Or, NORC’s, are areas that are predominantly senior citizens where supportive services are in place to assist them to stay in their own homes. These communities are a boon for those wishing to age in place and bring together the services offered by existing volunteer and for-profit community organizations in an area. They also focus on educating the elderly and their families about risks and preventions for things like fall prevention, and kidney and heart disease. There are approximately eighty NORC’s in the U.S. currently.The services provided by a NORC raise the quality of life for seniors and increase the viability and success of aging in place.
Aging in Place Answers
To learn more about NORC’s you can visit the UJC’s National NORCs Aging in Place Initiative website or visit some of the other websites listed below.
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report on Supportive Services Programs in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities
- Aging in Place on SeniorResource
- Aging in Place and Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (Adobe PDF format) is an AARP statement before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions subcommittee on Retirement Security and Aging
- Retirement Communities on Wikipedia
NORC Links
- UJC St. Louis, MO
- Aging in Place in Albany, NY
- Georgia’s Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORC) Initiative
- Isabella NORC, New York, NY
A better site for new people is: http://www.norcblueprint.org
A good start for people to understand the origins of NORC programing is the online report – "A Good Place to Grow Old" on the United Hospital Fund of NY web site:
http://www.uhfnyc.org/pubs-stories3220/pubs-stori…
I have been the federal project monitor for nearly 100 NORC grants for 50 programs which have been Congressional Earmarks and are described on the first website you have at United Jewish Communities: http://www.norcs.org This is also a good source of information about these programs, but not a guide to development of these programs.
There are other models of aging in place (or aging in your community) programs including the Beacon Hill Village model. However many of these programs have not had the publicity of the "NORCs" and the "Villages" I maintain a list of what I call neighborhood community programs supporting older residents which has some of these other programs, but are not developed to the level of being able to proselytize their paradigm.