CAPITAL CITY VILLAGE INC

Village Connections evolved from a model pioneered by the Capitol Hill Village in Washington, D.C. It is designed to meet the needs of our highest needs members, those that are often facing a major ongoing health issue, disability or temporary crisis. The program is launching with 12 members, and its primary goals are to:
o identify the direct services these members need (those that can be met by CCV and those that may require the resources of other agencies);
o provide one-on-one volunteer to member connection on a regular basis to combat isolation;
o provide guidance and tools so members can remain in control of their own lives.

We project that Village Connections will make a significant impact on our members’ lives, supporting our mission to assist seniors successfully age in place and community. We will track results based on program attendance, services received as noted by members and through our in-house tracking system.

The program will begin with implementation of home assessments for each client. Assessments will include a measurement tool designed to track changes over the course of the program. Sample questions include:
1) How long do you feel you will be able to stay at home?
2) How many CCV programs do you attend?
3) What barriers prevent you from attending programs?
4) What medical conditions affect your daily life?
5) What village services do you currently use?
6) What outside services do you use from any other agency, business or government provider?
7) Is service linkage required and if so, what types of services are needed?
Quantitative:
We measure the change to our members by their connection to volunteers and the goal for this is at least a weekly contact. We anticipate:
o program attendance by these members will be increased by two instances;
o service requests from members will occur in a more timely and ongoing fashion and this will be measured by calls and emails received and tracked in our database;
o high renewal rate (barring death or change in status) of these members at over 85%;
o high level of volunteer retention of the volunteers involved;
o and fewer hospital readmissions (as reported by members).

Qualitative:
With personal follow up conducted by staff to each member, we assess member satisfaction on an ongoing basis. We anticipate that Volunteer Connection members will identify that they feel more engaged and connected to the Village. We expect this program to increase the number of years members are able to remain at home and we believe members will gain a sense of control over their schedules and lives.

As this is a new program, based on an existing model, we plan to adopt the Capitol Hill Village’s report on the results of their six-month pilot period for our program goals.

While we recognize that not every member will be able to stay at home, we count as success any additional amount of time they are able to do, so as a result of membership.