Our Beginnings
Once upon a time - well 2014 to be semi-exact, we had a light bulb moment, Judy Macias attended the ground-breaking ceremony for the new senior campus/housing in Half Moon Bay. It was ideal, close to transportation, walking distance to Main Street and services, small enough to manage when you were old and frail.
"When I learned that middle class people like me were not eligible for this type of "affordable" housing, I asked myself "how will I -- and people like me - manage when we are no longer able to drive and have no means of getting to health care visits, shopping, etc.? Many of us live in 2-story houses that are too big, too expensive to heat and maintain. Public transportation is very limited and may be too far away to access."
Then a couple of people were talking after Pilates Class at our gym in Princeton and the question of housing and transportation came up. The problem/What can we do? This evolved into a community task force worked for two years researching and planning, finally discovering the national village movement in 2014. Judy attended the Village Network Conference in St. Louis in 2014 and saw that it was a good fit. www.vtvnetwork.org.
We launched The Village of the Coastside Oct. 1, 2016 with this Mission, to promote a vibrant community and a healthy quality of life with neighbors helping neighbors. And to provide social connections, access to services, learning opportunities and activities that enhance wellness while living in a community we love.
Here's some of what we've done since then
- Sponsored over 250 social cultural, fitness & educational events & programs.
- Created and launched a website, plus Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Grown to a membership of 80
people have volunteered to assist in our Services Assistance program;
they have provided services like transportation, in-home assistance, and
tech support clocking in over 150 service hours.
- Generated and published an Events Calendar with a range of VOTC and other local events.
- Sponsored
conversations about housing opportunities, Cannibis for health,
emergency preparedness, Old Time Radio, Reverse Mortages, Financial and
Tax Strategies.
Hosted get-together events like Village Coffee Break,
Happy Hour and Coastside Dining Club - taking advantage of great
Coastside venues and menus.
- Arranged Hikes/Concert.
How We Did It
As a strictly member powered organization we have accomplished much in a short time through our fifteen volunteers including an 5 member Management Committee and committees managing all aspects of governance: finance - legal - member recruitment - planning events and programs - providing services - fundraising - database management - communications.