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Last month, Constance Row, co-founder and president of the Friendship Heights Neighborhood Network (FHNN) — a volunteer-run “village” — received the Debra Levy Humanitarian Award from GROWS, the Grass Roots Organization for the Wellbeing of Seniors.

Debra Levy, for whom the award was named, served the Montgomery County area as a geriatric care manager for more than 30 years before she passed away in 2012.

“It was a special honor to receive an award named for someone who mattered so much in Montgomery County,” Row said in an interview with the Beacon.

The origins of villages

Row, now 80, retired to Friendship Heights because she and her husband had lived there when they were first married. “Our oldest friends [still] live here,” she said.

About six years ago, after her husband’s death, Row, who has a background in managing nonprofits, attended a meeting about establishing a neighborhood “village” — part of a grassroots movement of neighbors helping neighbors who coordinate and provide supportive services for older adults in their community. “I decided what I was seeing was a great opportunity,” she said.

The Villages movement started 20 years ago in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Residents there realized that many older members of their community wanted to stay in their homes as they aged, but needed certain services to make that possible. Members of the community combined their skills to provide such help and hired a concierge to help coordinate everything.

The idea proved successful there, and over the past 20 years has spread throughout the country. Today, more than 300 neighborhood villages have been established nationwide.

Nearly 70 villages exist in the D.C. area alone, providing services such as rides to doctor’s appointments or church, delivering groceries and medications, helping with household tasks, as well as social events, book and movie clubs, and the like.

Putting a team in place

Row put a strong team in place when she started FHNN in 2016. She enlisted former geriatric care manager Jacqueline Lapidus as co-founder and recruited Evan Smith, who currently serves as vice president and treasurer.

They received support in getting up and running from Pazit Aviv, who works for Montgomery County as its “Village coordinator.” Her efforts have helped greatly expand the number and reach of neighborhood villages.

FHNN focuses on helping older residents of nine high-rise residential buildings in Friendship Heights, Maryland. Each building has its own volunteer representative.

Many members themselves volunteer to assist more vulnerable members and share their expertise during enrichment programs.

Most villages charge member households an annual fee, ranging from $20 a year to several hundred dollars, depending on services offered. (Some of the costlier villages waive fees for low-income residents.)

“What most people take advantage of is rides,” Row said. “The care and concern volunteer [drivers] show aren’t something you’d get from a taxi driver.”

The varied services volunteers provide — shopping for people who can’t get out and can’t afford delivery, reading to members with sight impairment, helping members get prescriptions, and assisting with technology — enable its members to age in place.

“Having things your way is the most important value aging in place gives you, and we can provide that for people,” Row said. “You have to have the infrastructure to age in place successfully.”

Real-life impact

Without the village that Row established, Elly Waters, 94, said she might not be living on her own. She is legally blind and hard of hearing, so daily tasks can be a challenge. “I don’t want to disengage, though,” Waters said.

After the death of her husband three years ago, the retired counselor’s needs increased. Although she considered other living options, Waters said she decided to stay in Friendship Heights in large part because of the village’s volunteer network. “FHNN played a role in my decision,” Waters said. “I could count on a degree of support.”

Village volunteers help with chores and transportation but also provide opportunities for social interaction. Waters participates in a regular walking group and attends lectures and smaller events.

“At ice cream socials, I can sit outside and talk to one or two people at a time…I have gotten to know people from other buildings that way,” Waters said. “FHNN has added to my sense that Friendship Heights is a good place to live.”

The sense of community fostered by villages, which, according to Row, offer “a mechanism for fighting social isolation,” is the reason she believes many others are worthy of the recognition she received last month.

“I’m no more deserving than any people in the villages in Montgomery County,” she said. “It’s a team effort, and I did no more than the many people who founded villages all over.”

According to the Washington Area Villages Exchange, an association of local villages, there are currently 61 villages operating in the D.C. metro area. That includes 31 in Suburban Maryland, 18 in Washington, D.C. and 15 in Northern Virginia. Additional villages are in development.

On the following page is a list of operating villages and their website addresses. Contact the village serving your neighborhood if you want to learn more.

If you would like to consider starting a new village in Montgomery County, email pazit.aviv@montgomerycountymd.gov. In D.C., contact the DC Department of Aging at (202) 724-5626. In Northern Virginia, contact your county Area Agency on Aging.

