Why We Started

Charting a New Path for What It Means to Age in Place

The Community Living Campaign was founded in 2007 by a small group of activists who had worked for decades to make San Francisco a better place for seniors and people with disabilities.

These leaders – Luis Calderon, Vera Hale, Marie Jobling, and Norma Satten – sought to redefine how people think about long-term care.

Thanks to their vision, the Community Living Campaign is charting a new path for what it means to age in place in San Francisco.

At the Community Living Campaign, we look at the whole picture for what a person needs to age in place successfully. This includes having friends nearby you can call on for help, as well as financial security and a home that enhances your dignity. It means having real choices and the ability to make your own decisions, as well as opportunities to learn, get active, and give back.

It’s having a good life by truly living “in community.” And together, we can ensure everyone has the supports, skills, and tools to do just this.

Our Values

Community Living Campaign fosters the power and potential of friendship to transform lives and strengthen communities. Helping individuals have a good life means:

• Achieving Basic Financial Security
• Ending Isolation and Loneliness
• Living In a Home That Enhances Dignity
• Contributing to Others and the Community
• Having Real Choices and Making One’s Own Decisions
• Participating in Communities that Celebrate Diversity
• Building Communities that Value Fairness, Equality and Justice

Our Statement of Community

“Community:” a group of people, sharing common interests and experiences, who affirm, support and challenge each other to act powerfully, both individually and collectively, to defend and advance their values and interests.

The means by which they typically do this is by working together and by:

• • Celebrating their individual and collective gifts, contributions and talents;
    reflecting on the meaning of the values, traditions or bonds that bring them together;
  • Education to deepen their understanding of the context and history of which their community is a part;
  • Training to improve their individual and collective confidence and competence;
  • Resolving conflicts in ways that strengthen relationships and engender respect;
  • Action in the world to realize their values and interests. The methods of action are self-help, mutual aid, and institutional change.

Building community is a process that requires patience, creativity, and the ability to truly listen.