Dover-Foxcroft looks to become more age friendly

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Earlier this year an application made by the town of Dover-Foxcroft to join the AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age Friendly Communities was approved. The designation will enable the town to utilize AARP resources, at no charge, to make the community more age friendly through the organization’s policies and infrastructure improvements.

A kick-off meeting was held on the morning of March 30 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building as the town will be working with the AARP to make the community more age friendly, with improvements benefiting not just senior citizens but all residents.

“What we want to do is talk about this recent designation as an Age Friendly Community,” Town Manager Jack Clukey said. He said those involved in the initiative will be looking at what resources are already in place, such as the future Maine Highlands Senior Center at Central Hall and walking trails, and what is lacking.

“What we really want to understand is what we are doing well and what we can improve,” Clukey said. “We can focus the efforts on what we are already doing and in by doing that we are really encouraging people of all ages to be here.”

Clukey said over the ensuing six to 12 months the town will be working with the University of Maine on an assessment to see where Dover-Foxcroft is strong and where resources should be focused. Once this work is finished a standing age friendly committee will oversee improvements to the community.
The age friendly community ties in with the existing Piscataquis Thriving in Place (TIP) Collaborative, Clukey said.

TIP Project Director Meg Callaway explained this initiative, which is funded by the Maine Health Access Foundation with the $300,000 having a funding period from Nov. 1, 2014 to the end of October 2017 and is facilitated by the Charlotte White Center, seeks to improve coordination across the continuum of care for people in Piscataquis County with chronic conditions to enable them to stay in their homes through the integration and coordination of existing services and the creation of a sustainable resource and referral network. These residents, including senior citizens and those with disabilities, are at an increased risk for hospitalization or other forms of institutional care.

“We are really looking to redeploy some of our resources to support this age friendly process,” Callaway said, with an emphasis on programs that can be long lasting. She said Dexter and Milo have applied for the age friendly status and Greenville is the midst of putting together the necessary paperwork to seek AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age Friendly Communities.

“When a community joins the Network of Age Friendly Communities they are including an age friendly lens in everything they do,” said AARP Maine Age Friendly Consultant Patricia Oh. She mentioned walkways constructed wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs and in-law apartments being added to zoning regulations as examples.

Oh said the age friendly committee will be tasked with looking at the AARP’s eight domains of livability — domain outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, civic participation and employment, communication and information and community and health services.

“You are not just looking at one aspect of community, you are looking at how this entire community can be covered by this umbrella of age friendly community,” Oh said. “There is no community ever that says we want to spend $1 million of taxpayer money on the problems,” she said, as low and no cost solutions will always be considered first.

“What we are hoping to leave with today is a sense in the next step in the process,” Callaway said. “We want to assemble an ad hoc committee to work with (University of Maine economics professor Dr. David Wihry) and his colleagues and the TIP to develop a survey that can be used by any of the towns.”
Callaway said the survey questions will ask residents what they think would make Dover-Foxcroft more age friendly. “We are hoping to gather six to eight individuals in the town,” to serve on ad hoc committee.

She said once the surveys have been collected and analysed, the second, standing committee will begin “to start working on the actual plan to be more age friendly.”

Speaking on the surveys, Dr. Wihry said, “At the core of it, it is learning more about the town of Dover and the strengths it has as a community and I also think it is about the challenges it faces.”
Maine Highlands Senior Center President Dr. Lesley Fernow said the in-progress project at Central Hall will be a vital component of making Dover-Foxcroft more age friendly. She said the about two-thirds of the first floor will be an adult day services center and the remainder will be a senior commons area for these residents to gather in a social setting.

Dr. Fernow said State Rep. Norm Higgins (R-Dover-Foxcroft) recently toured the facility. “Norm has put in a bill in the Legislature for one-time funding for our adult day services center at Central Hall,” she said, with $150,000 being sought.

“We have a hearing next week,” Dr. Fernow said, with the session scheduled for Friday, April 7 at 1 p.m. in Augusta. “I am excited at the idea we will at least get a hearing,” she said, as written testimony on the project can also be submitted.

“An important next step I would say is try to think of people we might approach for the ad hoc committee,” Callaway said at the conclusion of the kick-off event. “If there is enough of us collectively doing the work we will make an impact.”

“It is really a no-brainer if you look at our mission,” Clukey said about the age friendly community status. “We want to have a community people want to move to, live in and stay here.”

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
AGE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY — AARP Maine Age Friendly Consultant Patricia Oh presents Dover-Foxcroft Town Manager Jack Clukey with a framed certificate signifying the town as a member of the AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age Friendly Communities during a program kick-off event on March 30 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building. The designation will enable the town to utilize AARP resources to make the community more age friendly through the organization’s policies and infrastructure improvements.

Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom
NOT JUST FOR SENIORS — Residents of Dover-Foxcroft attending a kick-off meeting for the town’s new membership in the AARP/World Health Organization Network of Age Friendly Communities pose for a photo with a framed program program certificate on March 30 at the Morton Avenue Municipal Building. The designation will enable the town to utilize AARP resources to make the community more age friendly through the organization’s policies and infrastructure improvements, with benefiting being not just for senior citizens but for all residents.