The Greening of Aging
William Thomas | physician, farmer
Two more of the projects have now broken ground, and the Green House Project has also received a $10 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that will allow it to rapidly replicate in all 50 states. Both Baltimore and New York City are planning apartment-style, vertical Green Houses that create the same family atmosphere in the city.
Thomas, the ultimate ideas man, has handed off the day-to-day operation of the Green House Project to trusted associates and has begun focusing on what might be the closest project yet to his heart, Eldershire, a multigenerational "intentional community" that he plans to build on his property in Summer Hill. In the past, he has struggled to translate the world of Summer Hill into nursing homes. With Eldershire, the home will become another part of his growing garden.
AGE: 46 CAREER: Founder of the Eden Alternative nursing homes EDUCATION: State University of New York-Cortland; Harvard Medical School FAMILY: Married, five children QUOTE: "People of all ages will live better lives when we...bring elders back to the heart of our society."
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