Launching a Village to promote aging in community: human, social, and financial capital

Villages are an innovative, community-based approach to help people thrive as they age. Operating primarily as community-based membership organizations rather than actual “brick and mortar” locations, Villages commonly facilitate services through neighbors-helping-neighbors volunteer programs, offer social events and programs, and serve as a trusted source of information for local resources. Since the first Village launched in 2002, the model has expanded to hundreds of communities, yet the start-up of Villages remains limited in many regions. This paper explores the development period (2022–2025) for one of very few Villages in New Jersey (U.S.). It highlights how local leaders and residents collaboratively mobilized diverse assets—including human, social, and financial capital—to design, develop, and launch the Village. It presents the development work across three phases: establishing the core team and administrative foundations; building the infrastructure; and preparing for launch. Lessons learned include the importance of adopting an asset-based approach and learning through doing, embedding local efforts within larger systems levels, and designing for sustainability and scalability.