THE ELDERS IN A VILLAGE TOWN HAVE LIFETIME SECURITY WITH SEVERAL STAGES OF SUPPORT

Elders

 

In almost all cultures but the monetized culture we now live in, when people came to a certain age we called them elders. They were respected for their experience, the wisdom that often comes with age, and for the lifetime of service they gave to family, community, the economy and society. We now tend to call them old people, retired, pensioners, golden oldies or if we are politically correct, senior citizens.

Our suburban communities have no place for them, mostly because they can no longer drive, so we segregate them into isolated housing we call retirement homes – or if upscale, retirement villages. When they become unwell, they are moved to nursing homes where they live among a concentration of ill people, some suffering senility, often with underpaid, overworked staff in conditions that are sad at best, and sometimes a depressing, miserable way to mark the ending years of ones life. Even the best of these places cut elders off from society and deprive the community of their assistance and the transmission of culture that traditionally went from grandparent to grandchild. It also promises to be unsustainable in the future when there will be too many old people and not enough young to pay for segregated retirement and expensive health care.

The VillageTown begins by calling them elders, although in doing so, it acknowledges that the dividing line is no longer so absolute. At one time, 60 was old. Now it may be 75 or 80 before one looks and feels the same as an earlier generation did at 60. In essence the VillageTown focuses not on age, but mobility and capacity of elders to care for themselves.

As will be discussed in another article, it will become essential to de-monetize elder care. When projections suggest that we will be going from five working adults for every elder down to two adults for every elder, it is likely our present-day elder care systems will fail. De-monetizing is much easier in a complete community. There are many relationships that develop between old and young when they are in close proximity, not solely those of parent and grown child. Often elders become surrogate grandparents to a child where they happen to click, or the elder becomes a mentor – able to take time that the parents cannot. Later when the elder becomes weaker, and that child is a teen or adult, the relationship reverses, becoming one of young caring for old – this is natural and involves no payment.

Care Contracts: Young people often find it difficult to afford to buy a home; elders have the money, but worry if their savings will provide for their remaining life needs. In a care-contract, the elder takes their life savings to pay for a three story home. The ground floor becomes their settled home; it’s all they want and need. They contract with a young family, perhaps their grown children or someone they trust, for a lifelong pension as well as paying for the property taxes, utilities and other home expenses. At their death, the home becomes the property of the contract family. The payment is probably less than mortgage payments or rent but enough to live on comfortably, making it a good solution for both. The elder need not worry about paying bills, home maintenance or security, and the young family gets a good neighbor as well as a future home. The VillageTown would monitor such care contracts to assure there was no abuse of the contract that would make life difficult for either party. This sort of innovative contract is another way that the VillageTown provides for good citizenship without looking to the taxpayer for help.

Settled Work: There was a time when a man, and sometimes a woman, worked all of his or her life, and then at age 65 was retired. They were given a pension, and often they died within a year or two. The change for many was traumatic, as they had to reinvent themselves to live a life of leisure. Now, thanks to safer living conditions and more health consciousness, people are living decades longer, and at 65 look like their parents did at 50. In many places laws prohibit mandatory retirement based on age, and those who reach that age rather enjoy being productive. However, they may prefer to slow down a bit, and also sometimes to make a career shift to something they love doing... the high-powered businessman who had a near-death experience in the emergency room and upon recovery decided to take up his passion to become a blacksmith. The VillageTown encourages what is called settled work where elders take up their passion. Often they can afford to do work that makes the village special; work that would never support a young family. Some elders will serve as mentors, especially those with long experience that is of great benefit to the young.

Elder Housing: A certain percentage of the VillageTown housing will be set aside for those over 64 years of age. The homes will be sold at an affordable price as parallel housing, with the restriction that the buyer must always be over 64. These elder homes will be on the ground floor, probably without a threshold, stairs or stoop, and will be designed for simple, settled living. They may have a sensor that turns off the stove when the pot begins to smoke because the elder fell asleep in a chair. They may be wired with a panic sensor so the press of a button on a bracelet will summon help. Most will be set within 50 yards (50m) of the village plaza to make it a short walk to the social hub of the community. Such housing is designed to enable elders to remain in their home as long as possible, in a visible location where neighbors will maintain contact. Even when such elders begin to suffer dementia or become wheelchair-bound, if they remain in familiar surroundings, they may be able to cope with hot meal delivery and visiting nurses.

Nursing Care on the Plaza: At one point, some elders will be unable to care for themselves in their home. The VillageTown will then provide 6 to 10 bed nursing care facilities on the plazas. Such facilities will have wide windows that open so that elders who wish to see and be seen can do so, and even speak with friends who walk by. It will be near the cafes on the plaza, so those who are wheelchair bound but otherwise functional may spend their day among the community, not locked away in isolation. It is intended that the facility be paid for by the VillageTown, and the staffing be paid by the community as part of its annual fees. In this way, it becomes a group insurance plan, where those who require such facilities may move there without the crippling financial burden of private nursing homes.