By Laurelle Walsh
Methow At Home, the valley’s nascent “virtual retirement village,” is now a project of The Cove, the Twisp-based nonprofit that operates a food bank, a financial assistance program, two adult family homes and a senior assistance program in the area. The Cove will serve as Methow At Home’s fiscal sponsor.
“We have a compatible mission,” said Methow At Home steering committee chair Ellen Lamiman. “It’s a very good fit for us.”
Methow At Home, while still in its formative stage, will be a membership organization modeled after the “Village” concept: a community-based organization that coordinates access to support services to allow senior citizens to live as long as possible in their own homes.
Methow At Home is a member of the national Village to Village Network, which to date has helped launch more than 140 Villages across the United States, with another 125 in development, according to Lamiman.
“Most people want to stay in their own homes. They don’t want to go to an assisted living facility,” Lamiman said.
Methow At Home intends to connect its members to nearby services such as transportation, home maintenance, help with meal preparation, and social and educational activities.
Cost to members has not yet been determined, but should be kept low by being a primarily volunteer-led organization, said Lamiman. Many members will also be volunteers while they are able to help, Lamiman predicts, on the basis that “I don’t need this now, but I want it to be there when I do,” she said.
Currently, an eight-person steering committee is laying the groundwork for Methow At Home, and charter members are being sought to help “guide the design of the program,” Lamiman said.
“We hope to have it up and running at the charter stage by fall of 2016,” Lamiman said.
More information is available at www.methowathome.org.
