By Leslie Askew, CNN
(CNN) – "Before my mother's ... experience, I never even looked at seniors on the street," said Irene Zola. "They were pretty much invisible to me."
In 2008, Zola's mother, Faye, was admitted into a nursing home after suffering a stroke.
"I knew from that very first night I would have to spend a lot of time there," she said. "I didn't want to leave my mother in a place where people were ignoring her."
Four months later, Zola's mother passed away.
"I was outraged that our culture doesn't have a place for very old people except in nursing homes," she said. "I decided that I wanted to do something about that."
A New York native and 30-year resident of Morningside Heights - a neighborhood on Manhattan's upper west side - Zola researched the senior population and how their needs were being met and found a solution in her own backyard.
"[A] friend said, 'What about having some people in our neighborhood taking care of the elders who live here?' "
Borrowing on that idea, Zola started Morningside Village in 2009, an initiative that pairs the elderly in her neighborhood with local volunteers who assist them with their day-to-day needs.
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