Comunity Focus - Hallowell all age-friendly

Long ago and far away in 2016 Nate Rudy, then City Manager of Hallowell, started attending AARP placemaking conferences. He learned about the Age Friendly community initiative being promoted by the organization and got the support of the City Council to join. He then wrote a grant to fund community conversations and surveys to learn about the issues of greatest interest to Hallowellians. The research on attitudes and the findings formed the basis for the development of an Age-Friendly Action Plan that earned the city Age-Friendly status in 2020.

The Age-Friendly group was originally part of a Council Wellness Committee which has actually has yet to meet. The City Clerk, who was active in Age-Friendly efforts in her hometown of Readfield, encouraged the Hallowell committee members to advocate for being a standalone committee in its own right which came to pass. Two members of the City Council serve on the committee ensuring input to city government. 

One of the key findings of the research effort was citizens believed they weren’t getting information about city services and relevant activities in a timely fashion. The All Age-Friendly Committee, as it chose to call itself, proposed publishing a regular newsletter that would be distributed to all active postal addresses in the city with copies available for pickup at convenient locations around town. 

The city budget couldn’t support producing the newsletter alone, so committee members recruited local non-profits organizations to be Publishing Partners and share in the production costs. The Maine Community Foundation awarded the committee a grant to fund the initial graphic design of the publication and the development of a production plan. Since that time the committee has published sixteen issues of the newsletter distributed every four months in spring, summer and fall. There is no winter in Hallowell, well, there is no winter newsletter anyway.

Committee members became actively involved in other city committees including those charged with updating the City’s comprehensive plan. They have also infiltrated other committees working to encourage recycling, foster conservation efforts, enhance recreational opportunities, and explore housing issues and options. 

Like many other Maine cities transportation is a real obstacle. The All Age-Friendly Committee has convened two regional transportation forums to keep the topic on the front burner. The committee advocated for establishing a cooperative relationship with Catholic Charities of Maine SEARCH program to provide transportation support and companionship. 

One of the most popular gathering spots in Hallowell is the bulkhead alongside the Kennebec River. There are over 50 colorful Adirondack chairs perfect for watching eagles and sturgeon. The All Age-Friendly Committee was awarded an AARP Challenge Grant in 2020 to install a ramp making the bulkhead more accessible to folks with mobility challenges. Committee members have recently been involved in assessing ways to make our city parks and public spaces more accessible as well. 

Most recently the committee launched an education and engagement initiative in cooperation with the local Board of Trade to ensure Hallowell is dementia friendly. The Board of Trade languished during the Covid pandemic, so Age-Friendly Committee members worked to contact area businesses and update the Board of Trade contact information. The city is fortunate to have the benefit of local individuals with extensive professional experience serving caregivers and people working to cope with the challenges of dementia aiding the work. Members have been visiting businesses, distributing brochures and offering to provide training for employees. 

Over the next few months committee members will be reviewing our aging action plan and determining the steps to guide our efforts for the next few seasons. Our greatest challenge, and one shared with other committees, is volunteer recruitment and retention. It is a never-ending process.

hallowellagefriendly@gmail.com www.hallowellagefriendly.com