Recently Mayor Woodard and I were honored to attend the ribbon cutting ceremony in the Village. It is exciting to welcome a new business into the neighborhood, especially one that I am sure will be very useful for our residents. Love Living at Home, although only recently opening doors to an office building in Cayuga Heights, has been an active non-for-profit since October of 2016. The inspiration for this aging-in-place assisting organization really began in early 2014 with three individuals and what is called the “Village Movement”. Today the organization is thriving in the community with around 200 members.
The original founders of Love Living at Home (LLH), Jim and Leslie Quest and Kathy Garner, rising in age themselves became very interested in the Village to Village Network model and the “Village Movement” as a whole, that was starting to gain attention in other areas of the State. If, like me, you have not heard these phrases before, let me explain. The “Village Movement” began in 1999 in Boston with the Beacon Hill Village, because a group of older adults wanted to continue living at home while still engaging in social activities in their neighborhoods. According to their website, the movement is an “innovative grassroots movement that coordinates critical services for older adults”. After the original Beacon Hill Village was founded, new organizations or “villages” as they are called started popping up all over the country. The Village to Village Network is a large database that houses information and resources that helps keep all the “villages” connected virtually. Love Living at Home as a “village” has access to all the resources available in the broader Village to Village Network. Each organization is built around the needs of its community, however one thing they all have in common is the idea of neighbors helping neighbors. To quote the LLH website, life takes a village, so let us be part of yours! I am encouraged by this sentiment and that such enthusiasm for working together is still alive and well.
Now that you are caught up on history let’s focus on what LLH has to offer. They are a membership driven organization for those that are 50 years old and up and are run by a board of directors consisting of the original founders and other local community members. Members enjoy a wide selection of in-person and virtual events, discounts at other local businesses, a plethora of resources for any need or desire, staff that can assist with questions or specific needs, physical help with everyday tasks, social outings, and so much more. All currently scheduled events as well as membership costs can be found on their website at www.lovelivingathome.org. Not sure LLH is for you, they offer a free three-month trial. In addition, there are scholarships, and annual or monthly payment options, I encourage you to check it out.
What is even more impressive to me though is the vibrant volunteer network that is the heart and backbone of the organization. It has been proven that volunteer work for a worthy organization or cause can increase joy and confidence and decrease stress and many members choose to give more than they receive. In addition to facilitating services for those in need, LLH allows an opportunity to give back to one’s community in the way of volunteer work. In return the reward is a sense of belonging and purpose. As a member, not only can you make requests for help, but you can offer your expertise and services to be made available to other members. Perhaps a perfect example of this in action is the direct service volunteers. With one phone call a member in need can be paired with someone who can meet that need whether it be a ride, help with weeding or installing an AC unit in this hot weather! Not all LLH’s volunteers are members though, they receive a lot of community support as well. One instance of this is a volunteer group from Challenge that helps with group projects. Another way to help, if volunteering is not possible, is giving of donations, which help to cover membership fees for those that would otherwise be unable to join.
Behind all this activity are two lovely ladies that I had the pleasure to meet and sit down with, Thena Lindhorst, the executive director and Cassie Besemer the Assistant Director. Although Thena has not been in the position for long, I can tell she has great enthusiasm for
the work ahead. Cassie works directly with the day-to-day communication between volunteers and members. This is an immense and daunting job, but Cassie is able with the help of the network database and software, to organize and schedule all necessary events and meetings smoothly. As for the future, the leadership hopes to increase the number of collaborative relationships it has with other local businesses, increase community awareness of their services and continue to launch new member led groups. One such group that they offer is a food insecurity group; that recently led a food drive and participated in the Soap for Hope drive for Catholic Charities. This is just another example of the leadership’s attention to their surrounding community.
A company espousing the benefits of Village life is thrilled to call Cayuga Heights, a physical village, their home. Having the office in the Warren Real Estate building at 832 Hanshaw Road affords LLH a space for members to “drop in” to just say hi or hang out for some quality time with each other. Although most events happen off site around the community it is nice to be able to hold meetings in-person in the shared conference room on site or even to enjoy a relationship with the other businesses in the building. Membership has also steadily increased since opening their doors here in the Village as our residents gain knowledge about the organization. You can learn more at www.lovelivingathome.org or by calling (607)319-0162. Based on the attendance and overall excitement at the ribbon cutting I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
