Effort to keep seniors in their homes longer set to expand to Portsmouth. Here's how.

They were once called the Greater Village of Newport.

Now, a group of volunteers have expanded and are called the Aquidneck Island Village.

Mary Alice Smith, the co-chair of the village, said that soon seniors could rely on volunteers to help them run errands, fix Internet issues or just change a lightbulb.

At first, the village was going to represent Middletown and Newport. Now, that group has expanded its range and will cover Portsmouth.

Caroline Dillon, executive director of The Village Common of Rhode Island, and members of her non-profit staff began meeting with locals last spring and later this year the Village volunteers are expected to start work.

“We've responded to people's interest and expressions of wanting services in their areas since we began this project. When we learned at our first public meeting in February in Newport how many people from Middletown were interested, we expanded to include them,” Smith said recently.

“We also received feedback from our Middletown gathering in March that folks there feel the Greater Newport Village name makes Middletown residents and officials feel less visible and important than Newport. We wanted to be more inclusive.”

Based on that mindset, the group’s range has expanded and it will now cover Middletown’s neighbor to the north, while also becoming the Aquidneck Island Village.

“We have three Steering Committee members from Portsmouth who strongly advocated for expanding our geographic coverage to Portsmouth and are enthusiastic about doing outreach to the Portsmouth community,” Smith also said.

She said the steering committee voted unanimously at the April 18 meeting to expand and change the name.

“The Village Common of Rhode Island (which oversees all the villages) gives us the flexibility to respond to such feedback and to shift our service area and name as we deem appropriate,” Smith added.

“We all felt it would be easier to change the name now than to rebrand later.

Members will want transportation to many doctors offices and other destinations in Portsmouth, so our volunteers will be driving there anyway.”

In an interview earlier this year, Smith said she hopes to launch the group in the spring. However, the group awaits more feedback and will conduct more outreach.

There will be an informational session at the Portsmouth Free Public Library on Wednesday, May 22, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

The program is a worldwide one that began in Boston in 2002 and then in Providence in 2015.

The volunteers are subjected to background checks and are trained, according to Smith.

The Greater Village volunteers do not offer health assistance or medical care. But unlike a local senior center, volunteers can enter seniors’ homes and help them with small chores and repairs, as well as run errands such as medication pickups and deliveries.

“It’s that added bit of help for people who need help with the challenges of aging,” Smith said during an interview earlier this year.

Smith said the program is endorsed by the American Association of Retired Persons and the World Health Organization.

In Rhode Island, the Village Common operates in a building in Providence. Since starting in that city, there are now “villages” in  Barrington, Burrillville, Edgewood, Gloucester and Westerly, according to a written release. When a senior calls, it goes to all volunteers within that community. The first responder then visits the senior’s home.

“They are a fantastic group from the community,” Dillon said during an interview earlier this year about the Aquidneck Island group. “They are passionate and driven and we are thrilled to be working alongside them.”

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Village Common of Rhode Island expands to Portsmouth