I remember being twelve years old and my Grandmother telling me that she never wanted to live in a nursing home. Above all else she valued her independence and would maintain it at any cost. She was fortunate to have family and friends close by to love, support and care for her. For many urban dwellers this is not the case.

As cities, including Portland, continue to grow and develop they often focus on services and amenities for young urban professionals. Sometimes people of different genders, ethnicities and ages feel excluded. Villages NW helps those folks to “age in place” and do so in an affordable way. Villages are not retirement communities or new developments. Rather, they provide services and support for aging people who are not able to take care of specific needs on their own.

Villages are mainly comprised of volunteers who fill in the gaps left by other organizations and government services. These services range from climbing a ladder to change a light bulb to grocery shopping and everything in between. They also provide amenities such as potlucks, book clubs and other social interaction that enables a healthy, satisfying life.

For more information listen to our interviews with participants who visited PRP.fm this week.

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Village members can be home owners, renters, residents of shared housing or living with family members. All Villages in the Villages NW Hub and Spoke Network are organized and run by members of the community with backend administrative, development, HR and financial services provided by Villages NW.

The local Village movement is part of a rapidly growing national movement, with more than 135 open Villages nationwide and another 150+ in development.

All the Village planning groups welcome interested volunteers. To learn more about the Portland metro-area Village Movement and get involved, please visit Villages NW online or email

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