At the height of the Covid pandemic in 2021, Arthur and Sandy Becker of Potomac missed being
active in their community and local synagogue. As retired professionals – Arthur practiced
medicine as an OB/GYN and Sandy worked at Westat – they decided it was time to “broaden
their horizons.” After a friend mentioned the great programs provided by Potomac Community
Village, Sandy decided to try it out for a year. The rest, as they say, is history. Both became very
involved in the Village’s many activities and now Arthur is serving on PCV’s Board of Directors.
Potomac Community Village is part of the “Village movement” that began in Boston in 2002. Its
aim is to help seniors age in place and reduce social isolation. More than twenty years later more
than 300 Villages have sprung up across the country and more are in development – currently 80
exist in the DMV, 28 in Montgomery County.
Eddie Rivas, the board’s Vice President and Villages Liaison, worked as a gerontologist for over
30 years and held positions at state and area offices on aging and national aging organizations,
including AARP. He notes that one of the things the Villages started is filling in those gaps where
local public agencies lack enough money to provide the services needed to assist the missing
“middle community” of individuals.
Every Village has a service side and a social side. The service side includes volunteers offering
assistance to each other with rides to medical appointments or events, tech support, light errands
or shopping, providing friendly phone calls and visits as needed, or resources through a
networking email.
Most Villages grow and develop based on the interests of the group’s members. Lynette Ciervo is
the organization’s dynamic Director of Engagement. What she discovered when she first started
working for the group is that people in Potomac were often more interested in the social side a
Village could offer them: they loved the idea of coming together, eating together, and simply
getting together.
Ciervo responds to the different interests that members bring up. “Because this group has really
passionate climate activists and scientists who worry about the environment, we started a Green
group.” A climate workshop is being organized to take place in Potomac.
For the Beckers, joining PCV realized their desire to expand their horizons. They reflect that the
people they meet are interesting in a lot of ways – their careers, travels, and life experiences.
They enjoy the interesting discussions they have with them and learn about the different areas of
expertise members have: “I was thrilled to be able to learn about such subjects as aerospace,” Dr.
Becker stated.
A list of monthly events is available on the group’s online events calendar:
https://pcv.helpfulvillage.com/events. A glance at its December and January events included
their monthly arts programming, a program on illumination stations, the PCV Book Group
Meeting, a holiday party for members, volunteers, and guests, a members’ lunch at the Hong Kong Pearl Restaurant, an event on gardening, and a PCV Speaker Series event. “We did 160
programs last year and often get together several times a week,” Ciervo notes. The Solo-Agers
Group is a new program gaining in popularity as members meet new friends to attend events
with or to just get together to meet other single seniors.
Joan Kahn, a retired professor of sociology at the University of Maryland who currently serves
as the president of PCV’s board, describes its role succinctly: “We are the glue that brings people
together.”
You can reach Potomac Community Village by email to info@potomaccommunityvillage.org or by phone at (240)221-1370.