Active older adults are increasingly seeking non-institutional housing options that provide both independence and community. In response, innovative housing models that emphasize these needs are springing up around the country.

To explore this growing movement, the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement will host a daylong conference on “Creating Intentional Communities for the Second Half of Life” on from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, July 28, at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. The conference will showcase various types of community-building housing, including cohousing, elder cohousing, Eldershires and naturally occurring retirement communities.

“Mutually enhancing and supportive housing arrangements may enable people to live longer and more independently in their own homes, stay socially engaged, mix with multiple generations, stretch retirement savings and enjoy the benefits of stimulating exchanges of ideas and experiences with neighbors,” said conference organizer Ron Manheimer, North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement executive director.

The conference will feature national leaders in the elder intentional communities movement who will explain and illustrate this movement and its potential for older adults and the 78 million Baby Boomer market. Topics will appeal to a wide audience, including individuals considering organizing or living in cohousing communities, as well as architects, planners, developers and health care professionals. In addition to lectures on Friday, July 28, optional field trips to nearby cohousing communities will be available on Saturday, July 29.

“Creating Intentional Communities in the Second Half of Life” is sponsored by the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement in partnership with the Mountain Area Health Education Center, the Asheville Section of the American Institute of Architects, AARP North Carolina and the Elder Cohousing Network.

Registration prior to July 1 is $100 or $125 after. The cost includes lunch and refreshments.

For more information or to register, call the N.C. Center for Creative Retirement or click on www.unca.edu/ncccr/CIC_conference/index.htm.