Newswise — In an aging section of Gary, Indiana, older residents are banding together to make their neighborhood safer " partnering with local police, organizing cleanup projects, and building networks of friends and family to monitor their health and well-being.
The project is one of five in Indiana coordinated by the University of Indianapolis' Center for Aging & Community through a state-funded program called Communities for Life.
Communities for Life builds on the concept of naturally occurring retirement communities, or NORCs, a term applied to small geographic areas where people age 60 and older happen to live in high concentrations. NORCs provide opportunities to create community-based programs that help older adults live independently in their own homes and manage their own affairs, typically seen as a more satisfying and less expensive alternative to institutional settings and bureaucratic programs.
The work began in 2007, when the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration's Division of Aging contracted with the Center for Aging & Community and provided $885,000 in funding to support initial studies and planning for NORC-based projects. CAC selected projects proposed by local agencies in Indianapolis, South Bend, Gary, Huntington and Linton. Earlier this year, the Division of Aging provided an additional $500,000 for these communities to take action on the key concerns identified by the residents themselves.
"The great thing about this model is that it can be tailored to each community" whether urban, rural or suburban, says LaNita Garmany, the Communities for Life project director at CAC.
All five communities are reporting progress toward the goals set by their older residents. Each has established a home safety assessment and modification program, and most found ways to improve information and referral services. In rural Greene County near Linton, the NORC group is promoting health and fitness and working to improve transportation services. The group in Indianapolis' Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood conducted fall-prevention workshops and set up a safety product pantry with items such as smoke detectors, fire extinguishers and night lights. The Huntington group collaborated with local government on a walkability study and sidewalk improvement plan. In South Bend, residents conducted cleanup projects in an effort to dispel negative perceptions about their neighborhood.
Such efforts are increasingly attractive to public policymakers, as noted in a June story in Governing magazine that explored Communities for Life and other efforts around the nation.
"In some ways, supporting NORCs is a no-brainer for state and local government officials," the magazine noted. "Demographers estimate that 90 percent of baby boomers will age in place. Making sure NORCs have amenities such as curb cuts, mass transit, libraries and other clusters of services is common-sense urban planning. The other alternatives — assisted-living facilities or nursing homes — are both associated with huge expenses, most of which are borne by state Medicaid programs, and a jarring decline in senior well-being."
Partners in Indiana's Communities for Life project include the Huntington County Council on Aging, the Gary Community Health Foundation, REAL Services of South Bend, Generations agency on aging in Vincennes, and Martin University in Indianapolis.
More information is available at http://cac.uindy.edu/initiatives/communities.php.
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