Rebecca Williams
Most residents love it here and would prefer to stay as long as possible. We’re part of a national trend of seniors who want to “age in place” in the familiar surroundings of home. Besides, moving to a residential care facility can be frightfully expensive.
At the “Third Thursday” talk on Thursday, February 18, Gary Hammond from SaddleBrooke will discuss efforts to organize a new volunteer group in SaddleBrooke to support this trend through Senior Village at SaddleBrooke. We present this talk with the thought that our community may have an interest in emulating some of their ideas. The organization at SaddleBrooke is organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and one of over 250 “villages” in the national “Village to Village” Network. Their motto is descriptive: “Neighbors helping neighbors.”
The SaddleBrooke group plans to start with three initial services: (1) residential lockbox installation (in conjunction with Golder Ranch FD) for fast, secure 911 access in an emergency; (2) transportation to medical appointments; and (3) morning check-in calls to socialize and be sure all is well. Gary will discuss how the group got the ball rolling, how these initial ideas have been received and upcoming plans for additional services.
They hope to expand services soon to include services such as transportation for grocery shopping, medical equipment loans, medical alert devices (“Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up”) in conjunction with IMPACT, simple handyman chores around the house and additional “friendly contact” services. These would include in home visits and possibly respite care to allow caregivers to take a break. Finally, the SaddleBrooke group plans to become a “reference librarian” on topics important to seniors. For example, if you need to contract “in home” medical, cleaning or trimming services, you could call for references or help locating assistance in that area.
We think many of you can relate to a need you experienced or a need of friends and neighbors that would be much easier to meet with the help of such a more formalized organization. As our community grows so will the need for such services. By learning today more about what our sister community is doing to address these needs, we can be better prepared to make SaddleBrooke Ranch an even better place to live.
The Third Thursday talk is on Thursday, February 18, at 4:00 p.m. in the La Montana and La Mesa Room. All are welcome. Light refreshments will be served.