Home & Family

Here is a simple fact. When you board horses, dogs and other animals, you never get bored! At 77, Joanne Mead is the picture of good health and vitality. She owns a 7 acre horse boarding ranch and dog kennel for the last 45 years and takes care of other animals too. And that, she acknowledges, helps keep her going physically with a little help from friends, family and volunteers. And in her spare time? (Yes she does have some.) She plays music from heavy metal to country.

More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 62,000 Oregonians. The debilitating disease takes a serious toll on patients, family caregivers and the health care system.

It’s a fitness center for geriatrics of all decades.

By Dick Weinman, AARP volunteer and ALF guru

Michele Scheib, AARP Gen X Blogger/Volunteer

By Elaine Friesen-Strang

By Dick Weinman, AARP Volunteer and ALF Living Guru

By Michele Scheib, AARP Oregon Volunteer

Yes, it does take a village. Not only to raise happy, healthy and well adjusted children, but to continue our wellbeing through out life. That's why we are excited to share with you a little bit about the growing "village" movement right here in our neck of the woods. We recently caught up with Eastside Village, a new organization that just begun serving southeast Portland neighborhoods. Eastside Village is but one of several villages that will be operating in the Portland Metro region in the near future and we wanted to make sure you had an opportunity to learn about the village model, what they do, and how you can get involved.

By Dick Weinman, AARP Oregon Volunteer and Communications Guru residing in an Assisted Living Facility