Western  Maine Community Action
Keeping Seniors Home

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Keeping Seniors Home

Maine Keeping Seniors Home is a statewide program designed to assist Maine’s low-income elder homeowners remain in their own homes as long as they choose to, and are able to do so.  The ten community action agencies serving Maine provide a statewide delivery system of Maine Keeping Seniors Home services (KSH) administered by Western Maine Community Action. The program provides home repairs and modifications for accessibility, energy conservation, falls risk assessments and prevention education, and fire risk assessments coupled with fire safety education.

A second key component of Maine Keeping Seniors Home is the use of a data collection tool called the “Fallon Survey”.  This Fallon survey gathers information from elders across a wide range of issues, including their housing situation, socialization, medication costs, activity levels, and anticipated future needs.  To receive a copy of this survey instrument, contact Keeping Seniors Home Program Manager Janice Daku at jdaku@wmca.org.  

A third aspect of Maine Keeping Seniors Home is the statewide capacity building work that is being done through strengthened partnership relationships among elder-focused service providers, statewide trainings, and convening a diverse Keeping Seniors Home Advisory Board. 

Maine Keeping Seniors Home has partnerships with the Maine  Housing, Rural Development, the Office of Elder Services, and the Area Agencies on Aging.   Together we offer a comprehensive array of elder home services.   As the percentage of elders continues to grow in Maine, we need to offer more community based at-home services.  These services are less costly and result in healthier individuals and more vital communities.  Assisted living, congregate housing or nursing home care are all more expensive alternatives when compared to staying at home in local communities with natural supports still in place. 
 

In testimony before the United States Senate, Josefina Carbonnell, the Assistant Secretary for Aging, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said  “Studies consistently show that seniors have an overwhelming preference to receive support at home.  One recent study reports that 81 percent of persons over age 50 would prefer to avoid nursing home care even if they needed 24-hour care.  Another study reports that 30 percent of older people would rather die than move to an institutional setting…research shows that effectively targeting individuals who, without some form of help would have gone into a nursing home, is key to saving public dollars.  Every day you help an individual stay out of a nursing home, you are helping them use their own personal and financial resources on less expensive forms of care for a longer period of time.”

Program Eligibility 

The vision of the Maine Keeping Seniors Home program is that with enough resources, the program will not be income-eligible, but rather will be able to serve all Maine elders, regardless of income.  Currently, Maine Keeping Seniors Home targets Maine elders 60 and older who are income-eligible for the fuel assistance program (LIHEAP).  Please click here for the LIHEAP income guidelines.
 

 Maine Elder Homeowners and
Substandard Housing

Annual average cost of nursing home care is $62,000 per person.  The Maine tax-payer burden is roughly $22,781  per person.   Maine Keeping Seniors Home average cost per person is $680.  

*Substandard Home = incomplete plumbing facilities (bathroom or kitchen), i.e. no running water; and monthly owner costs are greater than 30% of household income. 

 For more information please call Janice Daku
 645-3764 or 1-800-645-9636
extension 5232

Since 2003, the KSH initiative has— 

renovated over 800 elder homes

completed 700 Fallon surveys

Leveraged over $5.1 million in elder housing investments throughout Maine

Connected elder-focused service providers through a series of Advisory Committee meetings

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Cumberland County
A Success Story

People’s Regional Opportunity Program helped an elderly disabled couple in dire straits change their housing situation from living in an abandoned fruit stand to living in a safe and secure new modular home.  By leveraging KSH resources with MaineHousing, City of Cumberland, Housing Preservation, and Department of Economic & Community Development investments, this couple and the husband’s twin brother’s circumstances have improved dramatically

More Inspiring Stories

To find out how to contact your local Community Action Program please visit our links page

Maine WIC

Family Planning Association of Maine 

Maine Community Action Association

A United Way Agency
 

Maine Career Center