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Ashby Village Turns Five

by Karin Evans


Based on an Interview with Ashby Village
Co-Founder Pat Sussman and

Board Member Steve Lustig

How It All Started

On a Sunday morning in 2006, Pat Sussman picked up The New York Times and read a story that was about to change her life—and not only her life, but the lives of her family, neighbors, and hundreds of soon-to-be friends she hadn’t even met yet.

Reading the article with excitement, Pat learned that in Boston a group of older people, many of them retired academics, had formed an organization called the Beacon Hill Village. The goal was to help each other stay independent, and in their own homes, as long as possible. Having worked as a healthcare administrator, hospice director, and staff and board member of Lifelong Medical Care, Pat knew how challenging it could be for older people to stay socially connected, remain in their homes, get the help they might need, and make their own decisions. She thought about what she wanted in her own later years—to remain active and involved, to be in charge of her own life, and when the time came, “go out feet first, as my husband Peter puts it.”

 
Pat convinces her good friend Shirley to come along for the adventure

The Beacon Village idea of joining together and choosing how to grow older was exactly what was needed, she decided. Pat called up her old friend Shirley Haberfeld, an educational psychologist. “Let’s start a village,” she said. Shirley, had just gone through a frustrating time of trying to find resources, in case her mother moved here from the midwest.  Aside from lack of services, it was clear there was no coordination between the service providers who did exist. But, where to begin? 

 

Pat laughs as she thinks back. “It was a little like, ‘Let’s make a play.’ My husband Peter said, let’s send something out to the neighbors and see if anyone is interested. He sent an email and there was dead silence.” But Shirley and Pat share a trait: Once they get an idea, they don’t give up. “We knew a lot of people,” Pat says, and Berkeley is blessed with some extraordinary talent.  We first met in Shirley’s living room with a small group of women asking the question “What were your experiences with your parent’s aging and how do you want to age.”  Everyone wanted to remain in the community. They began to make calls. “We met with people in the community to ask, ‘Does this sound like a good idea?’ ‘What do you think?’”

  
Ashby Village is born...

In 2006 there were few villages, but so many people had read the Times article they inundated Beacon Hill with calls – overwhelmed, Beacon Hill published a how-to manual. “We each donated some money, bought the manual, divided it up into sections, and each read a chapter” and reported to the group.  We talked and talked about a name and decided, because we were thinking small, to name it Ashby Village, inspired by their neighborhood, the Elmwood 94705 zip code, bordering Ashby Avenue. Our village would encompass the 94705 and 94613.


Meetings continued. Shirley and Pat spread the word and attracted some important early advocates. Andrew (Andy) Scharlach, director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Advanced Study of Aging Services, who had done extensive study on aging-friendly communities, became a supporter and subsequent evaluator of several California villages. So did Marty Lynch, CEO/Executive Director of LifeLong Medical Care, and Avi Rose, Executive Director of Jewish Family & Children’s Services.

 
Ashby Village joins the "longevity revolution"

Then along came Theodore (Ted) Ted Roszak, author of The Making of an Elder Culture and one of the world’s most prominent social scientists. “He brought enormous dedication and enthusiasm to Ashby Village,” says Pat. He also encouraged the expansion of the village beyond the original territory of the Elmwood and some of North Oakland into North Berkeley. (Ashby Village now covers more than ten zip codes.) Roszak, who died in 2011, wrote in his book, "As the longevity revolution unfolds, senior villages will become one of the distinctive social inventions of our timea project that can touch life’s later years with nobility and intellectual excitement.” High energy and enthusiasm inspired many more meetings with lots of talk and time in Shirley’s kitchen, as a group of early supporters gathered, some of whom agreed to be on the founding board.


Finding a Home 
 

Ashby Village found a home when the First Congregational Church of Berkeley provided office space in their Durant House.  Across from the Berkeley City Club on Durant and two blocks from the University of California campus, it had over the years been a place that housed many start-up community-based organizations, including Alzheimers Services of the East Bay.  The Board decided to hire an interim executive director – a consultant who could pull together everything necessary for starting an office.  In March 2010 Janice Brewer joined the village as the Interim Executive Director the first paid employee.

 
Executive Director Andy Gaines comes on board

 

After a nationwide search, the fledgling village hired Andy Gaines as executive director.  Pat explains “This would not have happened without the group of people in the community who believed in the village model and what we were trying to accomplish in Berkeley.  They provided the money for start-up.”


On July 1, 2010, Pat Sussman looked up at the building on Durant and saw a sign in the Window:  ASHBY VILLAGE. “I burst into tears,” says Pat. Shirley and her husband Bob Allegrotti got busy weeding the garden. “We had given birth to something and we had no idea we were pregnant,” quipped Shirley.

