Trading Places, a periodic series of reports on NBC Nightly News that looks into how the network’s journalists are caring for their own families, recently profiled anchor Brian Williams’ mother and father-in-law, both of whom are aging in place.
Patricia and Hudson Stoddard, who are 83 and 91 years old, respectively, have been married for more than 60 years and still live in their New Canaan, Conn. home with help from a local program called Staying Put, part of the Village to Village network.
“It’s kind of assisted living, for living right at home,” Williams said, citing a 2013 AARP survey that found most seniors still prefer to stay in their homes if they can.
While many of the Stoddards’ friends have left their homes and moved into assisted living or other retirement communities, the two are planning on aging in place as long as possible in the comfort of their own home.
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“It makes such a difference,” Hudson Stoddard told Williams in the segment.
The local Staying Put organization has about 300 members and, like most of the Village groups, is run on a mostly volunteer basis.
“[It’s a] one phone call away resource for whatever,” Patricia Stoddard said, including transportation for Hudson, who no longer drives.
Although the Stoddards have three adult children—one of whom is married to Williams—they’re not always available to provide care.
“We aren’t here 24 hours a day. There are going to be gaps,” Williams said, “and so this is almost a big blanket insurance policy.”
View the segment above, or visit NBC News for more videos in the Trading Places series.
Written by Alyssa Gerace
