During her husband’s presidency Hillary Clinton helped popularize the slogan “It takes a village to raise a child.”
The idea is that it takes many people — parents, teachers, churches, neighbors, etc. — to provide all the safety, guidance, supervision, activity and inspiration that goes into raising a healthy child.
As it turns out, the same kind of village can be key to supporting people at the other end of their life. Villages that have been created in some other parts of the country — and that a group of local residents would like to see in Lawrence — would provide the kind of help that older people need to safely and happily continue to live in their own homes.
A meeting has been set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the East Lawrence Recreation Center to discuss the possibility of working with the Village to Village Network to create a support system for people who need a little help with yard work, transportation or other aspects of maintaining a home. The idea is to pair such residents with volunteers or affordable workers who can help them perform tasks they can’t handle on their own.
Although the villages vary widely according to the individual needs of their members, most have executive directors and charge membership fees to finance their operation. The villages oversee volunteer helpers, as well as a network of plumbers, electricians and other workers who are recommended after being prescreened to make sure their services are reliable and reasonably priced. Thursday’s meeting is intended to gauge the interest in forming a village east of Massachusetts in Lawrence, including North Lawrence.
It’s an interesting and challenging concept, although it’s too bad this kind of neighbors-helping-neighbors model doesn’t just evolve naturally in a place like Lawrence. While the efforts of local residents to establish a new “village” are laudable, we also wonder whether organizers might be able to work with an existing social service agency, such as the Roger Hill Volunteer Center or Douglas County Senior Services, rather than creating a new agency with its own expenses.
Whatever form this idea eventually takes, we wish these residents well. Most people are happier staying in their own homes, and it is far less expensive than more structured settings that often involve government subsidies. These residents deserve applause for their efforts to plan ahead and create a system that will allow them to have greater control over their own living situation as they age.
Comments
cato_the_elder 10 months, 1 week ago
Children should be raised by their own families, not by their "village."
"It takes a village to raise a child" is one of the most patent examples of socialist practice ever spawned. If you're a socialist, fine. If, however, you oppose socialism in all its forms as a blatant deprivation of human liberty, then you owe it to yourself to understand what this seemingly harmless catch-phrase really means.
Cai 10 months, 1 week ago
Yes, parents should be primarily responsible for their children's upbringing. And, that responsibility is getting passed off to 'society' more and more and we've gone too far that direction.
BUT, the parents can be the best most awesome thing ever; the child will still need peers of a decent ish influence, teachers that are capable and intelligent, and people that are around to provide other services, such as medical care.
If you think none of these people have any effect on your child beyond who and what the parents are, you need a reality check.
just_another_bozo_on_this_bus 10 months, 1 week ago
That's absolutely idiotic, cato. Unless you raise your kid on a desert island, the community you live in is always at least partially responsible for raising your kids.
We're social creatures, and even though you feel the need to pull out the garlic and wooden stakes anytime anything resembling the word "socialist" is mentioned, it's just a fact of being human.
headdoctor 10 months, 1 week ago
Cato is just another example of those who want to crush Socialism but may not even understand what it is. Especially since those like him get all cranky if someone threatens their piece of the Socialist pie that they gorge themselves on daily.
cato_the_elder 10 months, 1 week ago
I've never eaten "socialist pie," but understand that your typical socialist class envy makes you think that your piece of the pie isn't big enough.
cato_the_elder 10 months, 1 week ago
No one was ever "partially responsible" for raising my children other than my spouse and I.
The notion that anyone else was is truly idiotic.
Crazy_Larry 10 months, 1 week ago
Are you going to home-school your children then? Maintain the infrastructure that provides fresh water and transportation? Grow your own food? Medical care? Patrol the streets, that you build and maintain, to ensure the criminal element doesn't harm your children? Provide entertainment and thought provoking discussion? One thing I'm absolutely positive of is that you will teach your children to hate. You should change your moniker to 'cato_the_hateful_bigot'
Paul R. Getto 10 months, 1 week ago
So you reject 60+ million years of adaptation, do ye? We are social animals. That's why we call extreme loners sociopaths.
sunflower-voter 10 months, 1 week ago
There's going to be a crowd in the East Lawrence Recreation Center on Thursday night. Better plan on getting there early.
Larrytown 10 months, 1 week ago
Couldn't agree more in that it does take a village to raise a child. The better the support system (i.e. teachers, coaches, especially family, etc.)...the better the chance the kid benefits.
LesBlevins 10 months, 1 week ago
The concept of village and community is fundamental to human survival. Witness today the destruction of our food and fuel supplies that are both going up in price to the point where only the richest will have access to affordable food and fuel. Vote for candidate Romney to return us to the idea of a trickle down approach or Vote for Obama if you want society to achieve greater prosperity and sustainability.
snap_pop_no_crackle 10 months, 1 week ago
Are the occupy dudes still teaching the practice of public defecation in the village of South Park?
weiser 10 months, 1 week ago
Don't plan on living that long when Obama care takes over. They have limits on cancer treatment etc, depending on your age.
boltzmann 10 months, 1 week ago
Exactly, where specifically in the ACA are such limits outlined? I think that you are just making stuff up.
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