Sonya Norton,
Board of Directors

Sonya is developing an active volunteer life since retiring. Having time and a commitment to give back led her to Villages NW where she helped on their fundraising platform in 2017. The premise of working in a grassroots volunteer organization helping valued seniors age actively in their homes is a way to serve in her community. She currently serves as Secretary of the Villages NW Board of Directors.

Sonya volunteers with Clackamas County’s Aging Services Advisory Council with interest in seniors, service equity for seniors and liaison to the county’s adult centers including the Milwaukie Center, which provides neighborhood connections. Her interest in her healthcare system led her to serve as a member/partner with the Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital Advisory Council prior to the COVID disruption.

She helped establish Rivers East Village starting in 2018, which is one of the Villages NW spoke villages. After two years of public and private outreach as well as providing socialization to Milwaukie-Gladstone seniors, this village formally opened March 2020. Sonya serves as the current Governing Council Chair, volunteers to lead the village marketing and fundraising committees and serves with the social/community building committee, as well as participates with several of the joint villages affinity groups to share ideas. She represents Rivers East Village with the Gladstone/Oak Lodge Rotary participating with that group in their community volunteer efforts.

As a native Oregonian, she had a busy career in sales management for business and transportation industries. Sonya looks to use experiences from working with an extensively broad base of people and a business management degree from Portland State University for connecting neighbors to live in, and relate to, their communities.

Life After Loss Conference Presentation:
Villages NW

Many resources are available to support various kinds of living situations for those whose life partners have passed away. Villages NW is a terrific source to support those who seek to “age-in-place.” Its mission is “To create dynamic, intentionally inclusive, caring communities that connect, engage, and support older adults as they maintain active and purposeful lives.”