There’s a lot written these days about the concept of “aging in place,” or, doing things differently that allow a senior to stay at home as opposed to assisted living or a nursing home.

Some groups of seniors are taking it upon themselves to organize and provide each other the help that they need through a sort of “retirement co-op” or naturally occurring retirement communities:

NORCs’ – Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities’ is a demographic term to describe neighborhoods or buildings in which a large segment of the residents are older adults. In general, they are not purpose-built senior housing or retirement communities and were neither designed nor intended to meet the particular health and social services needs and wants of the elderly. Most commonly, they are places where community residents have either aged in place, having lived in their homes over several decades, or are the result of significant migrations of older adults into the same housing constructs or neighborhoods, where they intend to spend the rest of their lives.

For example, in Los Angeles in Park La Brea, a group of older residents have formed an informal network to help each other remain in their homes.

There’s a centralized office called LIFE (Living Independently in a Friendly Environment), started in 2005 as a federally funded pilot project designed to see if such communities could help people remain in place as they age, manned by volunteers, other seniors who provide information and referrals as well as friendly calls to check on residents.

Other communities provide such services as organized outings, concierge services, fitness classes, minor home repair, yard work, computer assistance, home safety assessments and regular social gatherings.

There are also opportunities for other people in the community to help seniors in these programs.

There are similar programs in other states, some charge member fees, some do not, but all of them bring a community together to help each other.