AgeBetter, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) organization whose members are two well-established nonprofit retirement communities in Dane County, Wisconsin: Attic Angel Association and Oakwood Village.

Formerly named Madison Area Continuing Care Consortium, AgeBetter, Inc., began as an LLC in 1998. In 2006, and just a year after launching the Sharing Active Independent Lives (SAIL) program, we applied for and were approved as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

We soon learned about an organization similar to our SAIL program that’s located in Boston, MA: Beacon Hill Village. Today, SAIL is considered the nation’s second oldest “village” among more than 260 other villages that were created since 2006. SAIL is a charter member of the Village to Village Network—a national association of villages.

A 2017 strategic planning retreat with key stakeholders resulted in a new plan for our organization. This plan generated the creation of a full-time Executive Director position dedicated to developing new initiatives in addition to ensuring long-term sustainability of the SAIL program. In 2018, we changed our name to AgeBetter, Inc., to represent the holistic focus of our organization’s plan and future vision.

We added the following initiatives:

• Affordable housing for seniors
• Community-based garden program benefiting residents of AgeBetter’s member organization residents, SAIL members, and additional community participants
• Training and education center for people working with older adults
• Shared professional services for our member organizations and AgeBetter-sponsored programs