Enlarge By Doug Kapustin for USA TODAY Volunteer Margaret Missiaen tends a garden in the yard of Maurine Phinisee, 90, left, who is back in her Washington, D.C., home with the help of Capitol Hill Village.

More than 50 villages in a neighbor-helping-neighbor system have sprouted in the past decade from California and Colorado to Nebraska and Massachusetts. They are run largely by volunteers and funded by grants and membership fees to provide services from transportation and grocery delivery to home repairs and dog walking.

Most villages have opened in the past couple of years, an indication that the momentum is growing in the face of a demographic tsunami: The number of Americans65 and older is expected to more than double to 89 million by 2050, according to the Census Bureau.

The oldest of 79 million Baby Boomers turn 65 next year, a turning point that will begin to put pressure on social services, retirement homes and assisted-living facilities.

The "village" concept is taking off in small and big cities and suburbs across the country as the percentage of elderly rises while the share of the working-age population that supports them declines. The percentage of people 65 and older is projected to climb from 13% today to 19% by 2050, while the share of adults age 20 to 64 is expected to drop from 60% to 55%, the Census Bureau says.

"We will hit a really pivotal point," says Julie Maggioncalda, aUniversity of Pennsylvania geriatric social work student who is interning at the Capitol Hill Village in Washington, D.C. Nursing homes won't be able to handle all the elderly, she says.

"We simply don't have enough space, and if we don't have a village, that burden will fall on families," Maggioncalda says.

AARP research shows that 90% of people want to grow old in their home and community.

"Villages are one way people can lead the life they want to live," says Mimi Castaldi, AARP vice president for volunteer engagement. "They've caught the imagination of people."

How villages operate:

•Residents pay a membership fee that varies from $25 to $600 or more a year, depending on the types of services members want. Some villages have paid staff members; others are run completely by volunteers.

•Most villages are opening in more upscale neighborhoods in cities and suburbs, but they all provide discount dues for lower-income elderly.

Back home to stay

Maurine Phinisee, 90, spent about a year in a nursing home. Her time there was "h-e-l-l," she says, but the nightmare ended when a friend helped her escape Christmas Eve 2008. "I didn't belong there," she says.

All she wanted was to be in the home she has lived in "since 1951 B.C. — before cellphones," Phinisee says. And that's where she has lived ever since.

Phinisee, a widow for 40 years, can get around her home on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., but she needs help opening jars and reaching things. She can't handle even minor repairs around the house or drive places (she gave up her car in 1993).

That's OK because Phinisee lives in Capitol Hill Village, which began operating three years ago and is the oldest of six such villages in the nation's capital. She calls the village office, and they send her folks who clean her garden, install a railing, fix her windows, bring her groceries or drive her to the bank.

Ed and Margaret Missiaen, both retired and in their late 60s, are Capitol Hill Village members who volunteer. Margaret has cleaned Phinisee's garden. Ed has helped fix her windows.

They're counting on the village to help them when the time comes.

"We like the neighborhood, and we want to be able to stay here as long as we can," Ed says.

Origins date to 2001

Beacon Hill Village in Boston was the first in the movement, created by residents in 2001. It charges annual dues and delivers paid and volunteer help.

The village movement is "consumer-driven and consumer-run," says Judith Willett, Beacon Hill's executive director.

"It's not a social service agency," Wilson says.

Beacon Hill received calls from people across the USA who wanted to create a village in their neighborhoods. This year, it partnered with NCB Capital Impact, a non-profit community development group, to launch the national Village-to-Village Network to help other areas. It is backed by funders such as the MetLife Foundation.

The housing bust also contributed to the growing interest in villages, says Candace Baldwin, co-director of the network.

"A lot of people couldn't sell their homes and move to assisted-living," she says.

Baby Boomers who are dealing with the financial burden and emotional guilt of putting their parents in retirement homes also are driving the movement, Baldwin says.

The village concept gives "peace of mind to children of older adults," says Cynthia Muller, director of strategic investments at NCB Capital Impact.

"I don't think it's the answer," says the AARP's Castaldi, but one in a string of good options.

