During a hurricane, Asheville seniors formed a pod that may help them age in place | CNN

It’s Sunday afternoon and Nancy Miller-Green, 83, is knocking on doors to remind neighbors about the weekly dinner at her house. She’s spent the afternoon preparing a shrimp and corn chowder, which she’ll serve with some red wine. Rapping on Maria Pugliese’s door, she’s surprised when it cracks open. “Are you coming tonight, Maria?” Miller-Green asks after pressing inside. “We all want to see you.” Pugliese, 51, says she’ll try her best, and Miller-Green continues her rounds in the cul-de-sac. The guests arrive as the afternoon light dims on this Asheville, North Carolina, community. Eight neighbors, including Pugliese, sit around the coffee table sipping wine and nibbling on cheese cubes and fish dip, a black cat named Aura circling their ankles. Some are former social workers or therapists who have spent their professional lives caring for other people. All are over 50 years old, and the oldest is in her 90s. Half are lesbians. Most don’t have children. They tease each other as close friends do about one’s dark sense of humor and another’s taste in wine. But the conversation inevitably veers to the honest realities of aging. Married couple Va Boyle, 91,