00:00 Hello, this is Melissa, Hale-Spencer, the editor of the Altamont Enterprise here today with Ken Harris, who's the executive director of the Albany Guardian Society and we are going to be finding out together and listeners and myself when we talked to Ken this morning. Welcome. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Melissa. I would just like to start by hearing a little about you. I went to Linkedin and I see you've spent an entire career dealing with aging people. What? Just tell me a little about how you got into that. It looks like you started out with a degree in geography and urban planning. What, what got you interested in that particular segment of the population?

00:50 Well, it's funny how you end up at a place that you do after all these years. I did want to be an urban planner. When I was in school. I went to school for geography back in 82. Um, I had a difficult time. It was during the recession of 82 to find a job in and in my profession. So I took a job and actually I'm a with unity house and that was with a developmental disability folks and it was a great career. I really loved it. So I've had this thing that you love. Why did you love that? Well it was, it was housing and, and I'm in human service, which was a great combination, you know, if we really look at what's important to people to remain independent and healthy housing is so important and it felt good really to take care of people, to watch them grow and to thrive and to remain independent. It's been a theme for me for a long time and in some ways I guess, you know, that it still stays with the geography theme is like, you know, is so important. Um, and I kinda grew from there and really realizing that I really enjoyed working with seniors and make sure that they had a, a safe home to live.

02:08 Yeah, home is really important both in an emotional sense and in that Maslov's hierarchy kind of sense. You need that. And I hadn't thought of it as fitting with geography, but you mean the sense of place that someone has about where they live,

02:22 sense of place. And we continued that with Guardian Society is a lot of what we do is to try to encourage people and to help them remain independent in their homes. Um, our mission is to improve the life of seniors, but we have this real focus on helping people remain independent. We do a lot of educational programming and we've been working on the village movement for quite a bit for about four years now. And that really is allowing people to remain independent in their homes for as long as possible.

02:54 Yeah. I want to hear about all those different things you do. I made up a big list, but can we also just start a little with the history as we were chatting before the mix came on, I was bragging about our newspapers. Eighteen 84 and Ken comes back. Well we're, what is it, 1850 to 50. So yeah, you have a nifty little video on your website. If you could just kind of run us through it, the roots of it, or is it temperance society, is that right? So just tell us a little about your history. That's a great story.

03:26 Um, it was a group of people, mostly women and downtown Albany, and you have to imagine what it was like in 18, 52. There were no social services. There were no homes for seniors if you didn't have friends or family to take care of you, you almost everybody went to what was called the poor house and that was over by Albany Medical Center by all accounts. A very difficult place to live, um, and very unsafe for many people. So there was a group of women that got together is best as we could figure out about five or six and just decided they were going to do something for the women that they saw needed help. And I in, in Albany, and back then Albany was one of the 10th largest cities in the country, but it also had one of the most highest number of breweries in the country.

04:23 So both of these have to do with the Dutch heritage, right? Found it early and you all is a regular kind of payment to the slave labors, huh? Oh, that's fascinating. And these poor houses are kind of Dickensian where they,

04:39 they were, you know, by all accounts will, we've been able to figure out. We actually did research on Albany Guardian Society and we just found out that the poor houses that is a very tough place to live. So this group of women came together and decided that they wanted to develop and build a home for senior women and they gathered the huge sum of $54 a bag in 18, 52 when they started at a small home. It was down by ironically the pump station now being built by the, um, the temperance society. And actually the Dork is the society which I had never heard of before. I came to Albany Guardian Society, the darkest society. And there was a first, it was a, as a society where people very much like you have now with the Alex or the Rotary Club that is trying to help people move forward. It was based on Biblical story of Biblical Times, so the darkest society and the temperance society built this home and we eventually moved up to quail street and then quail street in 1870. We moved up to Clinton Avenue and a home still stays there. It's a health clinic now, but Guardian society that it was hard to run the home, but we were an adult home for all that time. I'm in the residential place. People live.

05:58 Yeah, about 15 women. And we were eventually being licensed as an adult home through department of Health. But the reimbursement rate was tough and it was hard to keep the home open. Uh, so in the year 2000 we closed the home and we transformed. Once again, I'm into Albany Guardian society as we kept. Our mission is improving the life of seniors. Uh, but now we do education information and our, our mission is still to improve the life of seniors.

06:31 So you mentioned you have just a tiny staff. Tell us who is on your staff.

