Aging in Place, Made Easier

This fall, Scarsdale hopes to roll out an aging-in-place program designed to assist residents 60 and over to stay in the communities where they have lived most of their adult lives. 

By doing so, it will join a growing movement in Westchester county for community-based, grassroots, aging-in-place programs that are the best hope for aging residents to stay in their own homes. 

There are 187,000 people over 60 in Westchester, and the County estimates the number will grow to 243,000 by 2030, according to Amy Paul, executive director of the Center for Aging in Place Support, based in Millwood, N.Y.

Deborah Porder co-chairs the steering committee,"At Home in Scarsdale Village," which is partnering with Scarsdale-Edgemont Family Counseling Service to launch the aging-in-place program. Funded by a grant from the family of the late Rita Aranow, the group sent a survey to 1,900 households in Scarsdale, the number of homes that had at least one person 60 or older. 

"We got a 30-percent response rate," Porder said.  "We basically came up with the main things people wanted and weren't available, such as a database of pre-screened home contractors, help with small chores like changing light bulbs or unsticking windows.  Transportation was a big thing, like going into the city or to medical appointments and cultural events."

Working with the results of the survey, the committee is in the process of moving forward on a number of services, including "Helping Hands" and "Club 60." 

"The Helping Hands service would offer a group of volunteers that were trained and supervised to do simple chores, including transportation to/from medical appointments and volunteer friendship," said Geraldine Greene, executive director of Scarsdale-Edgemont Family Counseling Service. "A separate component called Club 60 would offer social opportunities for people who might like to attend a cultural event with peers, but may not have transportation."

The group is actively screening licensed home contractors, seeking volunteers for the services and creating materials to publicize the programs.  They have enough funding for year one and possibly year two, but either a membership fee or fundraising may be necessary, according to Greene. 

Kathy Hurwitz, Senior Citizen Coordinator for the Village of Scarsdale, attends the meetings so there is no overlap in services.  She says that the lackluster housing market has hit seniors hard.

"It's difficult to sell a house at this point and assisted living is very expensive," Hurwitz said.  "A new building, Christie Place, that was built for 55 and over, is not affordable senior housing.  A lot of people thought they could sell homes at a high price and it would cover the cost of the apartments over there.  A number of deals fell through there."

Attracting members to the program may be a challenge.

"Even though people need services, they don't want to pay until they need them," Porder said.  "People have to recognize it has to be there before they need it, and it's really hard for people to anticipate their need for things. People think they're going to live forever and be healthy.  A lot of people don't know until there is a crisis."