Neighbors Helping Neighbors: Corrales’ Village in the Village Program Empowers Seniors

Published March 8th, 2024 at 4:08 pm, Last Updated March 8th, 2024 at 9:42 pm

Neighbors Helping Neighbors is a monthly column highlighting the work of volunteers and services offered at Village in the Village. 

In the Village of Corrales, a nonprofit organization of dedicated volunteers supports seniors and compassionately promotes their independence. 

The Village in the Village (ViV) operates solely through volunteer efforts and membership fees. Dedicated to fostering community and supporting elderly neighbors, its mission centers on prioritizing their well-being and enabling them to age in place.

Through ViV, Nancy Boswell, 84, finds not just assistance, but a lifeline to independence and community. 

“Village in the Village is a godsend and a lifesaver,” said Boswell. 

She has been a resident of Corrales since 1969. Before her retirement, she worked as a middle school teacher for ten years. She followed up her teaching career with some light-hearted work as a clown.

According to Boswell, she first learned about the village movement group while watching the national news on television before the ViV began. After watching, she thought to herself, “Man alive, that’s where I need to be.”

Like many of the recipients who receive assistance, Boswell began her journey with ViV as a volunteer. However, she eventually had to stop volunteering when she could no longer drive.

As a volunteer, one of the people she gave services to was former Corrales municipal judge, Martha Cushing and the wife of the Corrales Comment founder, Jeff Radford. 

Pay it forward embodies the core value the organization strives to uphold. The idea is that volunteers will help ensure that ViV stays around to support them if they ever need services in the future.

ViV is founded upon the grassroots village movement that originated in a Boston neighborhood in 2002. Today, this movement has expanded into a nationwide network of almost 300 “Villages” dedicated to supporting independent living at home. These Villages offer a variety of resources including social events, health activities, and volunteer assistance with transportation and technology coaching.

ViV provides two membership options — supporting and full memberships.

Supporting membership costs $200 annually for individuals and $225 for households. Full membership, priced at $400 per year for individuals and $475 for households, offers access to regular volunteer services and support, facilitated through a coordinated system linking members with trained and screened volunteers.

Once a volunteer gets their background check completed, they can provide a wide variety of services to seniors in need, including but not limited to — transportation to and from healthcare appointments, shopping, personal errands such as shopping, or going to the bank. 

Additionally, volunteers assist seniors with light housekeeping, home maintenance, troubleshooting electronic equipment, and provide companionship through scheduled phone calls, walks, or outings to coffee shops for casual conversations.

“It’s what we do, nothing better in my life,” said Joseph Henderson, a Village in the Village volunteer, board member and director of fundraising. “This is what I’m here for until I’m gone, I’m going to give them my days.”

Boswell said she mostly uses ViV services when she needs them for errands. However, she expressed gratitude for the assistance provided by Henderson and another volunteer when they helped rearrange her house to accommodate a recliner she purchased.

According to her, if any seniors in Corrales are hesitant to use the service, “I’ll give them the number and tell them about it, that it’s a wonderful thing.”

“It keeps a lot of people going and in their homes,” Boswell said.  “That’s the key, you always want to go home.”