Don't want
to leave your neighborhood?

A virtual retirement community could be the answer

BY JUDITH STROM —
Seniors in Minnesota and across the country are taking a new approach to aging in place by forming “virtual retirement communities.” The future could see them take their place alongside traditional "bricks-and-mortar" senior communities.

These non-profit, membership-based organizations negotiate and obtain services and programs for their members that allow them to stay in their homes as they age, which many seniors say they prefer.

In most cases, these organizations are neighborhood-based. Members pay an annual fee to access a range of home-based services that include such things as transportation, meals, social and wellness programs, home maintenance and repair, and technology assistance. Some services are included in the membership fee and others are provided by a network of pre-screened providers at a discounted rate. Often, members can call just one number for any service. In some cases, benefits also include access and transportation to cultural or social events.

A new approach to delivering services

The number of elderly individuals requiring services will increase dramatically over the next two decades, according to a 2001 Harvard University study. At the same time, resources to provide these services are decreasing, both in terms of workers and dollars available.

Consequently, finding a more efficient delivery of services is critical. Aging in place with supportive services is being looked at as one model. Successful aging-in-place programs, the Harvard study stated, "minimize the provision of inappropriate care, and therefore the costs, by offering a range of flexible services and calibrating those services to fit the needs of the individual."

Placing this program within an already existing community and using a community-based nonprofit organzation has several advantages. Seniors get to stay in familiar neighborhoods, near family and friends. Communities benefit economically as seniors use local services and businesses. And the community-based nonprofits are often the organizations with the greatest connection to residents and to the local service network.

Minnesota virtual retirement communities

Currently, there are at least two such communities being formed in Minnesota — one in the northern Dakota County and one in downtown Minneapolis.

Organized and coordinated by DARTS, a service agency in Dakota County for seniors and their families, River Bluffs Village will include the communities of Lilydale, a portion of Mendota Heights, Mendota, and Sunfish Lake.

The organization plans on using a three-tiered cost system with fees ranging from $40-$60 per month depending on the number and types of services desired by members. The three-year pilot project will offer members the convenience of a professional staff to find, contract with, coordinate and possibly create services and program activities that facilitates members living in their homes. The project is being initially funded by a $275,000 grant DARTS received from the Daniels Fund, a New Mexico-based grant program that supports nonprofit organizations.

The agency is targeting 60 members for an initial launch late in 2008, with a goal of 300 members by 2010.

For more information you can email DARTS at info@darts1,org or call 651-1560.

Mill City Commons is taking a similar approach to delivering services to seniors — this time to those who live in downtown Minneapolis condos along the Mississippi River from Hennepin Avenue to 35W. The group started marketing membership to condo owners age 50 or older this fall; memberships will cost between $750 to $950 per year.

A non-profit, Mill City Commons consists of a 10-member volunteer board chaired by Marcia Townley, a condo owner herself. “Most older people want to stay in their homes and there are so many of them,” Townley said in an article in the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. “Our community is new; most residents have lived there for less than 10 years. This idea will appeal to them as most of them are in their 50s and still working.”

The Minneapolis condo-based “virtual retirement community” has the advantage of not needing to provide snow shoveling, lawn work or any outside maintenance in its list of services offered, since that's already handled by residents' buildings. And the downtown location makes it convenient to offer cultural activities, especially with the Guthrie Theatre nearby.

Mill City has formed a partnership with Ecumen, a senior housing and services provider headquartered in Shoreview. For more information on Mill City Commons, call Ecumen at: 651-766-4300.

Other viritual retirement communities possible

According to Kathy Bakkenist, Ecumen’s chief operating officer, Ecumen plans to offer consulting services to other communities that want to set up similar programs for their senior populations.

The Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal reported that Ecumen is already in talks with Bloomington to establish a similar community for seniors, and that the company will market the idea to areas such as Crocus Hill and Highland Park in St. Paul.

The Beacon Hill Village Model

Both Twin Cities’ virtual retirement communities are modeled after one in Boston — Beacon Hill Village, considered to be the model for aging-in-place membership organizations. Formed in 2002, the Beacon Hill organization provides concierge services to members, ranging from rides to a store to in-home care. But the perks go beyond being able to make just one phone call to access vetted services. Members also have access to educational seminars and cultural events. The organization is funded by membership dues, community donations and foundation grants.

Currently 450 Beacon Hill seniors pay an annual fee of $580 for an individual and $850 for a household membership. A special membership program is offered for low-income seniors, who receive a gift certificate to pay for services not included in the membership fee.

There are similar communities in Cambridge, Mass., New Canaan and Greenwich, Conn., Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wisc.

Since most of these virtual retirement communities are rather new, one unanswered question is whether they can succeed outside of upscale communities such as Beacon Hill and whether memberships alone can sustain the operations without outside donations or grants.

Web resources:

Beacon Hill Village, Boston, Mass.
Capitol Hill Village, Washington, D.C.
Staying Put in New Canaan, Conn.
At Home in Greenwich, Conn.
Support for Active Independent Lives ("SAIL"), Madison, Wisc.

(Posted: November 24, 2008)