"We think Boomers will change retirement," she says. "They're getting to the age where they're thinking, 'How do I want it to be for me when I get older?' "

Existing and planned villages

Name	City	State/Region	Status
Ashby Village	Berkeley	CA	Already open
Avenidas Village	Palo Alto	CA	Already open
Concierge Club - ElderHelp of San Diego	San Diego	CA	Already open
San Francisco Village	San Francisco	CA	Already open
Tierrasanta Village of San Diego	San Diego	CA	Already open
WISE & Healthy Aging	Santa Monica	CA	Already open
Washington Park Cares	Denver	CO	Already open
At Home in Greenwich	Greenwich	CT	Already open
Community Caring in Bridgewater, Inc.	Bridgewater	CT	Already open
Staying Put in New Canaan	New Canaan	CT	Already open
Capitol Hill Village	Washington	DC	Already open
Dupont Circle Village	Washington	DC	Already open
Kalorama Village	Washington	DC	Already open
Northwest Neighbors Village	Washington	DC	Already open
Palisades Village	Washington	DC	Already open
Coral Gables @ Home	Coral Gables	FL	Already open
Staying Healthy At Home	Honolulu	HI	Already open
My Own Home	Moscow	ID	Already open
LakeView Village	Chicago	IL	Already open
Lincoln Park Village	Chicago	IL	Already open
North Shore Village	Evanston	IL	Already open
60 Plus Club	Nobleville	IN	Already open
Beacon Hill Village, Inc.	Boston	MA	Already open
Cambridge At Home	Cambridge	MA	Already open
Carleton-Willard at Home	Bedford	MA	Already open
Neighborhood Falmouth, Inc.	North Falmouth	MA	Already open
Vineyard Village at Home	Vineyard Haven	MA	Already open
At Home Chesapeake	Severna Park	MD	Already open
Chevy Chase at Home	Chevy Chase	MD	Already open
HomePorts, Inc.	Chestertown	MD	Already open
Mill City Commons	Minneapolis	MN	Already open
River Bluffs Village	Mendota Heights	MN	Already open
Avalon Village	Chapel Hill	NC	Already open
Midtown Village	Lincoln	NE	Already open
Community Without Walls	Princeton	NJ	Already open
Secure@Home	Princeton	NJ	Already open
Gramatan Village	Bronxville	NY	Already open
Front Desk Florence	Florence	OR	Already open
Berks Encore	Reading	PA	Already open
Crozer Keystone Village	Springfield	PA	Already open
Lancaster Downtowners	Lancaster	PA	Already open
Mt. Lebanon Village	Pittsburgh	PA	Already open
Penn's Village	Philadelphia	PA	Already open
Support Network at Penn National (SNAP)	Fayetteville	PA	Already open
One Call Club Seniors	Knoxville	TN	Already open
AHA At Home in Alexandria	Alexandria	VA	Already open
Clifton Fairfax Station Transition in Place Service (CFS-TIPS)	Clifton	VA	Already open
Mount Vernon At Home	Alexandria	VA	Already open
Supporting Active Independent Lives (SAIL)	Madison	WI	Already open
Staying Put in Port - S-I-P	Portarlington	Victoria Australia	Already open
Evergreen Village	Arkadelphia	AR	In development
Marin Village	Belvedere	CA	In development
the Carmel Foundation	Carmel	CA	In development
Community Senior Services	Claremont	CA	In development
unknown	Kensington	CA	In development
Westchester Playa Village	Los Angeles	CA	In development
Newport Beach	Newport Beach	CA	In development
North Oakland Village	Oakland	CA	In development
Pacifa	Oakland	CA	In development
Sun City Palm Desert	Palm Desert	CA	In development
Scripps Ranch Elder Care Alliance	San Diego	CA	In development
JFCS in San Diego	San Diego	CA	In development
Retired Employees San Diego County-no name yet	San Diego County	CA	In development
Whistle Stop	San Rafel	CA	In development
Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	CA	In development
Home Made Solutions (HMS)	Sausalito	CA	In development
Thousand Oaks	Thousand Oaks	CA	In development
unknown	Ventura	CA	In development
New Era Seniors Inc.	-	CA	In development
NEXT SF	San Francisco	CA	In development
Community Fund of Darien	Darien	CT	In development
West of Hartford@Home	Farmington	CT	In development
East Rock Village	New Haven	CT	In development
Fords Colony Home Owner's Association	Washington DC	DC	In development
Pennsylvania Village East	Washington DC	DC	In development
Dade County	Dade County	FL	In development
BayView Neighbors	St. Augustine	FL	In development
Third Age Generation	Tampa	FL	In development
Village in Alpharetta, GA	Alpharetta	GA	In development
Senior Citizens Inc.	Savannah	GA	In development
No name yet	Streeterville	IL	In development
No name yet	Shelby County	KY	In development
The Andovers Village at Home	Andover	MA	In development
