What one Maine island is doing to keep elder residents from moving away

NORTH HAVEN, Maine — With a local elder care facility expected to open this fall, North Haven for the first time will be able to provide an on-island alternative for residents to age in place.

In a yellow Victorian home donated for the cause three years ago by a summer resident, the building off Pulpit Harbor Road sits on a hill overlooking Southern Harbor, an inlet on the southwest side of the island, roughly 10 miles offshore.

The project is a collaboration between the North Haven Sustainable Housing nonprofit group, which raised $3 million for the project, and the Southern Harbor Elder Care Services nonprofit, which will manage the facility once it’s up and running.

When it opens this fall, the new residential home will provide around the clock care as needed as well as a wider breadth of readily available medical care, which is expected to help prevent elderly island residents from having to leave the island, Hannah Pingree, project fundraiser and sustainable housing board member, said Thursday.

Read more: http://bangordailynews.com/2017/05/28/next/what-one-maine-island-is-doing-to-keep-elder-residents-from-moving-away/