06:36 So we have Gina Mccarthy, director of operations, and Pat Harrington is our project coordinator and myself, the executive director. We're looking to hire another staff person for next year because we are increasing our programming and we also want to get our name out into the community more a, uh, oftentimes when I talk to people about Guardian Society, I think because we were an adult home for so long, we were kind of under the radar. We do offer these great programming for people at no cost. We have over 100 programs that we put on a year. Some are small and eight are a corporate woods office holds about 30 people per class. So how are you funded if your programs are free? We are a not for profit foundation, which is a wonderful thing. You know, we over the years though that $54, I always tell people compounded interest is a wonderful thing because it at our endowment grew over the years and what we sold the home, we decided to take that endowment. And, um, uh, we're, we're self funded and we have to be very careful of our, um, of our finances, but, but what we're able to put on a lot of educational programs for people at no cost.

07:54 That's wonderful. So let's dive in now to hear about some of those programs you'd mentioned in passing the village movement or the villages. Tell us a little about that.

08:03 Sure. Um, it's a relatively new concept and I think that, you know, your listeners understand that, that these senior population that will pretty much double over the next few years, um, people by and far want to stay independent in their own homes, but oftentimes they just don't know where to go or how they're going to remain independent. The village movement was started about 16 years ago in Beacon Hill village. I'm in Boston. Yeah. So in, ironically, it started out very similar to the Way Guardian Society started. It was a, a group of women that got together in a home in Beacon Hill in Boston. They said they didn't want to move to assisted living or a continuing care retirement retirement communities, a very wealthy neighborhood. Yeah. So they were able to hire staff and they were able to, um, to really wrap around services to help them remain independent and then included transportation, home repair, um, technology, uh, classes which was just starting out in 15 years ago, hard to believe. Um, and they, they did a great job and they were kind of under the radar for many years. Um, and so, um, Paula span did a, um, an article in the New York Times and they highlighted Beacon Hill village and then it exploded. Everybody wanted to find out what this, uh, this new concept, this new model is all about how people could help each other. The basic concept is neighbors helping neighbors. So, um,

09:40 just happens to be the slogan of community caregivers, which is not the village. It's just sort of randomly helping people that need it. It's an organization that tries to be a stop gap. Isn't that something? It is. And

09:54 okay. Community caregivers is a great organization. We've worked very closely with them to move forward on the village movement. Um, and we think that it's going to be quite successful in the future. We're just starting to get off the ground some geographical. I think that I'm very aware. I'm sorry,

10:11 speaking to a geography major now, are there some geographical areas that have like step forward to form one of these villages and in the capital region?

10:20 Yeah, so we had started a couple of years ago, a capital region to villages collaborative and basically this is a group of people that come together that are interested in developing villages and the Guardian Society coordinates educational sessions for them specifically on a village development. Like how to incorporate, how to recruit volunteers and we get experts to come in and, and, uh, provide a short educational piece. But the real strength of these meetings is just networking and finding out about villages. So we, this, um, this collaborative reaches northern. Uh, there's a village in Glens falls is great. I'm already up and running. It's been running for a long time and to the south. Uh, Ryan Beck at home is another great village. Um, I love their concept is everybody has something they give. So all the people that are members of that village are required to volunteer. Oh, isn't that interesting? Not all villages have that, that concept, but really liked the, I really liked that concept because, you know, even people who are housebound can do something and, and one of the main benefits to the village Wilbon is really a sense of worth and purpose that sometimes people lose either if they're socially isolated.

11:41 Um, really the, the village concept is two main parts of it. One is the services part, getting transportation to your doctor or even fun entertainment events. Not all communities have transportation for the, for those types of services and home repair, changing light bulbs and shambling sidewalk, those things that help people remain independent. The other part is the social and the educational part. A lot of what a village does is coordinate these activities and events for people to enjoy each other's company and to foster friendships. Um, and to reduce isolation.

12:21 Is there an ideal size for these number of people, you know, that would be, I'm assuming some people die and leave the village and so other people step up as they're aging. I mean, is there like a, a, a goal for what works best in terms of the size of one of these or can they,

12:43 so very small? Oftentimes villages we'll start out just as a social organization, you know, people coming together or going to museums or book clubs and then they grow into add the services component. So if it's just social, it can be quite small. Um, but oftentimes villages are formed as five zero, one C, three corporations and not for profit, uh, that have a board of directors and one of the main reasons for that is so they can obtain outside sources of funding. Um, if people pay membership dues and that's anywhere up at Glens falls, I think it's $20 a year for their dues. And Beacon Hill village is, is, uh, I think close to $2,000 a year. So I'm a big variance between what the dues are. But usually it's about $300 a year. If there's a staff person, if there's not a staff person that, but it's all volunteer. The dues can be quite low, like under $100 a year at best bargain out there.

13:38 Yeah. And do you find that they work, they make a difference? People actually get to stay in their homes for longer than they would otherwise. Yeah,

13:46 we've been doing some research. Uh, I've been fortunate enough to go to the village to village network is the national conference for a village. Villages just got back about a month ago.

