In his role as primary caregiver for wife Michele who has mild cognitive disorder, Village member Dan Miller attended the Village’s Support Group for Care Partners of People with Dementia. Through the sessions, Dan learned the forms of dementia, their potential severity, and the paths they take. He says, “This knowledge gives me credibility with the neurologists. It gives me confidence and courage.” But, he says, “The best part of these sessions is the shared experience. There is no stigma, we don’t have to go back to square one and explain everything—it’s understood. And there’s humor—it’s not a pity party. It has been instructive and invigorating. It helps to have companions along the way.”

Bob and Dorothy Hernquist were among the very first people to join the Village in 2009. They joined not only because they loved the idea of community but because they wanted the opportunity to volunteer – and they both do. Bob has logged countless miles as a volunteer driver. It was Bob who gave Dot and Jim Fitzgerald one of their first rides in Chicago. He drove them to their appointments but once he learned they had just moved here, he also took them on a tour of the city including the underpass art beneath Lake Shore Drive. In the beginning, Bob volunteered simply out of a desire to be of help. But as the years went by, Bob says, “I found that I was getting at least as much out of it as my passengers and won’t stop, because I so much enjoy meeting other members.”

Village board member David Baker flunked retirement when he left Illinois Tech as the VP External Affairs and subsequently was named Executive Director of America’s Urban Campus, the city’s consortium of universities and colleges. He signed up for Ageless Innovators,* Chicago’s first multi-generational reciprocal mentoring program. David (Boomer) was paired with Kelly Page (Millennial) from whom he learned some new social media skills for his organization.” She mentored me in how to do it, organize it, and stick with it.” He in turn guided her through the decision-making process around a major career change. Kelly says, “When individuals have similar aspirations and outlooks, age is not a barrier to connection.”

* Ageless Innovators is a joint endeavor of The Village Chicago and Chicago Innovation.

In the middle of the brutal winter of 2014, Dot and Jim Fitzgerald’s four daughters (one of whom is Village member Diane Fitzgerald) each made a pitch for why Dot and Jim should move from their familiar surroundings on Long Island, to a city closer to one of the daughters. Chicago won. Once here, The Village Chicago was instrumental in helping the Fitzgerald’s build their community. They become friends with their volunteer driver and his wife, the volunteer computer guru who helps them with tech issues, and many others through attending Village events. Cheerful, outgoing Dot has brightened the day of many Village members through her special birthday calls. Finding a new community through the Village made leaving their old one a good, happy decision.

Eva Maddox is a design superstar – consulting principal of Eva Maddox Design Strategies; retired design principal of Perkins & Will; and co-founder with Stanley Tigerman of Archeworks, a multidisciplinary design school that provides design solutions for social needs. She was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 1992 and named “Chicagoan of the Year.”

Eva is a futurist with boundless curiosity about what will happen next. A significant part of her learning comes from teaching – at last count to well over 100 organizations. “I have always taught because of how much I learn from young people. It keeps me in reality.” Eva also says, “To me, acquiring knowledge is constant. She says, “We can’t know the future, but we can educate ourselves and share with students the kinds of tools they will need.” With Eva’s guidance and insight, these students will use design skillfully to shape the future, whatever it may bring.

Technology, innovation and mentoring are all-important to Leslie McKinney who came to the Village through the Ageless Innovators* program. From childhood she liked math and science and began her career as an intern at Xerox. While there, she earned an M.S. in Engineering and Global Operations Management. She left Xerox in 2016 to become the Director for the Chicago Chapter of Black Women in Science and Engineering (BWISE), an organization focused on bridging the leadership gap for black women in STEM. She was part of Chicago Innovation’s Women’s Mentoring Co-op; a mentor for the Chicago Student Invention Convention; and for mHUB, Chicago’s first innovation center focused on physical product development and manufacturing. “We all need mentoring at every stage of life” Leslie says. “I like to be a resource to help people and to do that, you need to keep adding to your knowledge.”
*Chicago’s first multi-generational co-mentoring program, a joint venture of The Village Chicago and Chicago Innovation.

Village member Armand Cerbone’s childhood was filled with fear of what would happen if people found out he was gay. Throughout graduate school at Notre Dame where he graduated with a Ph.D in psychology, and as he began his practice, he kept his homosexuality hidden. After graduation in 1973, seeking a job at the American Psychological Association (APA) convention, he witnessed the founding of the Association of Gay Psychologists after they had protested at a conversion therapy presentation – an event that he says, “turned the key to the lock on my closet.”

Armand is motivated by a desire to make life better for the next generation LGBT individuals, working against the stigma that permeates all aspects of their lives. Armand has served on the Village board and started the Village’s LGBTA (A for Ally) Committee. Armand’s work as a change agent, advocate and leader have resulted in policy changes within APA and in laws addressing discrimination. He continues to work addressing issues of discrimination and social justice for the LGBT community and people of color.

He didn’t know that chicken soup and ice cream were part of the Village’s ally program. But after Bernie Holicky’s cochlear implant surgery, Village ally volunteer and retired nurse Chris Hackney appeared in the hospital recovery room to go over his post-op instructions and take him home. No, not to Bernie’s home, but to Chris’s for soup and ice cream. Then, after depositing him at his own front door, she followed up with a next-day check. There’s more: they brunched together in the neighborhood after a couple of day’s recovery, “just to make sure” and because they were now friends.

Photo by Megan Byrd

The Eley family are multi-generational Village members. Salli Eley was one of the first members of the Village and in fact, was the first person to call the office with a service request when the Village opened in June, 2009. Her son Tom is also a Village member and is currently serving on the Village board of directors. Salli has availed herself of Village services over the years – and now Tom is involved in her care and well-being. Tom says, “Knowing that there are vetted resources and people paying attention is important and valuable to our whole family.”

One of Beth Hickey’s favorite Village activities is Knitting with Friends–a group that has become a community within the larger Village community. They gather once a week for two hours to knit, help each other and chat, and over the years have gotten to know each other well. Beth says, “We talk about ourselves, about our families, current events, movies, plays, you get the idea.”

One of the group members, Susan, loves to cook and every week brings something homemade as a treat for everyone. Susan also is a docent for the Architecture Foundation of Chicago. She was hoping to become certified for a tour and wanted an audience, so several of the Knitting Group attended the hour and a half tour. Yes, she was certified and they all learned a lot.

Beth relates that, “Even though we have not met the family members we hear about, over time we feel we know them. When a family member becomes ill as was the case with one of our husbands, we wanted to be of help to him and his wife. Susan took food to their home, Laurie, a nurse, gave comfort and knowledgeable help and for several years the rest of us listened and offered encouragement. When he succumbed to his illness, it was only natural that those of us who could, attend his memorial service together.”

One day, one of us said, “I look forward to Wednesdays because I love the knitting group.”  Beth says, “Me too, Ada, me too.”

Photo by Diana S. Philips