We are very excited to introduce SFV's three new board members – Jo Ann Madigan, Gloria Cavanaugh and Judy Langley. All three have exceptional experience and talents that will enhance the strength of the Village and make it even more relevant to all of our members. To read their bios, please click on their names.

Gloria Cavanaugh

"I’m excited about being part of an organization that is empowering adults to live and remain in their own homes as they age."

Jo Ann Madigan

"I'm honored to be a member of the San Francisco Village Board because I believe very deeply in the mission of aging in place. I hope that my many years of non-profit and health system experience will be of value to the organization."

Judy Langley

"I am delighted with SFV’s increased emphasis on services that will appeal to current and potential members and I look forward to helping in this effort."

Click here to read their bios.

It should be easy to write about the big heart of Glady Thacher because there's plenty of evidence that she has been pumping life and energy into her communities since she was very young. A pivotal figure in the founding of San Francisco Village, she has made her mark on many Bay Area organizations that may have started small - but blossomed into powerful tools for change under her guidance and inspiration. As she transitions from our Board of Directors to Advisory Board, we are extremely grateful for her 'recruiting" and numerous contributions.

Glady was born and raised in New York, attended Smith College, and envisioned a career as a fine artist until her plan was altered by marrying her lawyer-husband, Jim, and moving to San Francisco, where they would raise four children and become active volunteers and philanthropists.
"The odyssey of life is quite strange," she suggests reflectively. "We set off to do something that may not be the true path. If it's not productive and you give it up, you also give way to something that is truer in yourself. That was the case for me - a series of happenings that led me to serve on the board of a halfway house, the second in the nation."

Working as a volunteer, Glady had discovered how little that communities were doing to empower young people with mental disabilities - and she took a great interest in psychology. A professor at San Francisco State encouraged her to earn an MA in educational counseling in the late 1960s, and she graduated into a Bay Area that was rife with political tensions relatd to racial issues and the Vietnam War. "Ironically, it could not have been more fortuitous for me, " says Glady. "I was able to realize that being a good counselor meant listening to people, that even if they're not your age, or race or background - you can still respect them."

Later, Glady had a revelation that if young, high school-age people had a way to use their skills, they would feel more confident, so in 1969, she transformed her living room into an office and founded Enterprise for High School Students, which is still successfully placing young students, age 14-18, into training, guidance programs and jobs that will help them determine their future paths. "When I find a cause that needs a voice, I stay with it," she says. "You can't just find an executive director and move on."

Among other organizations that have benefitted from Glady's time and attentions are Alumni Resources, an organization that she helped found to mentor young professional women through female alumnae in the 1970s," a time when women were just "finding their voices in the workplace." In 1979, she became Founding Executive Director of San Francisco Education Fund, which has grown to become one of the city's largest non-profit groups supporting public schools through grants for teacher-run projects and classroom programs. "I wanted to be the best I could be. I undertook it with zeal," she recalls.From 1998 - 2008, Glady served on the Board of Directors for The San Francisco Foundation.

Glady admits that she loves the phrase "grass roots" because it illustrates the notion of a strong community that can grow from the small seed of an idea.

Our thanks to a lady who has planted a lot of seeds!

(Reprinted from Vision Magazine, Winter 2010)

Innovations in our industry are usually what grab us, and aging in place is no exception. We see Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) being created, well, naturally. It’s the ability to live in one’s own home for as long as comfortably and safely possible. We often ooh and ahh at the latest gadget, gizmo or revolutionary new bathtub design. But if innovation is simply the introduction of something new and shiny, then perhaps bringing old-fashioned community life back into our modern living environs deserves our attention. This was a main theme of CACM’s 2009 Northern California Expo, this is where our industry is headed.

Our path towards launching a first-of-its-kind partnership for aging in place began when a property manager received a phone call from a concerned adult daughter begging him to check in on her elderly mother. Mom was 86-years-old and lived alone. The daughter lived out of state. And for some reason, mom wasn’t answering her phone that night. So, could he please just knock on the door? Staff did check on the unit, and were relieved to find that mom was fine and that the phone had just been off the hook. But this scenario was one in an increasing volume of unusual calls related to older residents asking for services well outside the realm of commonly practiced property management expertise.

The demographic reality is that in 2011, someone in America will turn 65 every 8 seconds. The latest U.S. Census statistics show that residents 65 and over account for 12.6% of the population in California and 14.5% in San Francisco. With the onset of graying baby boomers, older adults have fast become a sizeable and growing constituency of consumers with greater zeal for protecting self-determination and living out their golden years in their own homes. Not that anyone has ever wanted to move to a nursing home. In fact, only 5% of Americans over 65 actually live in a nursing home at any give time, and AARP reports that 90% of older Americans prefer to remain in their own homes as they age.