 

The Early Days 

 

Ashby Village began with 85 dues-paying members, and an eager group of volunteers, who were vetted and trained to help where needed.  A consultant, Tami Blaj, who had been directing volunteers at hospice was hired to develop the volunteer program, interview the first crop, and provide training. The biggest request by far was “rides, rides, rides,” and home repairs. A system was put in place to match requests with volunteers.

Andy Gaines’s file drawer began to fill with thank-you notes—for run of the mill services—a little box hauling, dog walking, paper sorting--but also thanks for some unusual services. Member Joan Cole expressed her great appreciation for a Village volunteer who helped her husband Bob Wendlinger complete a memoir, which he longed to do before he died. Numerous rides to medical appointments were provided, and soon help was being provided by Med-Pals—Ashby Village volunteers who accompany members to medical appointments and help them negotiate the complexities of a visit with a physician. Gardens were spruced up, hospital vigils kept, batteries replaced, furniture repaired. 

 
We're a Community

But the biggest gift of all, many members said, were the gifts of friendship, the experience of being part of a community—part of a village. Volunteer Jimmy Baker, Jr., for instance, spent a lot of time not only helping out where he could, but just visiting and checking in with people who were on their own. To hear him tell it, he got more out of it than they did. Other volunteers echoed his feelings

.

As Ashby Village entered its second full year of operation, original Village members renewed at the rate of 95 Percent. The membership doubled, to nearly 200 members. More volunteers signed up. In a short time Ashby Village had become not only a reality, but one of the fastest growing villages in the U.S. The focus now turned from start-up to sustainability—how to grow, serve the membership, and stay financially viable. The village had started out with the highest dues in the country, on the theory that it was better to charge what was needed than to underestimate – as so many villages had - and have to go back to members and ask for additional fees. Now it became clear that sources of revenue in addition to member dues were needed.


Steve Lustig, a retired Associate Vice Chancellor from UC Berkeley who had run an elder care program at the University , and had been deeply involved in the idea of community and aging, found a new calling at Ashby Village. “It gave me the feeling that I could still contribute.” He went to work on strategic planning and sustainability. 

 

As he spent time with members, Steve noted a subtle shift. Although people might have joined at first because of a fear of aging or a desire for services, what was keeping many in the village was a sense of community, the people-to-people relationships. “It wasn’t about porch railings so much as friendship,” says Steve.

 

Growing Up, Growing Bigger 

 

In 2011 the Archstone Foundation selected Ashby Village as one of nine promising California villages to receive a $50,000 grant each year, to learn about the different models of villages and what made them successful or not. When the three-year grant had been completed, Archstone reported, “Ashby Village is one of the best village organizations our foundation has supported.”  

 

By 2012, membership was continuing to grow, as was the number of volunteers and services provided, and the Ashby Village staff had two more staff members -  Program Manager, Andrea Mok, and Volunteer & Operations Manager, Pat Carvalho.


In its third and fourth years, Ashby Village continued to attract members, volunteers, and extraordinary talent—Andra Lichtenstein, for example, who came with an impressive 40-year background in finance and fund development, and now serves as the board president; Beth Burnside, who retired from her position as a Vice Chancellor at UC Berkeley took on heading up the village’s Neighborhood Group Council. The Board started an It Takes A Village Membership Fund to provide subsidized memberships.

Here We are on Our Fifth Anniversary


As Ashby Village marks its fifth anniversary on July 1, the village has grown to 340 members and 350 volunteers (one of out of three volunteers is also a member). In 2014, volunteers provided more than 3,000 services, from picking up groceries, to de-cluttering storage spaces, to just providing a neighborly visit.


A Town Hall celebration on June 14, held at the Northbrae Community Church, marked the occasion of Ashby Village's celebration of its Fifth Anniversary. Close to 200 members, volunteers, supporters, and guests joined to celebrate the anniversary of Ashby Village. “When it was time to honor the two intrepid women who had started it all, Executive Director Andy Gaines said, “We thought long and hard about the best way to honor Pat and Shirley—not just a plaque on the wall, but something we hope will continually affirm how grateful we are to them.”

 

With that, the creation of the Ashby Village Founders Fund was announced, with the goal of providing subsidies through the “It Takes a Village” program, so that many in our community who are desperately in need of the services Ashby Village provides, but who can’t afford the fees, can be served. Ten percent of every individual donation from now on will go to the Founders Fund, to ensure that the membership reflects the communities in which we live.


The village spirit was joyfully evident at the event, with neighbors greeting neighbors, volunteers meeting members, and members and volunteers both chatting about new ways to support the Village. By the next day, an anonymous member stepped forward to offer a gift of $25,000 so that the Village can hire a long-needed Licensed Clinical Social Worker part-time.


