My Mother, Elda, started her own vineyard in 2001 in the small town of Arico in the Canary Islands.  After years of tirelessly working in the hills of Arico, Elda had knee surgery and suddenly had to stop working in her vineyard at the age of 63.  She was quite frustrated with this news and so I said to her “Mom, why don’t you just retire?  You can live freely and do whatever you want!”  Unexpectedly, my mother replied “There is no such thing as ‘just retiring.’  I don’t want to stay at home, watch television, and do nothing… but what choice do I have?”

 

This is when I began researching Aging options for my Mom.  After a short while, I found the Village Movement. The idea of a Village seemed great as it would allow my Mom to be active, socially connected, and age purposefully in her own home.   

 

As a dedicated volunteer in the community, I instantly recognized the benefits of the mutual-support system in the Village Movement.  However, I also saw the first wave of Villages using outdated technology that only made the Villages difficult to operate, costly, and inefficient.  Villages were missing out on opportunities for more engaging social interactions, greater access to services, and healthier members.

 

With years of experience as a software engineer, I started to apply my skills and knowledge of technology into making Villages easier to use with an accessible platform in hopes that it would create meaningful interactions and social connections among older adults.

 

I submitted my work to LAUNCH, the UC-Berkeley Startup Accelerator Program in 2016 and was selected as one of the most promising tech companies of the University of California.  Since then, Helpful Village has rapidly grown across the country and is now used in 22 US States and Australia.

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Older adults want to age in their own homes while remaining in touch with their local communities.  As a result, many of those individuals are starting Villages all across the country. Larger cities like Washington DC, Portland OR, and Columbus OH even have city-wide policies to make it easier for their residents to find a supportive community in their neighborhoods.

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As the Village Movement grows rapidly, it’s easy to see why Villages are the best option to age in place, autonomously, socially, and purposefully.

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• Our specialized technology makes Villages engaging, easier to operate, and more efficient than ever.

 

• With thousands of Helpful Village users around the country, we have data showing the unparalleled efficiency of the Villages 2.0 social support system.

 

• With efficient and modern operations, we work with tech-advanced Villages to put the Village Movement on the front page of major national media outlets and bring its benefits to the attention of millions of older adults.