BETHEL — The Bethel Age-Friendly Community Initiative is celebrating the launch of a new Community Connections project, a local effort aimed at strengthening community and promoting well-being for older people.
The project’s primary goal is to build robust connections between local services and older adults, allowing them easier access to essential resources and social opportunities. Melinda Remington of Bethel, the new Community Connector, began the project on Nov. 1 and is already working closely with residents and community partners to bridge gaps in access to programs and services and create avenues for participation.
Bethel AFCI currently offers services that include an area rides program staffed by volunteer drivers, a Neighbor-to-Neighbor partner program with Telstar High School to assist senior property owners with seasonal property care, and a winter walking program held at the Gould Academy Field House two days a week (currently underway on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 p.m.).
Remington shared, “The desire of people to age in place is very strong in our region and the Bethel Area AFCI originated as a grass-roots effort about ten years ago. Concerned citizens met around a kitchen table to hash out ideas of how to better serve Seniors so that they could stay and thrive in their own homes longer. Through an affiliation with AARP, Bethel worked to become designated as an Age-Friendly Community. One by one, other towns joined the effort and AFCI is now comprised of six towns: Bethel, Gilead, Greenwood, Hanover, Newry, and Woodstock. The Community Connector position will allow the strengthening of existing programs while also surveying the needs and aspirations of the community. Hopefully, there will be a resurgence of enthusiastic volunteers and participants partnering in our existing programs and new, relevant initiatives will emerge. I encourage all individuals and groups to creatively partner with us.”
The Community Connections program, a statewide initiative of the Governor’s Cabinet on Aging, is made possible by a $2.5 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act and is managed in collaboration with the University of Maine Center on Aging and Maine’s five Area Agencies on Aging. Twelve pilot sites are engaged with the Community Connections program across the state, each with goals specific to the unique needs of their community.
Bethel-area community members interested in learning more about Community Connections, or looking to get involved, are encouraged to contact Remington @[email protected] To learn about events, services, or volunteer opportunities, visit agefriendlybethel.org, call 824-4444.
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