The Athens Area Village Continues to Take Shape

This village has no walls, but it still has a lot of the same characteristics, including helpfulness, vigilance, compassion and assistance. It's a virtual village, a network of friends, neighbors and professionals who will help Athens' older adults receive the necessary services, programs and products they need to grow old at home.

The Athens Area Village is the first such organization in Georgia, according to Jennie Deese, director of the Athens Community Council on Aging. , with which it has hired coordinator Kate Lenover. Plans are to charge members annual fees to participate, ranging from $250 to $300 for individuals, and somewhat less for a partner, spouse or sibling.

Jim Becker, a member of the advisory council, told a story about a phone call he received Sunday night from a friend. The friend had learned his Social Security card had been stolen and his identity compromised; his car was having troubles so AAA had towed it to a garage; he needed to get to a CPA Monday morning; and he had to catch a plane for Colorado on Wednesday. Becker agreed to help him with all his commitments, thinking that his friend could use the kind of services the village will provide.

"What we're doing is formalizing the informal," said Madeline Van Dyck, one of several volunteers on the village's advisory council. Her committee is finding and vetting those who will provide services to village members. These services could include everything from lawn and garden maintenance to gutter cleaning to tax preparation and transportation to and from doctor appointments and grocery stores.

"We have designed a village that reflects Athens, in all of its quirkiness," said Jill Jayne Read, who chairs the advisory council. "All we have to do now is go out and sell it."

The group wants to have a minimum of 200 members to keep the village viable, but, given the level of enthusiasm among the council, signing up that number seems easily doable. Director Deese believes many more will be interested in what she calls "concierge services."

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