The Village Movement
Thousands of baby boomers are turning sixty-five every day. A growing need exists for new models for aging and ways to support older adults who desire to remain in their homes, allowing them to stay active and engaged in their communities.
The “village movement” began informally In 1999, when a dozen residents of Boston's Beacon Hill Neighborhood envisioned and created such a model based on a traditional village, with neighbors caring for one another, collaborating to solve problems and access the resources they needed to continue living where they were. Their grassroots non-profit organization, Beacon Hill Village, began offering services in 2002 and has become a model for the national movement.
Today there are over 200 open Villages across the United States and more than 150 in development in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Visit Village to Village Network for more about the village movement.
As a grassroots organization using the village model, communities are creating their own villages designed to respond to their specific needs and circumstances.
Rainy Day Village is a branch (a spoke) in the Villages NW Hub and Spoke Network. Villages NW is organized and run by community members in the Portland metro area. Villages NW provides administrative, development, HR and financial services to local Villages. There are 11 member villages - nine active villages and two in development.