Mayor Tom Bates and Senator Loni Hancock came, and the Mayor issued a proclamation: …”in recognition of and gratitude for the integral role Ashby Village plays in the lives of the older members of the greater Berkeley community.”


At the five-year mark, the vision for Ashby Village was stronger than ever. 

 

Gratitude and Leadership

 

The letters of thanks from members continue to roll in. “We are grateful for you, all your hard, loving, caring work, encouraging us, enabling us, making us feel like a family, making us smile and laugh, and feel happy about our lives!” was how member Audre Newman summed it up. The volunteers, too, say how much they have gained. There are more and varied social activities—potlucks, yoga class, hiking groups, lunches, special interest groups, mah jong, village-wide happy hours and potlucks, and last year marked the first Ashby Village Photography Show.


Today, Ashby Village is recognized as a national leader of the Village Movement, clearly an idea whose time has come. “People now come to us to ask how we are doing it,” says Pat. As the village grows, it has to meet new challenges. The founding board has been restructured as a governing board, and committees have been formed to ensure that the village continues to fulfill its mission. There’s also a move to expand the ways that technology can help members. As a “virtual village,” staying personally connected while bringing in new members through effective outreach is crucial. A Social Care Initiative is looking at ways to serve members who are frail. With the recent donation it is hoped that a social worker will be hired by late summer.

 
Looking Ahead 
 

By the year 2020, it’s estimated that one in five residents of Berkeley will be over the age of 65. One idea for the future is to share the generosity of Ashby Village’s volunteers. Many have expressed the desire to engage even more, offering help to the greater community that surrounds Ashby Village.


“I would never have guessed when we started that we would be here today, a sophisticated organization that has drawn in amazing people and is one of the leading villages in the country,” says Pat. Her vision now is to see Ashby Village totally stable, with money in the bank. That could support the vision of creating a more diverse socio-economic and ethnic membership.

  
“I’d like to know that when someone says Ashby Village everyone knows who we are” says Pat. “Sometimes I think we are the best kept secret in town.” And, she would like Ashby Village to have a say in social policy outside the village, outside the Bay Area, right up to the national level. Pat was recently appointed secretary of the Board of the Village to Village Network, the national organization that includes more than 200 villages across the country, and Steve Lustig is now on the National Planning Committee of that organization. There are now 165 active villages in 42 states and 120 more in development. 
 

Paying It Forward Pays Off  

 

As the fifth anniversary of her dream rolled around, Pat did something she’d never done before. She phoned for some help. A drawer needed fixing, and a wonderful volunteer named Luciano – a retired academic - showed up with tools and a smile. Steve, too, made his first call. “Our fence was falling down in back. The man who showed up to fix it was a retired professor from Berkeley City College. Those are the kind of people we attract.”


“Ashby Village is maturing as an organization, growing wiser as it grows older,” says Steve. Perhaps most important, the feelings of connection and support among the members continue to grow and new friendships are formed at every gathering. And that’s the most crucial goal, the founders say—keeping the soul in Ashby Village. “That’s why we are all here,” says Steve, “My optimism is being supported.”

Thinking back to the early days, Pat recalled a favorite line of hers spoken by Ashby Village member Joan Cole: “I want this to be here when my children grow old.”  

 

A Town Hall celebration on June 14, 2015, held at the Northbrae Community Church, marked the occasion. Close to 200 members, volunteers, supporters, and guests joined to celebrate the anniversary of Ashby Village. “When it was time to honor the two intrepid women who had started it all, Executive Director Andy Gaines said, “We thought long and hard about the best way to honor Pat and Shirley—not just a plaque on the wall, but something we hope will continually affirm how grateful we are to them.”

 

 

With that, the creation of the Ashby Village Founders Fund was announced, with the goal of providing subsidies through the “It Takes a Village” program, so that many in our community who are desperately in need of the services Ashby Village provides, but who can’t afford the fees, can be served. Ten percent of every individual donation from now on will go to the Founders Fund, to ensure that the membership reflects the communities in which we live.


The village spirit was joyfully evident at the event, with neighbors greeting neighbors, volunteers meeting members, and members and volunteers both chatting about new ways to support the Village. By the next day, an anonymous member stepped forward to offer a gift of $25,000 so that the Village can hire a long-needed Licensed Clinical Social Worker part-time.


Mayor Tom Bates and Senator Loni Hancock came, and the Mayor issued a proclamation: …”in recognition of and gratitude for the integral role Ashby Village plays in the lives of the older members of the greater Berkeley community.”

 

At the five-year mark, the vision for Ashby Village was stronger than ever.




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