HAC Holds Information Session for Mill Hill Affordable Units

HAC Real Estate Assistant Betsie Rumbaugh answers a question about the lottery application for the affordable units at Mill Hill Residence in Yarmouth.

When our loved ones grow older, how will we be able to care for them? It’s a question more Cape Codders are asking, particularly with an aging population; a Community Health Needs Assessment published by Cape Cod Healthcare last fall noted that nearly 26% of Barnstable County’s year-round population is over the age of 65, compared to 14% in Massachusetts and 13% in the nation.

The University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute predicts those numbers will only grow, estimating that by 2035 nearly 35% of the county’s population will be over 65.

That will bring with it a host of challenges that South Yarmouth’s Debbie Martin and Barnstable’s Cheryl Gibson are already grappling with. The pair were among a handful of residents who attended an information session focused on eight affordable units being built as part of Mill Hill Residence in Yarmouth that staff in HAC’s Cape Community Real Estate department held last month at the Yarmouth Senior Center.

Mill Hill is the latest assisted living facility that Maplewood Senior Living has constructed on Cape Cod. Last year, HAC conducted a lottery for 14 affordable units at Maplewood in Brewster. HAC will be doing the same for the eight affordable units in Mill Hill; a total of 75 units are being constructed there, representing a mixture of assisted living and memory care units.

Gael Kelleher, director of Cape Community Real Estate, said HAC’s role is to determine the eligibility of those applying for the affordable units based upon their income and assets. She said that interested applicants and caregivers should not disqualify themselves or a loved one before applying, noting that there were 45 people eligible for the 14 affordable units in Brewster. 

Both Gibson and Martin attended the session not for themselves, but for their mothers. “It is a lot for families,” Gibson said of serving as a caregiver. Her mother will soon turn 89 and would benefit from being in a facility like Mill Hill that offers memory care services. “There’s so many different aspects of it, between making sure she takes her medication on time to having some social stimulation rather than staring at the TV by herself.”

It was a similar story for Martin, whose 89-year-old mother currently lives at Thirwood Place, an independent living community for seniors in South Yarmouth. “She is at a point where she needs memory care,” Martin said.

She said having affordable units that provide the kinds of services that Mill Hill does make it an attractive option. And it’s something that more people on Cape Cod will require. “When my generation – I’m a Baby Boomer – starts to retire, we are going to demand a lot more options like this,” she said.