Vintage people

We are all aging. In 2024, the average life expectancy for U.S. citizens is 79.25 years. But In 1954, it was only 68.90 years. Unfortunately, this upward trend of mass longevity has produced some age-based discrimination, (as seen recently in attacks on the President’s capability). But on the good side of this trend, many groups are working to transform the aging landscape.
Several ambassador meetings have been held recently to discuss the Sankofa Elders Project, community outreach collaborations between SAGE (Sistahs Aging with Grace & Elegance); the California Black Women’s Health Project; and Aging While Black.
The July meeting spotlighted the Pasadena Village.
“We’re not village people, we’re vintage people,” said Pasadena Village resident Lora Herrington Pride, 85, who has been a member of the Village since 2018.
Members stay in their own homes, as the Village is not a residential facility, but a network of seniors who meet occasionally for membership meetings, support groups and activities.
The Village connects its members to existing, local senior services. It is not so much a place as it is a concept. It is a matter of aging in community with others.
“I’m in a Sassy Sisters support group,” Pride smiled. A retired teacher who raised five children, she became a loner after retirement.
“From 7 o’clock in the morning to 11 o’clock at night, I sat in front of the television,” she said. “Are you familiar with the song by Peggy Lee ‘Is That All There Is?’ Well the Village made me realize that’s not all there is.”
Pride got involved in the Village and told the meeting organizers it made all the difference.
“I came to life again,” she said. “I love people. I come to life around people. I go underground when I’m by myself.”
Pride got married again at age 62. She has a blog on the Village where she’s written about the experiences she’s had with racism during her life. She’s also in a poetry group and on the welcoming committee.
“Like I tell the people at my church, it ain’t over ‘till it’s over,” she said. “I brag about my age and I’m glad that God has let me stay on this earth to get to be this old.”
There are 40 member villages in the country, with hundreds more underway, designed to provide intentional systems of support to enhance the life of elders.
“We are honoring elderhood in an intergenerational dialogue,” said SAGE member Carlene A. Davis. “We cannot and should not do aging alone.”
Davis sees the Sankofa Elders Project as an intergenerational experience. It takes its name from the Sankofa bird, an important symbol of the Ghanaian philosophy of remembering the past to shape the future. In this case, embracing, building upon and carrying forward the combined wisdom and power of elders.
The project’s website notes an African proverb: “A village without elders is like a well without water,” and notes the value of seniors.
Concurrently, the Pasadena Village describes itself on its website as a community of older adults from the greater Pasadena area who have joined together to help each other as they navigate the challenges and opportunities of aging.
“We believe we can have a better experience of aging when we know we can rely on each other for support, for resources and for friendship,” it states.
Davis hopes the Project can ultimately create a Village in South Los Angeles.
“We are developing a community manifesto for the care and belonging of Black elders,” Davis said, explaining that she is gathering information to create a platform. “…to advocate for equitable resources to support the health, care and wellbeing of elders and those who care for them.”
Co-housing in “villages” is a Danish concept of a group of people coming together intentionally to design, build and occupy a community. But the housing shortage being what it is in U.S. cities, that wasn’t entirely viable.
In Boston, the Beacon Hill Village was formed to enable elders to stay in their own homes as a community for as long as possible. The Pasadena group learned of that idea and there is also another village that has been formed in West Los Angeles.
“What can we create that is sustainable that might support generations to come?” Davis asked. “My community needs to do something like this.”
Pasadena Village members want to keep their lives interesting and want to do more than sit on the couch watching TV.
Villages do not invent services, but connect people to existing services. Social support is health-enriching. Services make members’ lives worth living and they get to meet and establish friendships with a lot of different people, according to Pride and member Dick Meyers.
“I moved to California in March of 2018,” said Meyers, a Texan who is now on the Board of Directors for the Pasadena Village. “I didn’t have a single friend here when I moved here.”
Meyers moved in with his youngest son and his family, but was still lonely.
“I walked around the streets here looking like I was homeless for a while,” he said. “Then I found out about the Village. How I like to describe the village is a place, a community of people who are wise enough to get old.”
“What it does is it gives me the opportunity to stay engaged and meet people I would not ordinarily meet,” Meyers added. “I feel like you join the village because you belong to something and that’s really the big difference for me.”
Davis is recruiting ambassadors interested in the Sankofa Elders Project and perhaps establishing a village in South L.A.
“This kind of ideal community is essentially a village,” she said, “We are going to talk about the visions, the principals, the practices and the policies.”
Those under 55 are also highly sought after to bring a local village to life by volunteering their skill sets. From developing marketing materials, to walking dogs, to helping with technology, to driving members to meetings, or serving on the Board, help is welcomed.
“It truly is an intergenerational opportunity,” Davis said, noting later that the meeting evaluations showed there was definitely an appetite to learn more about the project and a prospective South LA village. “Nearly 40 percent of those who completed the evaluations are interested in learning more about the concept.”
For more information, visit sankofastories.com.