ABSTRACT
The spiritual community plays a pivotal role in the life of a neighborhood, and in elders’ lives. There are over 340,000 congregations in the United States, and about 40 percent of elders identify themselves with one of them. Action for Boston Community Development, Inc., has designed the How-To-Do-It Kit for Elder Housing Planning. The Rotary International, for example, has a Committee for Service to the Elderly, and Kiwanis International has as its stated purpose “service to youth and the elderly, to community and nation.” ASA will be publishing a compendium of resources identifying model and innovative community programs involving business, labor, volunteer, education, and faith communities in responding to the needs of at-risk elders. The Andrus Gerontology Center’s Project Living Independently through Neighborhood Cooperation is one. In March of 1992, the Home Builders Association of Maryland, with Hechinger Company and the Maryland Office on Aging, initiated a statewide home repair program, “Senior Hospitality,” for low-income elders.
