Opportunities for community and support as we age are major benefits available to members of Villages. The scope and value of Village participation means different things to each of us. 

Read about Villager Andrea Cameron, interviewed by Board member Iris Nicholson, enjoying current connections and foreseeing potential assistance from GNV.

“I moved to Fremont in 1975. I'm from Minnesota, where I taught English and speech.  I finished a Masters Degree about the same time my son graduated from high school, and I worked in the Fremont Unified School District for 25 years.”

The mission of Villages to provide social networks and practical support resonates with Andrea. “I read about the Village Movement a long time ago - the Boston program - before it spread to other communities. I don't recall how I heard about GNV, but I went to a program at Niles Discovery Church.  My husband is up and about, but with his heart issues, he has limitations. My husband and I are out here in California by ourselves.” (Andrea is the youngest of three siblings at 78 years of age. Her sister who's 93 and brother 87 live far away.)

Andrea joined the GNV Needlework Group and has made a new friend in Barbara King, the group leader. “Barbara is: Energetic. Cheerful. Knowledgeable. Makes you feel at ease.” Participation in the Group has led to discoveries. “It's a good way to learn something new.  Barbara knows lots of different needlework techniques - crochet, knitting, quilting. I read about Twiddlemuffs on a website. They're fun to make and useful for those with Alzheimer's.  They're simple knitting, and I can knit while I watch TV.”

Andrea and her husband are paid members of GNV, committing to the vision of the Village in the inaugural year of membership. “I'd like to see more people join the Village - then we could organize more activities. It would be great to have a group for outings, especially since my husband isn't so active. It’s friendly - a good place. The Village is a really, really good idea.”

Join us! Explore how GNV can be your purposeful and powerful space for learning, laughter, and courage as we take on the future.

 

The month-long service provision pilot project will take place in September. In August GNV volunteers learned how to use our dispatch software to take a member service request. Many thanks to our six GNV pilot project members who are helping our dispatchers to practice taking their requests and working through the process of matching that request with one of 14 volunteers, or providing a referral to a service provider. See www.greaternilesvillage.org for scheduled meetings.

GNV is actively inviting member volunteers to share their skills.  Share your “helping hands” to provide practical support in areas such as (but not limited to) household helpers, shopping-trip assistants, dog walkers, furnace filter changers, friendly visitors, de-clutterers, garage cleaners, drivers.

 

 

Click here to volunteer!

 

Meet Villagers who share your passions. GNV is convening social networks around activities and interests, making connections that help us age successfully in our community.

 

 

Our next book selection is nonfiction rather than our usual fiction. Kathy Steele-Sabo will lead a discussion of Evicted by Matthew Desmond. This is a sobering look at poverty and profit in America. This Pulitzer Prize winning work was rated by the New York Times as one of the top ten books of 2016. All are welcome to attend, even if you haven’t read the book.

 

The Count worked his charm as 11 readers gathered at the Niles Library on August 2, the largest group ever! Villager Patty Allen led a thoughtful and encompassing discussion of A Gentleman from Moscow by Amor Towles.

 

 

We will meet in one of the very nice lower level classrooms at the Corpus Christi Parish Center to share our projects and fellowship.

 

Recently, the knitters in our group have established a relationship with the Fremont Center of the Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay (ASEB). The Center provides a variety of services including a Montessori style program for Aging and Dementia patients. Not only will GNV  be able to continue to provide their clients with completed Twiddlemuffs, but we will also  provide them with  the supplies needed to complete a muff.  Clients attending their daily programs who are still able to do needlework can then finish the muffs for themselves and others.