||| FROM TOM EVERSOLE for ORCAS SENIOR CENTER |||
Many people visit Orcas Island and dream of retiring here. That dream assumes seniors here are well off and can access services they need as they age through private or public resources. The reality for many is much different. This 7-part series provides a closer look at some of the challenges to aging on the island and how Orcas Senior Center (OSC) is working to address them.
Aging safely at home. Many Orcas seniors came here in the 1970s and ‘80s when land was affordable. They do not have other homes elsewhere. They may never have had abundant incomes. Home maintenance may have been deferred for years.
- Unsteady seniors struggle to navigate rickety or dimly lit staircases. Many cannot safely reach a smoke detector to change its battery.
- Seniors with asthma or other heart/lung disease may live in homes with mold due to leaky roofs and overflowing gutters.
- Some elders cannot adequately clean their own homes, potentially creating unhealthy conditions and fire hazards.
- Long-term, residential care on Orcas is currently limited to a 1-2 bed facility.
OSC’s Home Maintenance and Repair program help assure safe homes for seniors, helping seniors age in place versus leaving the island. To learn more about this program go to www.orcasseniors.org or contact Travis King at homerepair@orcasseniors.org or 360-643-4419.
Thank you, Tom Eversole, for those interesting observations, and thanks to the Senior Center for the range of services they provide. One thing not often mentioned in the frequent discussions of our affordable housing needs is the need for affordable group housing for seniors. Whether it’s on the model of the Longhouse or cottage communities like the Crossroads or a co-housing model that hasn’t yet, to my knowledge, been developed here, we’re going to see an increasing need for “aging in place” in the future as more single seniors find it difficult to continue to live and maintain their homes in rural areas. It needs to be in or close to the Village, accessible, affordable for seniors on fixed incomes, and connected to a range of senior services. Eastsound is zoned for exactly this kind of use. Too bad so much of the land is taken up by low-density, single-use commercial and single-family residential development.