, swimming, yoga—there's a whole range of things we want to allow them to experience.

As for the community, we have been going on the Next Door platform because we don't want to be making decisions in a vacuum. For the last nine months or so, we have had twice-monthly meetings, and we've had 15 active meetings.

Some of these villages have paid staff, a central location and an office; others don't. We will rent out community space. We want to make sure our village is sustainable, so we're taking incremental steps and being careful about how we allocate our resources. We also want it to be an intergenerational experience that offers valuable intergenerational opportunities for our members.

Instant Insights /

Village Concept Helps Seniors Age in Place

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