FARMINGTON — A senior resource fair, hosted by the Franklin County Domestic Violence Task Force, will bring organizations and businesses serving those over 60 together this month.

Polishing Your Golden Years: A Senior Resource Fair will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 17, in the GH Bass Room at Franklin Memorial Hospital. 

“We’re an aging population that is very rural and often very isolated, Stacie Bourassa, community educator for Safe Voices, said. “Elder abuse is growing in Maine. In Franklin County, the oldest county in the oldest state, it raises a lot of red flags and comes up in a lot of meetings.”

Maine had the highest median age in the nation at 42.7 years, according to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau. That means half the population is older than that.

When Bourassa, a member of the domestic violence task force, suggested the idea of the resource fair, people were passionate and came together around this issue, she said. 

A successful resource fair was held last year in Androscoggin County, she said. This year, she wanted to make sure there was also an avenue for letting Franklin County residents become aware of the services available to them.

The resource fair is two days after World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, she said. Oxford County will partner with a credit union to offer a similar fair on June 19 and Androscoggin’s Elder Abuse Task Force is holding one June 12, she said.

There is a lot of help available and Safe Voices is about prevention and involving community members, Bourassa said.

“We can’t do our work alone,” she said.

Other programs and businesses have services and information to share with seniors.

SeniorsPlus has a program that provides help when an aging person has a hard time with receipts or balancing their checkbook.

There tends to be a lot of elder abuse cases that revolve around finances, fraud and exploitation, she said. Sometimes seniors aren’t aware they are being exploited, she added.

As a speaker during the fair, Detective Marc Bowering of the Farmington Police Department plans to provide information on scams, he said.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Robinson also is a guest speaker, Bourassa said.

With a Franklin County Elder Independence Task Force, Western Maine Community Action seeks ways to help seniors age at home independently, Janice Daku, program manager at WMCA, said.

Tackling the issue countywide is too large a task. It needs to be done community by community she said.

Based on Gerry Baril’s model, Good Morning Calls in Carrabassett Valley, a program promoting daily calls to local seniors made by volunteers, is being supported in other communities. Rangeley and New Sharon are working on a similar program, she said.

“We’d like to branch out within the county,” she said. “People may already be doing this anyway but there are ways to support that.”

Daku is always looking for senior volunteers with skills and expertise to share, she said.

During the resource fair, the Healthy Community Coalition will offer blood pressure checks. Senior Planning Center, Sparkes Hearing Center, Mt. Blue Drug, the United Way and many others will have displays and information, Bourassa said.

The Franklin County Domestic Violence Task Force is a coalition with representatives from local schools, health care, law enforcement, community members and social service organizations. They have met for the past three years to discuss domestic violence issues within the community, she said.

The group’s mission is to lead and empower local people to end domestic violence. 

abryant@sunjournal.com

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