Sunnyside East Village's next monthly Coffee Break event will be on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 9:30 am at New Seasons Market in Happy Valley. Social connections are critical to living a healthy lifestyle and our Coffee Break offers an opportunity to connect with others who are interested in the Village movement. It also gives us an opportunity to provide updates on our particular Village's progress. Please join us!

We will be gathering for our Coffee Break in the New Seasons Market cafe area, just inside the store, which is located at 15861 SE Happy Valley Town Center Drive, Happy Valley. PLEASE NOTE: Previously, our Coffee Break event was scheduled for the third Friday of every month. We've changed it to the third Thursday of each month.

Sunnyside East Village is planning three events for April:

Sunday, April 7th, 2024
Sunnyside East Village is scheduling a Breakfast-Together event for Sunday, April 7th at 8:30 am. Join us for socializing and a yummy breakfast at Biscuits Cafe, 17015 SE Sunnyside Rd, Happy Valley. Biscuits specializes in omelets, scrambles, waffles, and homemade biscuits and gravy. Check out their menu and join us on April 7th!

Friday, April 12th, 2024
Join us for our first Happy Hour Social at Stanford's Restaurant, 8416 SE Sunnyside Rd, Happy Valley. We'll meet at 5 pm in the bar area. Enjoy good food and drink selections with us at reasonable happy hour (3 pm - 6 pm) prices. Check out their menu and meet up with us on April 12th.

Friday, April 19th, 2024
Please join us for Sunnyside East Village's monthly Coffee Break event on Friday, April 19th, 9:30 am at New Seasons Market. It's a chance for us to tell you about the progress we've made in creating a new Village in Happy Valley/Clackamas for people who want to age-in-place. And it's a chance for you to tell us what services you'd like to see the Village offer. Rides to doctor appointments? Help stringing the Christmas lights? A friendly visit while you recover from knee surgery?

There are dozens of Villages providing services throughout the United States. These aren't cookie-cutter operations. Each one is established to serve the needs of people who live within its boundaries. Please come to our Coffee Break and help us build our Village.

We will be gathering for our Coffee Break in the New Seasons Market cafe area, just inside the store, which is located at 15861 SE Happy Valley Town Center Drive, Happy Valley.

Take a break from your Friday morning routine and join the folks from Sunnyside East Village for a Coffee Break on Friday, March 15th, 9:30 am. Sunnyside East Village is a new Village making plans to join the Villages NW network to help seniors age-in-place in Happy Valley/Clackamas. Strong social connections can help people stay in their homes and this Coffee Break is one small piece of that puzzle. We'd like to meet you and learn about any concerns you might have as you grow older.

Outreach to the community is the next phase in our development and we'd love to have your help! We want to post our flyers where potential volunteers and members might see them. And we want to set up information tables at community events. Please bring your ideas to our Coffee Break and help us make a plan!

We will be gathering for our Coffee Break in the New Seasons Market cafe area, just inside the store, which is located at 15861 SE Happy Valley Town Center Drive, Happy Valley. 

Please join us for the February SEV meeting at New Seasons Market on Friday, February 16th at 9:30 am to learn about progress with our organizational development. This is a new venue for our meeting. New Seasons is located at 15861 SE Happy Valley Town Center Dr, Happy Valley. We suggest a $5 cash donation which goes toward organizational expenses.

At our January meeting we asked attendees to introduce themselves and to answer the icebreaker question “what is your superpower?” It was great fun to learn that in our midst we had a calligrapher, a bread baker, a listener, a talker, a quilter, and more. Our icebreaker question for this month will be “what is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?”

In addition to providing an update on Village development, we will be inviting participants to help us brainstorm about using social media to increase awareness of the Village. We’d love to have your thoughts on Facebook, Instagram, and Nextdoor.

Sunnyside East Village offers a variety of volunteer opportunities:

Organizational. On the administrative side, we need people to help with membership development, volunteer coordination, and publicity. We currently need to fill three positions:

Workspace Tech. Provides support to our Village volunteers who use Google Workspace for communications and scheduling.

Outreach Coordinator. Identifies places to present our promotional materials, develops presentations, and monitors the effectiveness of our efforts.

Activities/Events Coordinator. Identifies events where we can promote our Village and get together to socialize.

Member Services. After our Village launches, we will need volunteers to provide services to members. This includes tasks like driving to appointments, household chores, garden work, and tech support.

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact us.

When Carol VanderMiller attended a Village at the Falls fundraiser last summer, she was intrigued and wondered if a Village could be formed in the Happy Valley area. She met with Board members of Villages NW to learn more and decided to accept the challenge of starting a new Village.

Carol's career path makes her well suited to meet this challenge. She has held positions as project manager, human resources manager, consultant, and start-up team member in a diversity of industries. She also has 30+ years of experience as a volunteer for a variety of arts, social services, and political organizations. And she currently offers her services as a coach and counselor in the holistic health care field. Carol has a passion for travel, genealogy research, gardening, music, dancing, and fishing.

Carol is excited about the possibilities for improving lives with the Village movement. "I hope to see the senior population of Happy Valley/Clackamas come together to enjoy social times and support each other as we age in place," she said. "We can team with local churches, adult communities, and services for seniors to add quality to the lives of elders in our community."We feel fortunate to have Carol serving as Chair of the Sunnyside East Village Organizing Committee!