Bethel area residents often have questions like “How can I get affordable legal services?,” “Where is the nearest hospital?,” “What kinds of health services can I get more locally?,” “Where can I buy locally grown food in the area?,” “What if I can’t continue to drive — are there transportation options available?” or “When I leave town next week, where can I board my pet?”
Now there is an easily accessible tool, a directory of services compiled by the Bethel Area Age-Friendly Community Initiative.
Shortly after the AFCI’s beginning days in the spring of 2015, the group administered a community survey to identify actions that could be undertaken “to make the community more supportive of healthy aging and to make it possible for people to stay in their own homes and communities as they age” (from the AFCI mission statement). Part of what people expressed was the need for information about how to access necessary services in our area.
A task force determined that the information would be most useful if it were online and could easily be kept updated. So the first task was to create a website. That we did, and we hope the public will visit it at www.agefriendlybethel.org.
For information on services go to the website, and in the menu at the top of every page, go to “Resources” and then to “Directory of Services.” There you’ll find a list of 16 different categories like “Health Services,” “Fuel Assistance” etc. and on each page a list of providers, with descriptions and contact information. Soon we will have a few printed copies deposited at selected sites in the five communities. These will be only for reference, not for distribution. The website will be our main platform, and it will be updated as soon as we have new information. To do that we are counting on the public to help us. Did we forget a category or an agency? Do you have more updated information than what you find in the directory? Please contact us (information below).
The website has a wealth of additional information; how we came to be, who we are, what community members told us they wanted and what we’ve put together to respond to those needs. You may read past issues of our newsletter. And you might even see photos of your friends and neighbors!
The Bethel Area Age-Friendly Community Initiative serves the communities of Bethel, Gilead, Greenwood, Newry and Woodstock. To find out more about our programs or offer suggestions, you may contact the AFCI by email at info.agefriendly@gmail.com; our website is www.agefriendlybethel.org; our Facebook page is @agefriendlybethel.