M o r n i n g s i d e   V i l l a g e r

Volunteer Outreach Helping Seniors in the Morningside “Village” Neighborhood

In a neighborhood traditionally as­soc­iated with stu­dents, it may be sur­pris­ing to learn that with­in a 10-block zone, which we call “Morn­ing­side Vil­lage,” over 10% of re­si­dents, or over 1,120 re­si­dents, are 65 years old or ol­der.

Morningside Village extends from Cathedral Parkway to West 114th Street between Riverside and Morningside Drives.

Given that we are living longer and that baby boomers are rapidly reaching retirement age, seniors are expected to make up an even greater segment of our population before long. When there are far too few geriatric professionals to service their needs for care — when the economy is shrinking and health costs are rising — we can easily foresee a crisis in elder-care on the horizon.

That’s one of the reasons local residents are reaching out to our eldest members, who may be struggling to remain at home.

In light of the changing demographics of the country and right here in our neighborhood, inter­ge­ner­at­ional help net­works can be a vi­tal part of com­mu­ni­ty life. Some of the things we do are:

• shopping and running errands
• preparing food
• helping to solve small but frustrating household problems
• finding needed services and connecting seniors to them
• accompanying seniors on walks or outings
• reaching out … and more