Neighbors Helping Neighbors

 

One possible project of the homes association would be to encourage neighbors to volunteer to help those less fortunate than themselves.

Older residents who are home-bound would greatly appreciate it if a neighbor were to pick up groceries or prescriptions for them. Many Brookridge Estates neighbors are already doing these things for older neighbors.

There are also a number of existing services for older residents such as "Share a Ride" provided by Johnson County and "Meals On Wheels" for those in still a greater need.

This is only a possible project. Nothing has been voted on by the BEHA board as of this time.

If you would be interested in learning more about this potential program, please contact Beth Gramly, 649-3217

 


There is an important article in the USA Today, July 26, 2010, on page 3A entitled “’Villages’ let elderly grow old at home”. Here is a brief synopsis of the article: More than 50 villages in a neighbor-helping-neighbor system have sprouted in the past decade from California and Colorado to Nebraska and Massachusetts. They are run largely by volunteers and funded by grants and membership fees to provide services from transportation and grocery delivery to home repairs and dog walking. Residents pay a membership fee that varies from $25 - $600 a year. She [Maurine Phinisse, 90] calls the village office, and they send her folks who clean her garden, install a railing, fix her windows, bring her groceries or drive her to the bank. Beacon Hill Village in Boston was the first in 2201. It is consumer-driven and consumer-run. This year Beacon Hill Village parented with NCB Capital Impact, a non-profit community development group to launch the Village-to-Village network. It is backed by big funders such as MetLife Foundation. End of synopsis.