A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
For older adults who need daytime care or just want more opportunities to socialize, it can be hard to find programs that support them. Paying for care can be a challenge as well. Vermont Public's Nina Keck recently spoke with several people who rely on adult day services.
NINA KECK, BYLINE: Project Independence is an adult day program in Middlebury, Vermont, and by 8:30, most weekday mornings, there's a steady stream of arrivals.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #1: Good morning, Shirley.
SHIRLEY: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #1: Welcome. Welcome. How are you today?
SHIRLEY: Cold.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #1: Yeah?
SHIRLEY: (Laughter).
KECK: Clients range in age from 50 to 100, and many take advantage of the nonprofit's fleet of buses that provide door-to-door transportation. As they motor up, staff spring into action with walkers ready to help patrons inside.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #2: Hi, Stan.
STAN: Hey.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #2: Hey, good morning.
STAN: Good morning to you.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #3: Here, let's get your coat off, and then we can head into the restroom.
STAN: OK.
KECK: The program is housed in a cheerful, oversized farmhouse. Besides meals, there are discussion groups, games and special activities, like this midmorning jam session.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: One, two, ready, play.
(SOUNDBITE OF BANJO PLAYING)
KECK: Seventy-eight-year-old Diane Whitney doesn't drive and says without this program, she'd be a shut-in.
DIANE WHITNEY: I told them if I could rename this building, I would call it Open Arms (laughter). You can get a hug whenever you want one (laughter).
KECK: Caregivers also call this service a godsend. Roughly 22% of the U.S. workforce is caring for a family member, according to the most recent national survey of caregivers. Fifty-year-old Nikki Juvan is among them. Her husband has had multiple strokes and attends Project Independence five days a week.
NIKKI JUVAN: It meant that I could go to work and continue to do my job, knowing that he was being taken care of and also being engaged with other people.
KECK: Prices for adult day services vary by state. This program costs nearly $26 an hour - more if you take the bus. Medicare, the federal health insurance program for people 65 and older, doesn't cover it. Some people pay out of pocket or with long-term care insurance. But as of 2022, 79% of Americans who used adult day services relied on Medicaid. In Vermont, the program channels state and federal funds to low and moderate-income adults. People like Nikki Juvan's husband and 80-year-old Maureen Waters.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #2: Hello, Maureen.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #3: Hi, Maureen.
MAUREEN WATERS: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED STAFF #2: Can I get your coat?
KECK: Waters lives by herself and has problems with her memory. Coming to Project Independence was her family's idea. Now, she can't imagine not.
WATERS: Yes. You look around and you think, I'm not alone. And the people who come here are just so nice and friendly, and we're all here for the same reason - to have the support of the staff and each other. It isn't easy living alone.
KECK: But that support may be in jeopardy. Funding for Medicaid remains uncertain as Republican lawmakers try to balance spending with large tax cuts President Trump is calling for. Adult day program administrators in Vermont are worried. Maureen Waters, meanwhile, is better at living in the moment.
WATERS: Oh, I love to sing. Of course, 12 years of Catholic school singing in the choir, and I can still remember hymns in Latin.
KECK: Her favorite is called "Give Us Peace" - something she says this place does.
WATERS: (Singing in Latin). My voice is better than that.
KECK: For NPR News, I'm Nina Keck in Chittenden, Vermont.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUMIERE STRING QUARTET'S "DONA NOBIS PACEM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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