13:59 Oh, where was that? It was in San Diego, California. It was great. These are across the country, across the, across the world. I sat next to somebody in Australia that a village. So that must've been fun to kind of share notes with people from around the world.

14:13 It was great. And one of the themes that comes up is this concept really does work and it keeps people engaged in active, but then it keeps people at home to back in the olden days. So I've heard is that neighbors helped each other out before we got on our, our computers and our smart bones and everybody was tied into technology. People that sat around their front porch, they knew each other and when it got to know each other, helped each other, and that's really the concept of the village. It is to bring people together, get to know them. It also coordinates services. So if need a service, if you need a ride to your doctor, if you need your sidewalk shoveled, they'll put out a, an email or correspondence to all the members, hey, can anybody help this person?

15:01 I'm wondering as you're talking about that model, because the old traditional model, they were young people and old people in the village so the young people could shovel, you know, what, how do you, you have to hire somebody to do some of those more physically demanding tasks are there if it's all older people that are somewhat fragile and that's why they kind of need help. You can't draw on the younger people because the village is an necessity all made up of elderly people.

15:30 It is. So members are volunteering, you know, and uh, we're fortunate here in the capital district. We have a lot of younger seniors who are retiring from state work and they're, they're looking to

15:41 and you know, really, I don't even consider them senior people who are 55 and retired. I guess technically it is a senior and uh, it's a old. Are you? I, I'm, I, I'm 60. I just turned 60 so yes, the interview. Thank you. So do you have thoughts on your own old age and how you want to live in having spent decades in this field? Do you have thoughts on that?

16:11 Yeah, I'm very excited about this. This concept. I, I was uh, I worked for leading age in New York 15 years, so I was the senior housing policy analyst.

16:20 And tell us about that. It's, it used to be the associate, just tell us about that with that organization. So

16:26 the old long title was the New York Association of homes and services for the aging and that is an organization that represents not for profit. I'm longterm care providers including senior housing, community services, pace programs, assisted living, nursing homes, and I focused primarily on the senior housing part of it. So I've been able to see in senior housing grow is it, you know, has a profession as a place for people to live over about 20 years. Um, and it's great to see this concept of the village will make because it, it, it hits at a point where people are trying to remain independent but never had really the tools or the ability to do that, to organize together to help each other out. Um, you, when you look at the senior population doubling and the resources for seniors decreasing, you have to really scratch your head and wonder how are people going to remain healthy and independent in the future. And I think the village movement and the village development is really one of the, those ways. There are several communities and groups that are coming together on Albany that are trying to build these villages up in Clifton Park. Shenandoah, how our neighbors connecting, received, received funding from state office aging for their startup funding. Um, we have Columbia County, northern Colombia county, Guilderland, the city of Albany.

17:57 What's happening in Guilderland? We're a hyperlocal paper.

18:01 Yes. So I've been active in the gambling cares meeting for a quite awhile now. It's a great group and if they came up with a directory, which is really worth checking out if you don't know about it, it's on, you can google it and go on their website. Um, but the guilderland carers group is a, along with community caregivers and guardians. Society are talking about how a village can be developed in Guilderland area at the beginning stages and the way villages work. It usually takes about five to 10 people, seniors who are willing to really form the, uh, the organization and become, become part of the board of directors and, and coordinate this village. So that's the step we're at right now is trying to find that that core group of people to run the village.

18:52 Maybe someone's listening. That's fascinating. Well, there's a whole long list of things that I want to ask you about. Some of your other programs you're partnering, partnering with Rensselaer Polytech Institute on technology to help seniors. Can you just tell us a little about that?

19:08 I'd love that project that his. It is so great. We had been working with RPI students in the design lab for about 12 years now, and our real focus to this is to expose young engineers to the possibility of helping in designing products for seniors. So we started out with a, a walker that was a long time ago and most recently

19:35 no walker, somebody that's at Walker's been out there for a long time. Right? Or is this a special walk?

19:40 This is special. Walkerton had a hydraulic lifts. So, so people who are, you know, having difficulty sitting in a chair in getting up, um, it was able to assist people getting out of the chair and we got a patent for that. It's still out there for anybody listening that wants to pick it up. Um, and one of my favorites is the, the balance APP. So this is where we really try to look at Guardian society on what technology is going to help people remain independent. And we worked with our and they're engineers. Um, and unbenounced to me is that each smartphone has a gyro meter and then accelometer, which means it can tell where it is in space in time. And that there was a test that's been around for many, many years that physical therapists and occupational therapists use called the tug test and it's very simple.

