Senior Housing Fear in Woodbury - The New York Times Version
Paula Span, who authors the New York Times' popular "New Old Age" Blog has a post todayon a vocal sliver of people in Woodbury, Minnesota, opposing senior housing for people with Alzheimer's in their neighborhood. Ecumen is a consultant to the project.
What's interesting is that in this era where another person gets Alzheimer's every 70 seconds, we still have a number of people who have big time misunderstandings about the disease. Sadly, if these misunderstandings take further root, they negatively impact the lives of others. Changing Aging means getting knowledgeable about Alzheimer's disease and finding a cure to make it go away.
3 Comments
I lived in Woodbury for 20 years. As I understand the ethos of the area', creating a nearly "perfect" community has been the goal. What the average homeowner there May not appreciate, is the inclusive sense in the word "community." "Community" is the activity of living Christ's command to love one's neighbor as oneself. What if you, a Woodbury resident, suffered from a memory impairment? Would you want to live near your spouse, friends, and other loved ones? Or would you want to be banished to some far off place?
It isn't about "finding a cure to make it go away", it is about acceptance of differences "until" a cure can be found. It is about accepting the changes that happen in life and embracing them so we can all learn to live together. Multi generational and cultural changes happen everyday in this world and people need to learn how to live near each other without fear of the unknown. People just need to become more educated about the topic to understand more.
Thanks, Renee, for saying it better than I.
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