PORT ANGELES — Clallam County is riding the leading edge of aging with a $750,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
County commissioners this morning will hear from Community Advocates for Rural Elders (CARE) Partnership, recipient of the grant that will implement improvements in care for older adults.
The meeting will start at 10 a.m. in the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St.
CARE had anticipated receiving the grant, having worked 18 months to establish elders’ needs for long-term care and support services.
CARE’s leadership team included six individuals and a dozen agencies. The group is comprised of more than 100 individuals, agencies, tribes and organizations.
“The partnership’s purpose is to change the way Clallam County cares for and serves older adults and their caregivers using a true community-based approach,” said Sheryl Lowe, partnership director.
27 percent older than 59
Clallam County has one of the state’s highest proportion of elders — 17,000 people, or 27 percent, are 60 or older — with baby boomers yet to come.
In and around Sequim, almost half of residents are older than 65.
About 50 percent of Clallam County’s elders live alone. Seven percent live in poverty.
“We have spent the last 18 months gathering data, listening to older adults, caregivers, and organizations and agencies to help us identify strengths as well as challenges,” said Barbara Clarke, community coordinator.
The Johnson foundation last year gave CARE $150,000 to conduct its studies. The group was one of only 11 that were funded out of nearly 500 applicants nationwide.
Lowe at the time called it a chance “to make it look like we want it to look.”