Gray heyday

North Idaho is going gray.

And so is the rest of the Gem State.

Idaho’s population, according to data from the United States Census Bureau, is aging faster than the rest of the nation and its senior population has grown by 30 percent since 2010. The increase in residents over the age of 65 has also increased the demand for assistance from local and state agencies and organizations.

“This is a great place to live and it’s a great trend to see,” said Lupe Wissel, AARP Idaho Director. “We just need to make sure we are ready with the services needed that go along with that trend.”

Wissel, who has been with the nonprofit organization since 2015, told The Press she has seen an uptick in Idahoans signing up to be members. That trend, she added, is likely to increase as Idaho’s senior population does.

“I see these numbers just going up as the Baby Boomers (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) get older,” Wissel said. “They are staying here in Idaho and they are relocating to Idaho.”

In North Idaho, Dan English said he believes the statewide trend is amplified. When he took the helm at the Area Agency on Aging North Idaho, English added, he began to understand just how far reaching the impact of that statistic was.

“It’s everything from housing to transportation,” said English, who has been with the agency for seven months. “There’s a real benefit to this increase, but there are some costs as well and the local economy will have to adapt to the needs of an aging population.”

At the Post Falls Senior Center, Manager Alison McArthur said she has seen a recent influx of seniors in the area. Although the center, along with others in the region, was warned that the state’s senior population would be increasing, McArthur said they were caught off guard by how quickly the warning became a reality.

“We thought that the big increase was four or five years down the road,” she said. “But it’s happening right now.”

The increase in demand for the services offered, McArthur added, prompted the organization to expand its headquarters. One challenge McArthur sees as a result of the influx is access to affordable housing for seniors. She cited a Post Falls affordable housing development that had 900 applicants for 60 available units.

Director Rick Currie of the Lake City Center said participation in activities at the center — especially physical activities like line dancing or tai chi — has been steadily increasing.

But it's the number of meals delivered through the center's Meals on Wheels program that has skyrocketed over the last two years.

"Generally, it was 1,200 to 1,500 meals per month. Then all of a sudden it exploded and now we're averaging between 2,500 and 2,800 per month," Currie said.

The majority of the Area Agency on Aging North Idaho’s $1.6 million budget, English said, goes toward nutritional services like providing meals at senior centers, and a specialized form of home-delivered meals catered to the aging population.

“That’s as much about companionship and connection as it is about nutrition,” English added.

Currie, a former Kootenai County commissioner, said he thinks the region's good business climate may be one reason the older population is growing.

"People move here to work, and soon their parents follow them," he said.

The good news, Currie said, is services for the elderly are excellent in Kootenai County. Kootenai Health is a good example, he said.

"They are a great institution ... from a senior medical standpoint, you can feel very comfortable here," Currie said. "My parents are 93 and 97. There is a real comfort in knowing they're minutes away from a great medical facility."

Seniors completely dependent on Social Security are finding it tougher to rely solely on that income, said Pat O’Sullivan. For O’Sullivan, employment and training coordinator for Employment Works in North Idaho, that means many more individuals in their 70s and 80s are applying for job retraining through the federally funded Senior Community Service Employment Program she oversees.

“A lot of people have worked in manual labor all of their lives and they just can’t do that anymore,” O’Sullivan told The Press. “So they need to be retrained to do a different type of job.”

The program is still wrestling, O’Sullivan added, with how an increase in applicants will impact its ability to ensure seniors in North Idaho are able to find even part-time employment. Already the agency has to have a wait list of applicants and prioritize who gets accepted based on individual need.

One of the biggest issues English sees in the aging community is a sense of isolation and depression. Idaho has a longstanding tradition of instilling the values of individualism and self-determination in its citizens, English added, but that becomes a difficult act to balance when the population ages and is in need of assistance.

“Our mission at the agency is to keep people independent and at home for as long as possible,” English said. “But a lot of folks aren’t hooked up with the community.” The best ways to combat the feeling of isolation, English said, is educating the public on the services and opportunities agencies like his provide for seniors. The Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, for example, gives seniors the opportunity to get active and engage with the community through a variety of volunteering opportunities.

“It’s time to start thinking about the elderly because they’re the ones who built the communities we love and enjoy,” McArthur said when asked about the solution to an increased demand for senior services. “Retirement is no longer ‘The Golden Years’ for a lot of people and the community needs to be aware that these folks need assistance.”

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Maureen Dolan contributed to this report.