Village Common Launches Richmond, Hopkinton, Exeter Chapters

By Cynthia Drummond

August 8th 2025

RICHMOND – The Village Common of R.I. invited Richmond and Hopkinton residents to Alaina’s on Aug. 7 for an information session on the organization’s newest villages in the two towns and a third village in neighboring Exeter.

The villages aren’t physical towns, but rather, networks of members and volunteers.

Life in rural towns like Richmond and Hopkinton can present special challenges to older residents who want to continue living in their homes, and one of the biggest issues is isolation.

“The Wellness Committee, when we did all the research, there’s so few services in Richmond and a lack of transportation,” committee Chair Pamela Rohland said. “Older adults are at risk for isolation, and everywhere I turn, I’m reading medical research about how to avoid dementia. Social engagement is the main thing.”

In Richmond and Hopkinton, the lack of a robust public transportation system leaves residents dependent on driving, and when people are no longer able to drive, they often find themselves stuck at home.

With new cuts proposed for South County’s already limited RIPTA bus service, Sen. Elaine Morgan, R-District 34, who represents the three towns as well as Charlestown and West Greenwich, said it would be more important than ever to find ways to help older residents get around.

“With the services being re-routed and cut for RIPTA, this is a great piggyback off of that, because, if we can get enough volunteers, we won’t need RIPTA to bring our elderly population in Canonchet Cliffs and Saugatucket Springs where they depend on services to get them to appointments,” she said. “I think we need to focus on finding volunteers to fill this little void that we have.”

Richmond Human Services Director Kate Schimmel also attended the information session and supports the idea of a Richmond Common village.

One of Schimmel’s goals for 2025 is bringing the Village Common to Richmond and “recruiting volunteers to assist seniors with daily living needs.”

Village Common R.I. Executive Director Caroline Dillon explained the village concept to the guests.

“It’s natural to need help and it’s important to ask for help, and that’s where a village comes in, of trained and vetted volunteers, ready to serve older adults,” she said. “It is neighbors helping neighbors, it is older adult helping older adult through the concept of a village. … As we grow older, we want to stay in our homes and our communities where we’ve been living. We hope that we don’t have to go to that next level of care for something like not being able to roll out a trash barrel or not being able to drive and get your groceries on a winter day. And that’s where a village of volunteers comes in handy.”

The goals of the information session were twofold: attract new members to the three new villages and recruit volunteers.

“Everybody does a lot,” Dillon said, “and what we love about our non-profit is that there’s an opportunity for anybody with any interest – we have a volunteer spot for them.

The Village Common History

Inspired by an initiative that began 25 years ago in Beacon Hill, Mass., the Village Common of R.I. has been active in Rhode Island for 10 years and currently has “villages” in 11 towns. There are 400 villages nationwide.

The Rhode Island group has 550 volunteers who provide practical assistance and opportunities for members, who number about 700, to participate in social and cultural activities.

Dillon explained that the towns had expressed an interest in starting their own villages.

“Exeter, it’s the Social Services Director Jess DeMartino,” she said. “She approached us, because she had heard about it. In Richmond, it was Pamela [Rohland] and in Hopkinton, it was Barbara Miller. They had all heard about the village and they were excited and so, they approached us, and we’ve kind of been meeting individually with them.”

The Village Common of R.I. is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit, whose members pay dues.

“Members pay dues on a pay-what-you-can basis,” Dillon said. “We don’t call it a sliding scale, because we don’t do means testing. It’s pay what you can.”

Dues comprise 20% of the organization’s revenue. The rest comes from donations and grants.

“That pays for volunteer background checks, training, the infrastructure required.”

There are 3.25 full time equivalent employees.

Members requesting services do so by phone, and the calls are answered by volunteers.

“That whole computer platform, the telephone platform, everything has costs, so all the dues, donations and grants help to pay for all the expenses,” Dillon said.

What Do Residents Think?

Judy Weremay lives in Richmond and likes the idea of older adults supporting each other as they remain in their homes.

Weremay said she was still driving, but wanted to explore her options, when she can’t drive anymore.

“A few years from now, I may be facing that myself, and I have an eye condition,” she said.

Robin and Don Nunes, also of Richmond, were intrigued by the concept.

“I’m newly retired,” Don said, “and I was thinking about looking into Meals on Wheels, something like that, and then she [Robin] heard about this, so we thought we’d check it out.”

Robin added, “I read about it and I saw that the closest village was Westerly, and I’m like ‘oh well, too bad they didn’t have something local that we could do here.’ And I saw that it was coming here and I’m like, ‘we gotta check it out and see what they’re going to do, and hopefully, they can do something here.’”

Another Richmond resident, IT professional, Carl Smigielski, plans to retire in the next few years and is interested in becoming a volunteer.

“I came because the idea intrigued me,” he said. “I learned about seniors helping seniors as an idea, maybe a year ago, and as I’m getting closer to retirement, I’m not sure when that will happen, it will be within five years, what am I going to replace it with? And so, then I heard about the Common and I said ‘that’s the idea!’”

Residents interested in volunteering, or learning more about the Village Common of R.I., can go to the Village Common of R.I. website, where they will find a volunteer application.