The Varieties of Civic Involvement: Senior Sage Leaders

Of course, there is more to the story than just collaborative relationships between the community’s government and nonprofit sectors. In many ways, as noted previously, the culture of Twin Towns contributes to what Alexis de Tocqueville (and later Robert Bellah and his colleagues) called “habits of the heart.” This is particularly the case among its senior sage leaders. As Hillary Clinton wrote about children needing to be raised by a village, perhaps seniors are most able to find a calling when they live in communities like Twin Towns that have both heart and place value on the lives of everyone there.

Many senior sage leaders came to Nevada County from other communities in California or other regions of the United States. To a person they note how remarkable it is that Grass Valley and Nevada City are able to respond rapidly to individuals and families who are in crisis—and how flexible and often entrepreneurial nonprofit organizations can be in making this happen. For instance, when senior volunteers at Habit for Humanity temporarily run out of home building projects, they often contact nonprofit organizations to see if they can help. The commitment, responsiveness, and organizational ability among these senior leaders are particularly poignant, given that many of them don’t have the deep roots of continuity often found there.

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References

Robert Bellah and Others (1985) Habits of the Heart, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Hillary Clinton (2006) It Takes A Village.(10th Anniversary Ed) New York: Simon and Schuster.

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