Monthly Speak Out by Patrick Corey highlights Windham Age Friendly Community Survey

By Lorraine Glowczak

On Thursday, August 15, Rep. Patrick Corey’s Speak Out topic for the evening consisted of age

friendly awareness. He interviewed both Jane Margesson, the Communications Director for AARP-Maine and Deb McAfee, Chair of the Human Advisory Committee for the Windham Town Council.

The first half of the hour, Corey spoke to Margesson about the many scams that inundate us, and ways one can prevent from being taken advantage of. (To learn more and keep aware, go to www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/ or contact Margesson at JMargesson@aarp.org with any questions or concerns. Also, be sure to read the AARP Scam Alerts that are printed weekly in The Windham Eagle.)

The second half of Speak Out focused on the work that McAfee, the advisory committee and other interested Windham residents who are addressing the topic of an Age Friendly Community initiative.

“The Human Advisory Committee is appointed by the Town Council,” McAfee explained. “The purpose of this committee is to determine the level and type of human service needs experienced by
the residents of the town and then, once determined, provide recommendations to the Council of appropriate actions to meet identified needs.”

McAfee explained that a survey was completed in 2015 to help establish what needs were important to the community. “On that survey, the fourth important subject was senior community gathering space and assistance.”

Following the success of Raymond’s Age Friendly Community initiative, which is now officially in place, the committee decided to begin the process to officially make Windham a part of the AARP network of age friendly communities.

Briefly and according to AARP, becoming age friendly “advances efforts to help people live easily and comfortably in their homes and communities as they age. AARP’s presence encourages older adults to take a more active role in their communities and have their voices heard. Initiatives focus on areas such as housing, caregiving, community engagement, volunteering, social inclusion and
combating isolation among older citizens.”

Windham’s aging population is increasing. “In the 2010 census, the number of people who were 50 and older was at 32.5 percent,” McAfee said. “In 2015, the percentage increased to 34 percent. It is expected that by 2020, Windham’s population of individuals, 50 and older will increase to 39 percent.”

To gain information about the current needs and wishes of the community, a survey will be distributed in a number of ways to Windham residents. The survey can be found in the center of in today’s print edition of The Windham Eagle, can be found online at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/Age-FriendlyWindham and will also be distributed (with drop off boxes) at the following locations:

Town Hall of Windham   

Windham Public Library            

Windham/Raymond Adult Education   

Hannaford          

Shaws             

United State Post Office (north and south locations)

Corsetti's           

Mercy at the rotary     

Avesta Housing- Unity Gardens, Lower Falls and New Marblehead

Deadline for the survey will be September 13, 2019. Once the results are in and tabulated, there will be a public forum to discuss the outcome and to receive further feedback on October 21 at  Windham High School at 7 p.m. 

McAfee expressed the many benefits for becoming an official AARP Age Friendly Community and some of those benefits include:

Access to a global network of participating communities, as well as aging and civic society experts.

Access to key information about the program, such as the latest news and information about best
practices, events, results, challenges and new initiatives.

Opportunities for partnerships with other cities, both domestic and international.

Mentoring and peer-review evaluation by member cities.

Public recognition of the community’s commitment to become more age-friendly.

Speaking engagements at conferences and events hosted by AARP and promotion through AARP’s media channels.

At the present time, there are approximately 11 people on the taskforce working to make this become a reality. If you wish to participate and actively work toward making Windham a livable place for windhamiris@outlook.com
people of all ages, or you would like further information, contact McAfee at

But more importantly, let you voice be heard and fill out the survey today.

Thanks to volunteer efforts, Raymond is on its way to becoming a full-fledged age friendly community by Lorraine Glowczak

Volunteers at work folding 4000 copies of the survey

It all began over a year ago on April 28, 2017 when a group of approximately 40 Raymond area residents gathered together to learn about the concept of an age friendly community. The meeting was initiated by State Representative Jessica Fay and was led by Jess Maurer, Director of the Tri-State Learning Collaborative on Aging.

