Organizers for Thriving in Place: Age-Friendly Sanford meet monthly to organize services for the city’s seniors. From left to right: Thea Murphy, Robin Bibber, Lori Theriault and Mary Blood. Photo: Renée Morin
By Renée Morin
Linda Waite joined the Trafton Center on Elm Street about five years ago. During one of her pottery classes there, she saw a flyer promoting a program to help senior citizens with projects around the house. A senior herself, Waite, aged 72, lives alone in a large house and can’t afford to pay people to do housework for her.
Over a week later, a volunteer handyman with the program arrived at Waite’s ranch-style home to repair some of her kitchen drawers and cabinets. He was able to realign a couple of her drawers that had come off the tracks and glued the cabinet door back onto the cabinet holding the trashcan. He was also able to repair a cabinet that had cracked and had a piece broken off from being slammed too hard. The cabinet had been broken for a few years at that point, but Waite hadn’t found anyone who could fix it, and that she could afford, before coming across that flyer.
“I think it is a great program and it really helps seniors a lot,” said Waite.
The program Waite used, called Thriving in Place: Age-Friendly Sanford, helps Sanford-Springvale residents 60 years and older with household chores. Staffers connect residents with volunteers who help older residents with yardwork and other small projects around the house, free of charge.
The goal of Thriving in Place is to help citizens of Sanford-Springvale in similar circumstances to Waite. “The whole idea for this project is to help older adults stay independent in their homes by helping them do things they may not be able to do for themselves,” said Thea Murphy, a Thriving in Place organizer.
The program recruits volunteers mostly through Facebook, word of mouth and through people reaching out, says Robin Bibber, director of the Trafton Senior Center, which is part of the Sanford-Springvale YMCA. It conducts background checks on volunteers and also has equipment that can be used if residents cannot provide their own.
Thriving in Place also works with Service Works, a program that organizes community service opportunities as an alternative to the juvenile justice system.
In addition to mowing and yardwork, Thriving in Place helps with snow shoveling, and provides buckets of sand to individuals who need to sand their walkways. Volunteers can help with small household projects such as changing light bulbs and smoke detector batteries or installing grab bars and tightening loose hardware.
The program does not cover projects that typically require a contractor, such as plumbing and electrical, or construction jobs like ramps or roofing. Recipients cover the costs of materials themselves.
In addition to the volunteer program, Thriving in Place hosts a Healthy Living Expo annually at the Sanford-Springvale YMCA. At the recent expo, dozens of local organizations and businesses shared information including Partners Bank with their “Blender Bike” – a blender that is powered via pedal power – to make mango and strawberry smoothies.
This focus on senior health is especially relevant to Maine as the median age of its citizens is the oldest of any state. In 2024, the median age in Maine was 44.8 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In comparison, Utah’s median age for the same year was 32.4, the youngest in the nation.
As more people from the Baby Boomer generation reach retirement age, the Census Bureau predicts that individuals who are 65 and older will make up an increasing percentage of the American population. Organizations, including AARP – which Thriving in Place is affiliated with – advocate for communities to adopt changes that broaden accessibility for all age groups, but especially for older residents.
A few months after her first visit from the Thriving in Place volunteer, Waite needed her lawn mowed. She didn’t hesitate to reach out to Bibber at the Trafton Center. Soon after volunteers were sent to her house with a lawn mower to do the work. This time the lawn care was taken care of by a teen who needed community service hours and was accompanied by an adult chaperone.
Waite had assumed that the yardwork would be a one-time thing, but the volunteers kept returning every two to three weeks to help her out. They text her beforehand to let her know the date and time they will stop by, and Waite has the opportunity to reschedule if she needs to.
“The volunteers are really respectful to the people they come to help,” said Waite. “They respect your time and they respect your presence.”
To receive assistance or to volunteer, contact Robin Bibber at the Trafton Senior Center at (207) 457-0080.
The post Thriving in Place: Keeping Sanford Seniors in Their Homes appeared first on Sanford Springvale News.
