WHY WE DO IT? Our inspiring CEO, Joanne Hickox, has found her purpose in life… supporting older adults. Some time ago Joanne coined the phrase
"Most seniors can't go to Zimbabwe and build an orphanage, but they can help a local nonprofit complete a HUGE project in 4 or 5 hours."
That was in 1998, over 27 years ago, and since then, the award winning "Seniors on a Mission" has provided, and continues to provide daylong, team-oriented mission service trips. Including a nutritious lunch and HUGS all the way around!
Then came COVID… Joanne was horror struck when she realized that when Seniors on a Mission service trips were cancelled by the government, her seniors and many others were locked down in homes with isolation, depression, nutritional and financial distress. That was the spark for her next God mission, 'Purposeful Living' and the vision for a G3 Village was born.
WHAT WE DO? We (G3 Foundation Inc) are a Christian Community Developer, we find plots of land, throughout the nation, of 20+acres and develop them into a 'G3 Village', where the 'Forgotten Middle' of modest-moderate income older adults can live and embrace aging successfully, grounded in purpose and filled with hope and joy. A G3 Village has three distinct zones, the 'Mission House' surrounded by homestead farming, the 'Founders Park' and the 'G3 Outreach', the public area near the front entrance. When built, a G3 Village is operated by a local team of staff and its residents, as a self-sustaining, regenerative, independent living community.
The Forgotten Middle... In a low-income bracket, HUD assistance is available. Higher incomes, don't need housing assistance, they are paying $5,000 or more per month for retirement living. But the forgotten middle seniors are living in homes they can barely afford, often in isolation, with daily nutritional and financial distress. The G3 Foundation Inc, champions for the squeezed out middle!
HOW WE DO IT? We are a non-profit organization with a 501(c)(3) application pending. A typical G3 Village costs approximately $25-million.
We work on two levels,
1: Major Champions to donate or assist buying land along with Founders to buildout specific areas of G3 Villages,
and
2: Ministry giving to cover our home office operating costs.
Listen before clicking the map.
The American Dream is killing our senior population. We sold them a lie: Work hard, buy a home, retire, and sit on the porch. But that porch has become a prison. Isolated in aging homes they can’t maintain, eating processed food alone, our seniors are dying of isolation and loneliness.
"Me & G3" is the story of how one woman—a Hollywood accountant turned
accidental missionary—discovered that the cure for aging isn't rest; it's Purposeful Living.
This is not just a memoir; it is a spiritual odyssey spanning 63 years. The story of Joanne, a Canadian farm girl who tried to run from her roots only to realize they were her saving grace.