We realized that we needed to start planning, and began researching the development of a program to serve our older residents. In the research and planning phase, we were surprised to discover that the perfect program already existed – San Francisco Village. CitiScape and San Francisco Village have since been working in partnership to create aging-friendly communities by providing relevant and well-informed support and services to the residents of the properties they manage.

The village movement started in 2001 in Boston with Beacon Hill Village, when a group of long-time neighbors decided to organize themselves because they wanted to live in their own homes as they age. They recognized that the homes and communities in which we live are poorly designed to support us in old age, and subsequently began programs to serve older neighbors in their own homes. These programs are built, led and sustained by the very people who make use of them. Fifty similar villages are currently operational across the country, and over 200 more are in development. Westchester Playa Village in Los Angeles recently contacted San Francisco Village to talk about how its relationship with CitiScape got started, because they're interested in working with some condo associations in Marina del Rey. This is as it should be: resources and experience sharing experiences and leading the way for others who see its value.

As part of this national village movement for aging in community, San Francisco Village, a nonprofit membership organization, launched in January 2009. At San Francisco Village, members have the option of participating in an array of educational programs, social activities and volunteer opportunities including book clubs, lecture series, walking groups, and more. More importantly, San Francisco Village members have access to a network of pre-screened businesses and services that provide essential support. Whatever their needs, they are just one phone call away – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In the CitiScape and San Francisco Village model, we’re bringing these programs and services to condo dwellers, and consequently providing needed support to management staff. Condo communities are well-designed to realize the benefits of the village model. With members in close physical proximity, Village staff can easily schedule a series of in-home safety inspections. Not to mention the greater ease of building a sense of community to organize neighbor-to-neighbor and volunteer support for mail pick-ups, carpools, walking groups and maybe even a mattress flip day!

The new “older consumer” is proactive and wants to live at home for as long as possible, maintaining connection to a healthy and vibrant community. Baby boomers are bringing back the village concept of neighbors-helping-neighbors, and making us all better for it. Management companies and self-managed communities alike should sit up and take notice – and take action.

How To Create Your Own Aging-Friendly Community:

What’s the problem? Identify the specific dilemma you aim to solve.

CitiScape wanted to be better equipped to handle a growing number of phone calls about a wide range of issues involving our older residents. But the need could also be a more specific service like door-to-door transportation or arm-through-arm escort services to important appointments. Enumerating a list of recent inquiries will help you assess current needs, and find the right solution. As a first step, it’s a good idea to contact your local county Area Agency on Aging (AAA) to ask about providers of senior services that meet your specific need. If you don’t have too much demand right now, getting to know what free public services are available to your residents and staff is a good interim step before deciding to partner with a nonprofit.

Who’s out there? Find out what’s in your local area, and decide what works for you.

The village movement is one in a number of different models for aging in place. Other emerging alternatives include naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs), co-housing, and The Green House project, created by a self-described nursing home abolitionist, Bill Thomas. The model and organization you choose to partner with should be able to aptly serve the demographics of your resident population. Their mission needs to resonate with you, and their staff and yours need to be able to work well together. Success of this collaboration is hugely dependent on real-time communication and response. For CitiScape, SF Village’s one number to call about any aging-related problem made for a good fit.

What’s your plan? Develop a partnership agreement with scalability and flexibility.

Although it’s important to begin with the specific service needs of your residents, it’s a good idea to leave room for new opportunities to surface. For the most part, people don’t know what they need until they need it. Not to mention that it’s going to take some time to spread the word about the great new service you’re providing.

First, CitiScape and SF Village identified two simple and clear goals:

• Help residents age in place by offering SF Village membership.
• Support CitiScape staff with expert guidance in meeting the needs of older residents.

Then, from these two simple goals, we outlined a service level agreement that detailed the following areas:

• Village services & support for CitiScape residents
• SF Village support to CitiScape staff
• SF Village organizational capacity to address CitiScape needs
• Ongoing evaluation & service level revisions
• Joint marketing & outreach efforts
• Budget that details both support to individual residents and support to CitiScape staff

Finally, it’s critical to build scalability and flexibility into this agreement. This is typically intrinsic to service level agreements, but be sure you indicate when and how often you’re willing to make revisions to the agreement. Nailing down a quarterly or 6-month revise from the start is a good idea. You’ll then be nimble enough to respond to resident and staff feedback, and keep focus on the peace of mind you’ve created and the many lives you’re improving.

The authors of this article would be happy to speak to any interested parties on how to develop a Village, and how your association management and your Village can work together to help make your communities continue to be strong and vibrant, all the while getting gray together!

kevinwiley@citiscapesf.com, or christabel@sfvillage.org