Help comes home
Cambridge residents launch virtual retirement community
In the space of 15 months, Joan von Mehren's life turned upside down. First her husband of 58 years passed away. Then she needed back surgery. And when that did not fully relieve her difficulty walking, she had a hip replaced.
As von Mehren struggled to recover, her six-bedroom Victorian in West Cambridge seemed overwhelming, and she contemplated moving to an assisted-living residence. But she wasn't ready to leave the house that held 53 years of memories - and the belongings to go with them.
Instead, she joined a newly formed virtual retirement community that brings services to her door and offers weekly opportunities to make new friends.
"It's a very humane way to solve the problem," said von Mehren, who is 84. "You don't feel you're all alone in your big house."
The nonprofit community, called Cambridge at Home, was launched this month and plans its official kickoff tomorrow. For an annual membership fee, people 50 and older throughout Cambridge have access to free and discounted help with shopping, transportation, and home healthcare, as well as specially tailored exercise classes and social activities.
Cambridge residents designed the program to allow people to grow old in their own homes. More than 190 households have signed up across the city.
"Everybody says Cambridge is not necessarily the warmest place," said von Mehren. "It's less of a neighborhood than it used to be. One thing I like about [the program] is you can sign up to help other people, so it encourages sociability."
Cambridge at Home is modeled on Boston's Beacon Hill Village, which opened in 2002 as the first virtual retirement community in the nation that is organized by residents and scattered across neighborhoods. Other copycat programs opened in Washington, D.C., and Palo Alto, Calif., this month, according to Beacon Hill Village, and at least 10 others are in various stages of planning.
Steven Stadler, a retired electronics industry executive, helped set up Cambridge at Home even though he and his wife don't yet need the services. Ingrid Stadler, 76, teaches humanities at Boston Architectural College, and they both have strong ties to the community.
"We don't want to move," said Stadler, who is 80. "We can't stand the idea of being in a place with old people" and without Cambridge's diversity. "So, we want the services to be there when we do" need them.
Unlike Beacon Hill Village, which raised money to subsidize membership and offered discounts for low-income members, Cambridge at Home is operating solely on fees. An individual can join for $900 a year, a couple for $1,200.
"We intend to offer a subsidy once we have a few years under our belt," said Stadler, who serves as the organization's president.
So far von Mehren is using one of the free services: a driver takes members to supermarkets and helps carry groceries into their homes. With her hip still healing, the transportation is important if she wants to do her own shopping.
There are also exercise classes three times a week, a walking group, and referrals to vendors for most home-based services, including nursing, meal preparation, home repair, and computer training. At least one vendor is offering a 10 percent discount for the first year.
Cambridge at Home also has partners with the Cambridge Health Alliance and Mount Auburn Hospital, entitling members to a little extra attention at those facilities and extra help with discharge planning after a hospital stay, said Kathleen Spirer, the executive director of Cambridge at Home.
Already, members are gathering in book clubs and writing groups.
"We're all reading that in old age, you shouldn't clam up," she said, referring to the research linking strong social connections to long, healthy life. "I want to make sure I have social relationships with lively people. People in this very interesting community of Cambridge have all kinds of things they can offer."
For information on Cambridge at Home, go to www.cambridgeathome.org or call 617-864-1715. Alice Dembner can be reached at Dembner@globe.com. 