no name	Cambridgeport	MA	In development
Dennis	Dennis	MA	In development
CareBoomer, Inc.	Hopkinton	MA	In development
Stay at Home	Lexington	MA	In development
Needham (COA)-no name yet	Needham	MA	In development
Newton at Home	Newton	MA	In development
Newton/Brookline	Newton/Brookline	MA	In development
Nauset Neighbors	S. Wellfleet	MA	In development
Salem-no name yet	Salem	MA	In development
South Hadley	South Hadley	MA	In development
Brandeis University	Wellesley	MA	In development
Wellesley At Home, Inc.	Wellesley	MA	In development
It takes a Village	Wellesley	MA	In development
Winchester Village	Winchester	MA	In development
Worcester	Worcester	MA	In development
Senior Resources Committee	Baltimore	MD	In development
Partners in Care	Pasadena	MD	In development
No name yet	Brooksville	ME	In development
No name yet	Castine	ME	In development
Peninsula Care	Ellsworth	ME	In development
unknown	Penobscot	ME	In development
Pointers Sustained	Grosse Pointe Farms	MI	In development
Holland	Holland	MI	In development
Huntington Woods, MI	Huntington Woods	MI	In development
Martinez Consulting Group	Lansing	MI	In development
Allen Neighborhood Center	Lansing	MI	In development
Village Neighbor to Neighbor	Detroit	MI	In development
Metropolitan Older Adult Resources	St Louis	MO	In development
Chapel Hill Village Project	Chapel Hill	NC	In development
Foothills Village	columbus	NC	In development
North Carolina (no name yet)	Herdersonville	NC	In development
Community of Care	Cass County	ND	In development
No name yet	Monadnock	NH	In development
No name yet	Nashua	NH	In development
Village Network	Nashua	NH	In development
Monadnock at Home	Rindge	NH	In development
No name yet	Upper Saddle River , NJ	NJ	In development
Santa Fe	Santa Fe	NM	In development
Umbrella of the Capitol District	Albany	NY	In development
No name yet	Albany	NY	In development
Good Neighbors of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill	Brooklyn	NY	In development
Brooklyn	Brooklyn	NY	In development
Canopy of Neighbors, Inc.	Buffalo	NY	In development
Flint Hill Village	Buffalo	NY	In development
No name yet	Centerport	NY	In development
No name yet	Elmira	NY	In development
No name yet	Greenlawn	NY	In development
No name yet	Huntington	NY	In development
Bellport Village	Long Island	NY	In development
Dontmoveaway	Long Island	NY	In development
No name yet	Manhattan	NY	In development
No name yet	Melville	NY	In development
Center for Aging in Place Support	Millwood	NY	In development
Sunset Neighborhood	New Hartford	NY	In development
Neighbors Helping Neighbors	New York	NY	In development
Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Outreach/Hand In Hand	Northport	NY	In development
Corning Area Aging in Place	Painted Post	NY	In development
Pitsford	Pitsford	NY	In development
Hudson Valley Home Matters	Poughkeepsie	NY	In development
Active Living over Fifty Inc.	Pound Ridge	NY	In development
No name yet	Scarsdale	NY	In development
Staten Islanders at Home	Staten Island	NY	In development
Westchester	Westchester	NY	In development
Staying in Place	Woodstock	NY	In development
DeHaven-on-the-Hudson	Yonkers	NY	In development
Cincinnati	Cincinnati	OH	In development
AGING IN PLACE	East Falls	PA	In development
Lewisburg	Lewisburg	PA	In development
Ralston Network	Philadelphia	PA	In development
Chatham Village	Pittsburg	PA	In development
No name yet	Ft. Mill	SC	In development
CWW	Nashville	TN	In development
Nashville	Nashville	TN	In development
Alvin Community College	Alvin	TX	In development
Capital City Village	Austin	TX	In development
St. David's Community Health Foundation	Austin	TX	In development
Brookeland	Brookeland	TX	In development
Transition in Place Services	Fairfax Station	VA	In development
Fords Colony	Williamsburg	VA	In development
Downtown at Home	Burlington	VT	In development
Manchester, VT	Manchester	VT	In development
North East Seattle Together (NEST)	Seattle	WA	In development
Alexian Brothers Senior Ministries	Milwaukee	WI	In development
Aging in Place Australia Pty Ltd	Cairns	Australia	In development
Denmark	Denmark	Australia	In development
Northern Suburb of Sydney	N. Sydney	Australia	In development
Lumina Services	Vancouver	BC	In development
Finland	Espoo/ Helsinki	Finland	In development
Auckland	Auckland	New Zealand	In development

Source: Village to Village Network