Aroostook Access Points Program looks to Senator Susan Collins for funding

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - Senator Susan Collins was in the County. Senator Collins stopped into the Aroostook Agency on Aging to meet with the staff and discuss the Aroostook Access Points for Aging project. Collins says she is working to secure 862,000 dollars for the project to build and strengthen the aging network in Aroostook County and allow seniors to lead independent and meaningful lives in their own communities and homes.

Joy Barresi Saucier, the Executive Director for The Aroostook Agency on Aging says, “We would work in partnership with that community to deliver services at that access point. It could serve as a place to bring people together and that’s really what we just heard from many of the folks that have taken these type of programs, that as important as the content program is, just as important is creating a connection with others in their communities.”

Senator Susan Collins adds, “The research shows that prolonged isolation for our older adults is very harmful to their physical and emotional health. We also know from the research that prolonged isolations can be the equivalent of smoking 10 cigarettes a day. That’s how harmful it is for physical health. I love what the Aroostook Agency on Aging is doing. They are bringing people together.”

Barresi Saucier says this funding is in the final appropriations bill and Senator Collins says she is hopeful this project will stay in the budget. Barresi Saucier adds she hopes to hear sometime next year if the funding came through.

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