Village Elders

The New York Times most emailed story for the past two days has been "A Grass-Roots Effort to Grow Old at Home," a phenomenon that shows how much of the grass roots wants to stay close to its roots in old age. The story concerns semi-official or downright impromptu groups of elderly who are conspiring to stay in their homes even after they are unable to completely care for themselves or their surroundings—sometimes upkeep of the house can be the biggest challenge. For now, this is a mostly urban phenomenon, but the suburbs is where these groups have found their greatest utility: handymen and drivers (for trips to the grocery store, to the doctor, or anywhere off the block) are often a suburban oldster's most immediate need. As the inner-ring of suburbs gets older and the next generation splits for other states, or at least other, farther suburbs, groups like this will be more necessary for older folks to see out the project they began mid-last century.

The article gives a list of email addresses for groups the reporter mentions. But anyone who is concerned for their own older neighbors can simply knock on their door and see if they need any help.