Eleanor Childers was traveling as a courier, carrying classified information about the Pan-American Highway. World War II was under way, and Childers was working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Costa Rica to build an alternative transportation route in case the Panama Canal was attacked.

As the ABHOW family prepares for the 2010 annual meeting Feb. 18-20, host community Plymouth Village will wrap up its 50th anniversary year by sharing its unique relationship with Redlands, Calif.

As a boy growing up in the Philippines, Ancel Romero saw what can happen to seniors who can’t afford proper housing. “I’ve seen older folks in the Philippines that live in cardboard boxes or shanties,” he says.