The Washington Area Villages Exchange (WAVE) is a forum through which nonprofit villages in the Washington D.C metropolitan area share experience and ideas. It works with senior serving and inter-generational organizations and agencies, and encourages the growth and improvement of the village movement within the Washington area.

WAVE has multiple meetings each year hosted by member organizations on a rotating basis in the three jurisdictions of DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The meetings include speakers covering topics of interest to the member organizations with time for questions. After the main presentation, specific time is provided for a couple of concurrent discussion groups focusing on areas of interest to member villages.

Contact us at:

Washington Area Villages Exchange

P.O. Box 7464

Alexandria, VA  22307-0464

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Message from WAVE Board President Leigh Sempeles

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Dear WAVE Villages and Friends,  

First of all, let me tell you how honored I am to be serving as the President of the WAVE Board for 2020. WAVE is the largest regional consortium of Villages in the U.S. and I’m grateful for the opportunity to work on behalf of the organization and the Village movement. More than ever before, our movement’s mission is essential to developing, coordinating, and delivering home and community-based services through a core of volunteers that help older adults remain in their homes and communities as they age.

In light of the coronavirus crisis, the Board of Directors has decided that we are postponing the quarterly WAVE meeting originally planned for April 27, 2020. Rather than rescheduling at this time, we will do so as the public health landscape clears and reliable sources such as the CDC as well as state and local Departments of Health reassure the entire population that it is indeed safe to gather.

I encourage you to share information and Village best practices. You will find a link on the WAVE website (“About Us” tab) to all WAVE member Village websites that include newsletters and other materials. Also, the Village to Village Network Facebook page has a wealth of information that is being posted from Village members across the country.  

As an example of communication sharing, the Villages of Kensington has taken these specific actions regarding virus information dissemination:

• Phone tree calls to members to reassure, to find out member-specific needs and to discover who is particularly isolated or in some other way adversely affected by this situation.
• Communication via email and snail mail encouraging members to check the Village website and the posted links to CDC, Departments of Health and Hotlines.
• Creation of a dedicated coronavirus site listed on the website.

Thank you all and take good care.    

-- Leigh