D.C. Villages

• Capitol Hill Village:  www.capitolhillvillage.org
• Cleveland & Woodley Park Village:  www.cwpv.org
• DC Waterfront Village:  dcwaterfrontvillage@gmail.com
• Dupont Circle Village:  www.dupontcirclevillage.net
• East Rock Creek Village:  www.eastrockcreekvillage.com
• Foggy Bottom West End Village:  www.fbwevillage.org
• Georgetown Village:  www.georgetown-village.org
• Glover Park Village:  www.gloverparkvillage.org
• Greater Brookland Intergenerational Village:  emma@brooklandvillage.org
• Kingdom Care Senior Village:  www.kingdomcarevillage.org
• Legacy Collaborative Senior Village Ward 8:  www.legacycollaborative8.org
• Mount Pleasant Village:  www.mountpleasantvillage.org
• Northwest Neighbors Village:  www.nnvdc.org
• Palisades Village:  www.palisadesvillage.org
• Pennsylvania Avenue Village East:  www.pavillageeast.org

Maryland Villages

• Aging Well with Friends of Sandy Spring:   www.agingwellwithfriends.org
• At Home Chesapeake:  www.athomechesapeake.clubexpress.com
• Bannockburn Neighbors Assisting Neighbors:  www.bannockburncommunity.org
• Bethesda Metro Area Village:  www.bmavillage.org
• Bradley Hills Village:  bhv.clubexpress.com
• Burning Tree Village:  www.burningtreevillage.org
• Cabin John:  www.cabinjohn.org
• Cheverly Village:  https://cheverlyvillage.helpfulvillage.com
• Chevy Chase At Home:  www.chevychaseathome.org
• East County Village Seniors:  www.eastcountyvillageseniors.org
• Friendship Heights Neighbors Network:  www.fhneighbors.org
• Greater Stonegate Village:  www.greaterstonegatevillage.org
• Helping Hands University Park:  HHUniversityPark@gmail.com
• Hyattsville Aging in Place:  www.hyattsvilleaginginplace.org
• King Farm Neighbors Village:  kfnvinfo@gmail.com
• Little Falls Village: littlefallsvillage.org
• Manor Connections:  www.manorconnections.org
• Mill Creek Village:  www.millcreekvillage.org
• Muslim Community Center:  www.mccmd.org
• Neighbors Helping Neighbors of College Park:  www.NHN-CP.org
• North Bethesda Village:  www.northbethesdavillage.org
• North Chevy Chase Connections:  www.northchevychaseconnections.org
• Olney Home for Life:  www.olneyhomeforlife.org
• Parkside Village:  www.parksidevillagemd.org
• Potomac Community Village:  www.potomaccommunityvillage.org
• Silver Spring Village:  www.silverspringvillage.org
• Somerset Helping Hand Senior Village:  www.townofsomerset.com
• Takoma Park: Village of Takoma Park:  www.villageoftakomapark.com
• Village at Kentlands & Lakelands:  www.villagekentlandslakelands.org
• Villages of Kensington:  www.villagesofkensingtonmd.org
• Wyngate and Maplewood Neighbors Helping Neighbors (WNHN): www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/731244/

Virginia Villages

• 22202 Neighbors United (22202 NU): www.arcaonline.org/current-arca-projects/arlington-villages
• Aging in Crownleigh Community Association Village:  (703) 503-0108
• Arlington Neighborhood Village:  www.arlnvil.org
• At Home in Alexandria:  www.athomeinalexandria.org
• Herndon Village Network:  www.herndonvillagenetwork.org
• Kings Park West Neighborhood Assist:  wallbds@gmail.com
• Lake Barcroft Village:  www.lakebarcroftvillage.org
• Lake of the Woods, Living Independently in Our Community (LOWLINC): www.lowlinc.org
• McLean Community Village Association:  www.McLeanCVA.org
• Mount Vernon at Home:  www.mountvernonathome.org
• Reston for a Lifetime:  www.restonforalifetime.org
• Reston Useful Services Exchange:  www.restonuse.org
• Rutherford Neighbor to Neighbor:  Heidi.garvis@gmail.com
• Spring Hill Community Village:  peppi114@yahoo.com
• Village Drive Village:  www.villagedrivevillage.org