Older Vermonters in Windham County want to be self-determined, connected and fulfilled with health systems of support that work for everyone.

Can we get there from here?

Vermont is getting older, fast.

Vermont has more people age 65+ per capita than any other state in the Nation, except Maine. Windham County has more people 65+ per capita than any other county in Vermont.

Take a look at the charts below and see for yourself what’s coming in the next decade.

  • Andrew and Kathy live in Marlboro, Vermont and are hoping for the best for their final decades of life. Read Andrew and Kathy’s story here.

  • Mary is 77 and lives in Wardsboro with her husband. They love their home and would like to stay there as long as possible. But they’re not sure they’ll be able to given the resources they have now, and what’s available to help them. Read Mary’s story here.

  • Richard is a retired physician who understands the importance of social connections in the last decade or two of life. He’s doing everything he can to stay active and connected. Read Richard’s story here.

Where will we be in 2030?

Baby Boomers make up the largest segment of the population. Are we prepared for the boomers to retire in Windham County?

  • We are predicting how many seniors will be living in Windham County based on several sources, including U.S. Census Data.

  • With the increase in the number of seniors in our County, we can anticipate an increased need for services.

  • We can plan for the significant increase in seniors in our County, and ensure we remain a wonderful place to age.

How we got started

A retired hospital CEO, a retired doctor and a retired dentist - all serving on the board of Thompson House, an assisted living facility in Brattleboro, Vermont - were paying attention to the situation of older people in their county. They noticed important trends, starting asking questions, and envisioned a way forward in Windham County.

I envision a future where Vermonters can enjoy their older years in the home where they’ve always lived. This is called “Aging in Place”. If one can not age in place, where will one age? We all must be advocates to support successful aging in place, as family, community and legislators. That means money and manpower to revamp and strengthen the infrastructure of older adult care needs highlighted by Act 156. For example, let’s advocate and support any effort to pay elder workers (non-agency based) a livable wage. And let’s develop a state-tax based long term care insurance that could be financially available to all that supersedes the need to consider very expensive plans from traditional insurance companies.

-Dr. Carolyn Taylor-Olson

Roger Allbee, Dr. Carolyn Taylor-Olson, and David Neumeister

We are a collaboration.

Windham Aging is a collaboration of organizations who care about older Vermonters in Windham County. We are leaders and experts in healthcare and social determinants of health among those aged 60+. Our team is composed of leaders from these organizations:

●        Brattleboro Memorial Hospital

●        Brattleboro Mutual Aid Association

●        Windham Regional Commission

●        Cheshire Medical Center, Center for Population Health

●        Grace Cottage Family Health & Hospital

●        Senior Solutions: Council on Aging for Southeastern Vermont

●        Southern Vermont Area Health Education Center

●        The Gathering Place

●        United Way of Windham County

●        Vermont Agency of Human Services

●        Windham County Dental Center

Working with the State of Vermont

We work with the Vermont Department of Disabilities, Aging, and Independent Living (DAIL) and the Vermont Department of Health to address the needs identified in Act 156 (Older Vermonters Act) as passed by the State Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2020. Our work is intentionally designed to align with Act 156, build upon state-level efforts, and avoid duplication. Our work is aligned with the eight core tenets outlined within Act 156, with particular focus on the following three areas:

  1. Optimal Health and Wellness

  2. Coordinated and Efficient System of Services

  3. Housing, Transportation, and Community Design

Our Partners

We are partnered with a set of other organizations that have contributed resources to further our efforts. These partners include:

  • Ben & Jerry's Foundation

  • Brattleboro Elks Lodge

  • Brattleboro Savings & Loan Association

  • Center for Health Care Strategies

  • Senior Solutions

  • The Holt Fund

  • The Richards Group

  • Thompson House

  • Thomas Thompson Trust

  • United Way of Windham County

  • Windham Foundation

  • Windham Regional Commission

We’re concerned.

We’ve been collecting and analyzing data on demographics, health care, and systems that serve older Vermonters in Windham County. See our report on this data released in November 2022. The report includes demographic trends in housing, income, and transportation, preventive health trends for older adults, healthcare workforce trends, and long-term care facility trends.

We’re planning our next steps now. Based on this data, we know we’ll need to adapt to meet the needs of the quickly growing segment of older adults in our County and State.

If you share our concern, we want to hear from you.

What can be done?

That’s what we’ve set out to determine together. And after a year of collecting data, learning from other parts of the country, and collaborating with the State of Vermont - we’re hopeful. We believe it’s possible not only to keep older Vermonters safe and well cared for, but to be one of the best places to grow older into our last decades of life.

We aim for older Vermonters to be self-determined, connected, and fulfilled. And we’re ready to start making a plan to get there.

Our Process

Our collaborative began in the Summer of 2021. In the Fall of 2021, the Windham Regional Commission began to compile and analyze data in Windham County and Vermont about the situation of older vermonters now, and projecting where we’ll be in 10 and 20 years. Now that data is complete, and you can find the full report here.

The next phase of our project involves our whole community. We’ve discovered many, excellent strategies we could employ to navigate the next 10 and 20 years for great benefit for older Vermonters. But we know that we need to think carefully about what strategies to choose, given the complex landscape of laws, health and demographic projections, and our goals for older Vermonters.

Our plan is to hold community listening and planning sessions for all Windham community members in the beginning of 2023 where we can establish the benchmark goals we want to reach in Windham County. We plan to do this in conjunction with the State of Vermont’s Act 156 Master Plan for Aging, and in collaboration with the many, high-quality existing services for older Vermonters in Windham County

We hope you can join us in this process to make Windham County an exceptional place to grow older!

What do older Vermonters want?

We’ve learned through interviewing people age 65+ in Windham County and through our daily interactions that most want the same things.

Self-Determined. Older Vermonters want to be in control of their futures, and be able to make choices that continue what they’ve grown to appreciate about their lives.

Age In Place. Many older Vermonters want to “age-in-place”, meaning they want to stay in their homes as long as possible. Older Vermonters want to move to assisted living only when that is medically necessary, or when it will increase their social connections and improve their lifestyle.

Fulfilled. Older Vermonters want to be fulfilled by the activities that they’ve enjoyed doing for years, whatever that may be, walking, reading, cooking, or spending time with family and friends.

Connected. Older Vermonters want to be connected to the people they care about:

Contact us if you want to join our effort to make Windham County an exceptional place to age.