We’ve got BIG NEWS!

Village PDX has become Villages NW, a new nonprofit that plans to take Village development throughout the Portland metro-area (and beyond) to a whole new level!

Please visit our new website at www.VillagesNW.org!

How Village PDX became Villages NW

Villages NW began life as Village PDX, a website that was created by Chana & Richie Andler and launched in October 2011.

Its original purpose was twofold: (1) to raise awareness of Villages and the Village Movement throughout the Portland metro-area and (2) to attract and bring together people who would be interested in developing a grassroots Village on Portland’s east side.

However, since the Andlers knew that the Village PDX website would attract potential Village founders from far beyond their neighborhood, they quickly expanded their vision to include (3) helping to catalyze grassroots Villages throughout the metro-area and (4) sharing resources among developing Villages.

Eastside Village PDX has been the first of these grassroots Villages to take root locally. Currently in development on Portland’s east side, it hopes to begin delivering services in late 2014. Originally planned to be a stand-alone nonprofit, Eastside Village PDX now plans to be the first spoke village to use Villages NW as its nonprofit hub.

The idea of transforming Village PDX into a nonprofit, that could function as the hub for the many grassroots Villages needed to serve the Portland metro-area, first emerged from conversations with local funders and nonprofits, who pointed out how inefficient it would be for each local Village to have to acquire its own 501(c)3. However, by developing a hub and spoke model, this problem could be avoided, while simultaneously expediting the speed of Village development and creating a cost-effective way to provide administrative and financial services for the Villages once open. Support for the hub & spoke model has also come from the national Village-to-Village Network, and we are indebted to them for the resources and support they have provided to help us flesh out this concept.

With the encouragement of a passionate and visionary founding Board, Villages NW came into being in December 2012.  To learn more,  please visit the new Villages NW website at www.VillagesNW.org

Villages NW: Focused on the Big Picture

In addition to helping to develop Eastside Village,  Villages NW will also:

  • Educate the public about Villages as a critical, cost-effective piece of the aging-in-place puzzle.
  • Catalyze the emergence of new Villages by assisting Village founders to develop planning groups in their own NW communities.
  • Provide Village planning groups with targeted coaching and tactical support at each stage of their Village’s development.
  • Fast track the Village creation process by sharing materials, resources, best practices and “lessons learned” among NW Villages.
  • Develop Villages NW into an effective regional resource, connecting all the grassroots Pacific Northwest Villages.
  • Serve as information central for the regional Village movement, publicizing NW Villages’ events, presentations, and programs open to the public.
  • Advocate on behalf of the NW Villages, locally, regionally & nationally.
  • Explore cost-savings and economy of scale efficiencies that can be achieved by collaboration among NW Villages.
  • Negotiate key strategic corporate and organizational partnerships and apply for funding on behalf of the NW Villages.
  • Provide emerging Villages with short-term or ongoing fiscal sponsorship and nonprofit status.
  • Establish a hub and spoke model for Portland metro-area grassroots Villages, reducing costs, providing key organizational, financial & administrative services, and eliminating the need for each Village to acquire its own 501(c).

To learn more or get involved: www.VillagesNW.org