Hi, it’s Mary-Elizabeth 👋🏾

That place you just imagined—that fun, tall residential community center—is what I’m calling a vertical village, or a caring community for and by neighbors in multifamily housing.

And by “neighbors,” I’m imagining all kinds of people of all ages.

Culturally, we’re not at that place but…

To confine our thinking to current conditions is to stifle our future.

Our creative power lies in our imagination, and I believe “if we can imagine it, we can make it.” Eventually. The trick is not to let the way things seem on the surface fool us otherwise. And the trick to making something wonderful is to include as many viewpoints as we can.

Countless people are feeling unseen, powerless or lacking in purpose. All of that can be erased with the power of vertical villages.

And the process of starting to grow one (or a village of any kind) is as simple as learning the name of one neighbor to your left and right—physically and/or politically.

Here are some of the many potential perks of growing a vertical village:

• Uniting people.
• Connecting villagers to resources.
• Promoting healthy living.
• Reducing loneliness and social isolation across ages.
• Nurturing youth and helping older adults to live in community.
• Sparking creativity and joy!
• Providing home-based volunteer and business opportunities.
• Providing opportunities to learn and teach skills.
• Creating a culture of care and support networks for caregivers.
• Reminding us that we’re all the same and interdependent.

If those are realities you want to help create…

The Alliance is about fostering cross-sector partnerships to help unlock caring communities and economies for and by neighbors, enhanced with home-based or close by medical care.

Caring neighbors are must-have Alliance members along with these others:

Join The Alliance now for a launch in late 2026.