In the introduction of his book, "Outliers," Malcolm Gladwell talks about a town where people simply died of old age. Not disease, not addiction, not chronic illness. People lived to a ripe old age free of the conditions that seemed to be prevalent among residents of neighboring towns and villages.

A local doctor was struck by the fact he rarely saw heart disease in his patients from this particular town. As this was the 1950s, heart attacks were at almost epidemic levels in much of the country. But not in this little town in Pennsylvania just north of the Lehigh Valley.

The doctor began to do some investigating about this strange phenomenon in Roseto. He partnered with people in the fields of medicine, psychology, sociology, anthropology and nutrition. What they discovered was astonishing and perplexing at the same time.

The Italian immigrants who settled in Roseto were not genetic anomalies or freaks of nature. They did not come from some abnormally hardy European "stock." Their diet was not the lean Mediterranean one that would have been expected. Rather, they had come to eat much like their neighbors in Nazareth, Bangor and other area settled by Germans. And their exercise level was almost identical to their fellow citizens who also worked as laborers or farmers. Yet, they were not falling prey to heart disease, ulcers, alcoholism or drug addiction. On top of that, there was very little crime or poverty in Roseto compared to the nearby towns.

If the way the people lived, worked and ate were all pretty much the same, and genetics didn't play into the equation, what then, could explain the fact that people in Roseto were dying of old age? There seemed to be only one reason why this was happening.

There was a unique sense of community that the Rosetans had created for themselves here in the foothills of eastern Pennsylvania.

It was noted the residents of Roseto, immigrants from the Foggia region of Italy, displayed habits and ways of interacting that were different than those in the other towns. People in 1950-ish Roseto took time to talk with neighbors. They helped each other out not only during times of need, but in everyday life. They cared about each other's families; they worshipped together and shared what they had with others. No one went hungry or unnoticed. Three-generation families under one roof were common. Civic organizations were numerous, and everyone contributed in some way to the well-being of the community.

"The Roseto Mystery," as Gladwell calls it, challenged medicine and science to look at health in a whole new way. There appears to be a correlation between the health status of individuals and the strength of the community in which they live. Certainly, life choices and genetics play a critical role in one's likelihood to lead a long life. Yet, when these things were controlled for the people of Roseto, they lived longer than their counterparts. And the only variable was the very strong sense of unity and purpose in their community.

The culture created by the Italian immigrants who settled the little town of Roseto is a possibility for all communities. It means everyone buying into the idea that we are all here to support each other. It means embracing the idea that it does indeed take a village.

It means committing to work together to create a community where our youth can live to reach a ripe old age, free of disease and addiction, crime and despair. All it takes is a community that cares.