20:32 They take a stopwatch and they type people sitting and standing up out of a chair. You walk 10 feet, you turn around and you sit down and then they, uh, they count how long it took to do that activity. And it's been used for years to try determine how somebody balances. What are balanced sap did is they designed software that got downloaded onto a smartphone and then people can put that smartphone on their belt when they stand up and they, they can tell how fast somebody stands up, they can tell when they're walking to that place. They need to turn around, are they listing to the right or the left

21:09 goodness. And how are they turning around? This is already in everybody's cell phone. It's the technology is. So we developed the APP that allows us to use the technology to, to find out how people are in space and time. It hits really great

21:26 and then, and then it downloads onto their phone or it can be read by either their occupational therapist or their doctors and you could adjust your physical therapy accordingly or medications,

21:39 uh, for instance. That's great. Um, I feel like I better hurry through this list or I'm going to miss some really important things. Um, you have a tool box. It's called on central avenue in colony. Can you tell us about that? That sounded neat.

21:57 Yeah. We just moved over to Delatour by Delatour road and this is a concept that was we found out about in Rochester and oftentimes people who are combining their, their households or if, if the husband dies for instance, or they're moving to senior housing, people have all these extra tools. And so with this concept is, is we collect those tools are donated colonies, senior service centers is the one is a lead agency on that. And we partnered with them to open this toolbox. Um, so people donate these tools, we cleaned them up and then their resold. So it's really a win win. It helps people shed things that you don't want from their homes. It doesn't go into the landfill. People can buy these use tools that are just as good as going to home depot and it really all the proceeds. So that goes back to the colonies, senior services and their umbrella program to help people with home repair and to remain at home.

22:57 So can anybody just like somebody's listening, you can just walk off the street and go into this like a regular store. You don't have to be a member of anything or. That's right.

23:08 Great. Uh, and in the tools are always a lot lower price than they would be at the big box. Um, and they're, they're great and functional.

23:18 Well, another thing that you do is you publish housing options for senior adults. Tell us about that. Sure.

23:28 That is a directory that we have been publishing for several years, over 10 years now. And what it offers is all the senior options for senior housing, subsidized and market rate, um, family type homes, assisted living and nursing homes. It provides the, uh, the snapshot of those programs both in services and price. So it's a, it's a popular publication when people are looking for senior housing, you can really narrow down the options for you and we, we always said I used to teach the class on senior housing at Guardian Society and there there's no substitute for visiting each of the places that you're thinking about going to. Always great to do your homework ahead of time so it's not, you don't have to choose like in a crisis situation, but the directory

24:21 exactly it. We had a recent family crisis with my mother in law and you just don't know where to begin to look and to have a guide like that to start with. That's, that's really valuable.

24:32 It's, it's a great publication. We've been, um, we've been very fortunate to be able to take over it. It used to be at senior services of Albany. We took it over a while ago. We published it for free. Um, we, it's on our website, but it's also a sent out to anybody who asks at no cost. Um, and uh, you just give us a call and we'll send it out.

24:54 Well, what has struck me through this whole conversation we're winding down now is when you started saying, you know, the staff of three, I'm thinking, okay, how is this possible? But it seems like what your organization is about is partnering with all different kinds of other organizations. Some of that you would never think of like Rpi and just becoming powerful and far reaching that way. That's, that's a great model. So do you have any things that are really important you want people to know or any closing thoughts? Our time is gone so fast.

25:29 I would just say, you know, we do have a lot to offer. We have over 100 free educational programs and if people would. What I really love about the job is to watch people leave those programs.

25:42 Are some of these hundred programs, I mean, what kinds of things do people learn?

25:47 Well, we have a wide variety. Technology is very big an introduction to technology, smartphones, ipads, um, and we work with micro knowledge on that, but we have classes. I'm on caregiving, illegal issues, professional development, um, and then just fun things like writing your own memoir. And positive aging.

26:07 Oh, that's neat. Writing your own memoir. Do a lot of people do that.

26:11 So that's a great pro, you know, so we don't mind that we do the heavy stuff, you know, is like hospice, you know what you need to know how to choose a nursing home. But we also do the fun stuff too. We work with capital roads and had a garden. Men were writing your memoirs and financial planning. So we put out about 100 programs a year and that's mostly at our, um, at our corporate woods office. Holds about 30 people. They're very popular I would say, you know, sign up right away.

26:40 Our mailing list will go online to find these on your website where they're listed,

26:44 they are online. We also send out a catalog for those that are on our mailing list. So people get on your mailing list through the website. Can Albany, Guardian Society, www, or our phone number is five. One eight, four, three, four, two, one, four zero. We pick up with it. One of the three of us will pick up. Will take down your information. Well thank you. I kind of interrupted your closing thoughts. You were saying we have 100 programs and we would love to see you come to one of them and it's open to anybody. They're all at no cost and we will be glad to see you. Great.