How a Columbus volunteer network is helping older adults around the house

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A Columbus nonprofit group is providing older adults with a network of volunteers and resources to assist with transportation and small jobs around the house.

The goal of Village Connections is to help aging residents remain in their homes as long as possible. Through "The Village Movement," it creates networks for volunteers and older people who share services and friendship.

The network includes "villages" in five Columbus neighborhoods: Brewery District, Downtown, German Village, Merion Village and Schumacher Place. On Monday, Columbus City Council approved funds for four of the villages, with the fifth set to be approved for funding next week, for a total of $100,000.

"Each one has unique programming that is geared toward the community where they serve," Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer said. "But the village networks all have one common goal, and that is to enable older adults to age in place successfully."

Some older adults are no longer able to do certain household work on their own. This is the type of work the villages help with, Day-Achauer said. On average, members have benefited from $1,500 worth of service a month, according to the council.

"We have in a lot of older neighborhoods, older adults who are getting code violations because their front door or their yard doesn't meet code anymore," Day-Achauer said. "And they're not able, they either are not physically able to do the work or they don't have the resources to hire someone."

Day-Achauer provided an example.

"When you hit, like, 80, you're not likely to climb up on a ladder to clean out your gutter," Day-Achauer said. "Some of our villages have volunteers who show up to do that kind of yard work."

The villages also give participants a chance to connect with each other. In June, Village Connections has a walking club, social hour at Ohio Brewing Company, euchre club and more.

Melissa Ward, who works with one of the villages, said the work is important because it can keep residents from being prematurely put into care facilities.

"There's a lot of centralized programming throughout the city, county and state, but smaller programs that help with day-to-day needs are not as common," Ward said. "So, we as villages will step in and kind of fill that gap, especially to be able to prevent people from being placed in assisted living or nursing home care earlier than they need to be."

Day-Achauer said improving life for older adults is a goal that most can get behind.

"It's important to enable our adults to age in place successfully," Day-Achauer said. "It improves the quality of their life, and don't we all want our loved ones to have a good quality of life as they get older?"

Over 80% of participants reported being satisfied with the villages, according to Ward. She said satisfaction with the program is not exclusive to recipients of services but extends to volunteers.

"Everyone that we've surveyed has said they want to continue to be involved," Ward said. "Our volunteers also really love the program."

To learn more about local networks of villages, visit the Central Ohio Area Agency On Aging website, which has contact information and websites for each village.