Bringing Together Lifetime Learners

Charter House is what is known as a CCRC, a continuing care retirement community. There are about 2,000 of them in this country. They differ from nursing homes in that they care for people no matter what needs might develop -- beginning with independent living.

Just as Charter House has a link to the Mayo Clinic, other CCRCs are being built with connections to colleges and universities. The Kendal Corp. has built six such communities at such sites as Hanover, N.H. (Dartmouth) and Ithaca, N.Y. (Cornell).

They attract alumni, retired staff members, parents of faculty and people who just like the intellectual stimulation of a college town. The common thread is that "they attract lifelong learners," says Bill Silbert, Kendal's director of marketing.

At Charter House, residents must enter in the independent-living section, which has 235 apartments. Beyond that, there are 46 assisted-living rooms and 32 supportive-care rooms, the latter of which provide the most intensive nursing care.

Though the building struggled to find residents when it opened in 1985, there is now a wait list of 320.

Charter House is an affiliate of the Mayo Clinic, and Mayo medical staff cross the street to the building to perform some health-care functions such as lab tests.

Says Charter House's administrator, Tony Enquist, "Lots of people say, 'I've come to Mayo for the last 50 years for my annual checkup. I can't think of a better place to be than Mayo.' "

For more information on CCRCs, check with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging at http://www.aahsa.org.