com·mú·ni·ty

by Bob Buddemeier

Community is a term often used at and about RVM.  What do we mean?  The first entry that pops up from a google search of the internet gives us two choices:

1. a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
2. a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.

RVM residents clearly qualify under definition 1 – we’re all here, we’re all old, all or almost all of us are US citizens, mostly upper-middle-class, and on and on.  However, most of us would like to think of ourselves as a definition 2 community.  Are we?  And what might we do to increase that specific sense of “higher” community?

We have lots of subcommunities in the definition 2 sense; co-religionists, musicians, golfers, and more – but we don’t see them alloyed into a definable whole.  Of late, we have had more general common feelings and attitudes of frustration, isolation, and powerlessness. That, however, is not the bonding experience we seek; it’s more on a par with inmates of the same prison.

Community development is defined as “a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems.”

That may not be the only way to develop community, but most of us can probably recognize it as an effective one. It does present a problem in our situation, in that Retirement Communities (there’s that word again) are usually chosen at least in part on the basis of the customer’s perception that the administration does a good job of eliminating problems.

In turn, collective action by the residents is usually something that Administrators try to avoid (apart from general support for benign institutional activities like the Employee Thank-You Fund). RVM has had one such episode in the Great Centennial Insurrection.  When the proposal to repurpose part of Skyline Plaza showed signs of becoming a popular cause, it rather promptly disappeared.

Is there a way to encourage collective actions to solve common problems without building on – and thereby probably intensifying – differences in priorities among residents or between residents and administration?  A focus on responses to external problems can build community both among residents and between staff and residents, and recent events have demonstrated that it works.

Jackson County lists as its natural hazards of greatest concern: The Cascadia Earthquake, Emerging Infectious Disease, Wildfire, and Winter Storm.  We have already experienced two of the four, and winter is just beginning.  In addition, this list does not address “non-natural” hazards such as war, terrorism, or civil unrest.

For the moment, these would seem to be enough, especially since one pandemic and one (local) wildfire do not exhaust the potential for more.

The Residents’ Preparedness Group (RPG) was formed over a year ago, before the disasters of 2020 took shape.  At that time the problem perception was formed by the inevitability of the Great Cascadia Earthquake, the wildfire devastation in CA, and statements by Executives of the previous RVM administration that in case of a disaster, cottage residents would be “on their own.” (For the record, both Stan Solmonson and Drew Gilliland have clearly stated that this is NOT current policy – as confirmed by dispatch of employees to notify cottage residents of the evacuation.)

RPG’s purpose is to assist, support, and to the extent possible, substitute for if necessary, RVM’s response to resident needs in case of emergency or disaster.  The RVM administration and staff did an outstanding job of carrying out the wildfire evacuation – which occurred in the middle of a workday (with several hundred employees on site), and in good weather.  In a worst-case scenario, a major earthquake in the middle of night (with a dozen employees present) in mid-winter, residents could be dependent on other residents over a protracted period without utilities or the possibility of resupply.

This problem perception and response has already shown the potential power of community building from the bottom up – collective action by the members of the community. Attention has spread from the initial cottage focus to the high-rises, and about 90 people (over 10% of the independent-living residents) have committed to participation.  Most act as neighborhood/floor coordinators or area/building coordinators; a few are providing supporting functions like radio network implementation, documentation, and research.

One result is that now almost every RVM resident lives within a few hundred feet of another resident committed to providing support for their well-being.  Let’s be clear: this is not a blood-oath do-or-die commitment, but it is nonetheless an important novelty to be confident of having neighbors ready to provide advice and assistance to the best of their ability.

Another result is that the effort has linked RVM Administration to the RPG and provided an indication of capabilities on two occasions.  The RPG network, although still in the early stages of organization and lacking formal procedures, responded to requests for information about resident dining needs, and to the need for in-person communication in the evacuation.

The potential seems clear. Although the original – and still important –goal was emergency and disaster preparedness. This requires that the coordinators be acquainted with needs and capabilities of their neighbors, and try to build local communities oriented to mutual support.  That knowledge and structure has many potential applications in terms of identifying and addressing both individual and local needs.

Will the RPG effort merge with and influence the larger community 1 to move closer to a community 2?  It remains to be seen.  At the moment, the on-the- ground organization has outpaced the organizational support and management component, and people are needed to assist with information management, outreach, and coordination. The initial response has been strong and the needs and opportunities are there.  The challenge will be to sustain the continued interest and input that adds new dimensions to resident life at RVM.