Ghost of Midnight

… about neighbors, community and Front Porch Forum

Seniors know how to do community

Posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 by No comments yet

Today’s senior citizens know about great community because so many of them experienced it in past decades. Now, in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond, a collective call seems to be rising from this chorus of elders… “we need to connect with and support each other!”

At least that’s the message I’m getting through a series of conversations I’m having with senior citizens and various support organizations. Today I was honored to speak at the Charlotte Senior Center and Front Porch Forum received a wonderful welcome. Said one lovely attendee:

What you are doing is very special – like the honest-to-goodness connections I remember from “the olden days” – the 50’s and 60’s in Shelburne – that somehow we let “life” take away. Thanks for answering the yearning of so many and for updating it in such an inventive and warm way.

She also expressed frustration when “they” assume that she doesn’t “do email.” She’s all over it. I was surprised when we got our first octogenarian Front Porch Forum member, but now we enough 80-year-olds that it no longer grabs my attention. We also get adult children of people that age signing up on behalf of mom or dad and acting as a bridge to their neighbors through Front Porch Forum… another subscriber innovation that we didn’t anticipate!
I’ve written here already of relevant FPF stories… e.g., snow 1 and 2 and cancer 1 and 2.

And here’s news of another model from Boston (courtesy of MyDecide blog):

Beacon Hill Village helps persons age 50 and older who live on Beacon Hill and in its adjacent neighborhoods enjoy safer, healthier and more independent lives in their own homes–well connected to a familiar and attentive community. Faced with the prospect of leaving the neighborhood they love in order to obtain the services of a retirement community, a group of long-time Beacon Hill residents decided to create a better alternative. Beacon Hill Village is designed to make remaining at home a safe, comfortable and cost-effective solution.

Posted in: Burlington, Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Local Online, Social Media, Stories


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