Fast forward to June 2018 and that group of individuals recognized a need and felt inspired to work tirelessly in a volunteer effort to build an age friendly network for Raymond residents. As a result, the Town of Raymond is now listed as one of 50 up and coming age friendly communities in Maine.

“There has been a critical mass regarding this issue,” stated Nancy Foran, a volunteer member of the group and pastor of Raymond Village Community Church. “Senator Collins is one of the many individuals who are working on the issue of aging in place, and Raymond with its geographically separated area is an region that needs an age friendly network. We [the volunteers] are all working together to consolidate access to services and to make a difference.”

The past year’s work has included the development of working groups such as steering and assessment teams. Raymond residents will find a survey included in this week’s edition of The Windham Eagle which they can fill out and submit for the team of volunteers to discover what Raymond residents (year-round and seasonal) determine to be important services and options that will aid and assist an aging population.  

Briefly, per AARP, “age friendly networks are not retirement villages, gated developments, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.”

Instead they are livable communities that help promote the areas’ health and economic growth. The network, consisting of devoted community members that can choose to work in partnership with their elected officials, actively work to help the growth of the aging population and to promote easy and comfortable living situations so that elder adults can remain in their homes.

It is no secret that Maine is the oldest state in the U.S. and people are living longer. The aging population has no plans to move into a nursing facility or move in with their children. Increasingly independent, the aging population wish to remain in their home and community where they have friends, go to church and continue to be socially active. The Raymond Age-Friendly Community is being developed to meet these needs.

To get to this moment in time, however, took many volunteer hours and steps. They are as follows:

After the initial meeting in April 2017, the volunteer group appeared before the Raymond Board of Selectmen two months later, in June 2017, to ask for Town support for joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities as 50 towns and counties have done in Maine. The Town supported the group and it was accepted into the Age Friendly Network in October of 2017

To keep the momentum going and to remain informed, monthly meetings are conducted at the Raymond Public Safety Building providing a wide variety of topics and speakers. These meetings are informative for everyone. “What I have learned is that there are a lot of services out there to help the aging population, but they are not advertised,” stated Irene Morris, a member of the steering committee. “We have learned a lot just by being involved as volunteers.”

To help the volunteer efforts, the Raymond Village Library requested and has received a grant from the Maine Public Library Fund to establish a monthly seniors’ only library hours with programming

To assist with the cost of the enclosed survey, a support grant of $1100 was received from AARP. AARP printed 3000 surveys and the cost of 2000 was donated by First Light Home Care of Windham, a home care agency that offers companion and personal care services to individuals, aging or otherwise, to remain in their homes.

And last, but not least of all the collaborative efforts, is a partnership with a student at Saint Joseph’s College. Student, Mira McKinney designed a logo that has been approved and is now the official brand of Raymond’s age-friendly network.

The Raymond Age-Friendly Community is dedicated to advancing a well-designed, livable community for the aging. The survey is an important first step in the team’s goal of learning about aspects of the community which are important for the overall well-being of Raymond’s older residents.

It is important to note that although AARP has contributed resources and funding, the Raymond Age friendly community is a stand-alone entity. AARP does not apply its social or political stances on this, or any, age friendly community network.

If you are a Raymond resident, there are many ways you can contribute to the success of endeavor. First and foremost, please fill out the enclosed survey and mail it to PO Box 297, Raymond 04071, or place it in the drop off box available at the Raymond Post Office, the town office or the Raymond Village Library.

To learn more or to become a volunteer, attend a monthly meeting on the second Monday of the month at the Raymond Fire and Safety Building, call 207-655-2222 or email at agefriendlyraymond@gmail.com.

The next gathering will be a potluck on Saturday, June 9^th at 5 p.m. at the Raymond Public Safety Building, 1443 Roosevelt Trail in Raymond. All are invited to join in to meet others and learn more about the network. Please bring your favorite side dish.