News and Updates for January 2026

News & Updates

January 2026 | Volume 4 Issue 3

Upcoming Events

Now Enrolling!

Computer Essentials in Yarmouth begins January 27th. Call Denise at 508-258-2299 or click here to learn more about this and other Senior Planet classes scheduled for this winter and spring. Senior Planet classes are offered free of charge to those age 60 & older.

Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE)

Elder Services is excited to launch the GUIDE Program, which provides coordinated, compassionate care for people with dementia and support for their unpaid caregivers. Funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and offered at no cost to those who qualify, the program is run in partnership with CCS Health and Healthspan Partners.

Take Action Today!

The MA Home Care budget is projected to fall $16M short of the funding needed to sustain this essential service. Learn more here and send a message to your state representatives using the Mass Aging Access website. Sharing your personal story can make a difference and change policy.

$127,000 Awarded to 8 Local Agencies Serving Older Adults

Tech Instructor Dawn Steber assists an Orleans resident at a "Sip & Swipe Cafe." The Orleans COuncil on Aging was able to secure funding for the continuation of this programming beyond the 2025 Title III grant cycle.

As the Area Agency on Aging (AAA) for our region, Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands promotes and sponsors many services which reach out to all people in the community aged sixty and older. In addition to ESCCI’S in-house programs, we distribute federal Older Americans Act funds as community grants to other local organizations. This year, Elder Services is awarding $127,000 in Federal Title III funding to 8 local partners and you can read about them here.

The Orleans Council on Aging used its 2025 Title III grant to start a Technology Training & Assistance program. COA director Judi Wilson reflects, “This grant was so important in helping us create a technology support program targeted at providing the meaningful technology support to seniors which is needed in our community, and it has made a real difference in helping older adults get ‘unstuck’ and more fully engaged with digital resources.” The Council was able to leverage the program’s success to secure future funding from another source.

Mary Holmes at the Martha’s Vineyard Center for Living reported that, with the help of its 2025 Title III grant award, they were able give “nearly 1000 rides to vulnerable older adult islanders who otherwise would struggle to find transportation for their shopping, banking, and post office errands.” Among the 2026 awardees is Healthy Aging Martha’s Vineyard’s Go-Go Grandparent service which takes a slightly different approach to addressing the Island’s transportation challenges. GoGo Grandparent is a concierge-based transportation system that provides free, on-demand rides to 75-100 seniors weekly for non-emergency medical, enrichment and community-based appointments.

Funding decisions are made by an advisory committee based on input received during public hearings and through a tri-annual community needs assessment conducted by Elder Services.

John Carroll, chair of the Title III Advisory Council says “The data collected through the 2024 MA Statewide Needs Assessment Survey, confirmed that transportation, mental health support, and caregiver respite are critical needs of Cape and Islands seniors. The Advisory Council therefore felt strongly about approving programs that were prepared to meet these needs on day one.” Community Services Officer Sarah Franey noted that “the board’s funding decisions were also influenced by geographical scope and greatest number of individuals to be served.

Meals on Wheels is More than Food*

by Marta Van Ranst

Each weekday morning a fleet of volunteers heads out from the Martha's Vineyard Hospital, their cars filled with packaged meals headed for households across the Island. The pink placards attached to windshields, sun visors and rear windows identify the volunteers' cars as Meals on Wheels delivery vehicles.

For nearly six years I have been one of more than 100 Island Meals on Wheels drivers. I volunteered at the beginning of the pandemic, feeling compelled to do something - anything - to help my community at a time when the world felt confused and helpless. I have continued to volunteer because I have made friends with the people on my route, and through them learned the importance of Meals on Wheels as one strand in the web of services that support our community.

For more than 50 years, Meals-on-Wheels has provided nutritionally balanced meals to seniors at no cost to recipients. In the 2025 fiscal year, nearly 300 Islanders received meals. According to surveys conducted by Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands, more than 80 per cent of meals recipients report that their home delivered meal is their main meal of the day, comprising roughly half their daily caloric intake.

Ensuring our seniors have enough to eat stands on its own, but many recipients have told me that the daily check-in provided by deliver drivers is as important . . . .