Finding Local Aging in Place Resources

By Scott Parkin, Reston For a Lifetime

Four years ago, longtime Reston resident Sharon Canner and I met online during the pandemic and decided to work together to build a nonprofit organization focused on educating and informing residents about aging in place. Through the founding of Reston for a Lifetime (RFL), we became neighbors helping older neighbors remain independent as long as possible.

From previous community listening sessions, we knew that very few people were aware of the resources available to help them age in place.

During my long career in communications for national aging organizations, I learned that breaking through the “I don’t want to hear about it (until I need to)” barrier was, and remains, a challenge.

However, hundreds of local and national government and nonprofit programs can help older Reston residents remain at home, particularly when faced with a serious health crisis.

Fairfax County offers dozens of programs to help older residents, but finding information about them online used to be challenging. In two focus groups I attended as part of the County’s research for its current aging plan, SHAPE, the Future of Aging, access to online information for older adults was frequently cited as a serious problem.

That has changed. Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services Adults and Aging Division now offers an Older Adult Services portal that makes it easier to navigate the many resources available through the County. Its home page includes links to programs that can make life easier for family caregivers and individuals. The website is https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/familyservices/older-adults/

Whether the subject is healthy aging, housing, caregiving, transportation, legal issues or planning for aging in place, RFL seeks to provide unbiased information about local and national resources on its website and in its free monthly newsletter. We also partner with other organizations to offer educational programs to the Reston community on key aging-in-place topics.

If aging in place is important to you, I recommend visiting the County’s portal and the RFL website and signing up for our free monthly newsletter as well as the County’s.

Scott L. Parkin is co-founder of Reston for a Lifetime (www.RestonforaLifetime.org/), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and informing residents about aging in place.