Frenchtown is getting “age-friendlier”

In March 2025, Frenchtown received a $70,000 grant from the state Department of Human Services to build community partnerships, assess the needs of our older residents, and create an “age-friendly” action plan. That plan is expected to be on the agenda at the June 4 Borough Council meeting.

The age-friendly effort is led by AARP nationally to help communities become more livable for the elderly. Frenchtown is already considered age-friendly, scoring 61 on AARP’s national Livability Index. The nationwide average score was 50. But we could be even friendlier.
More than 45% of households in Frenchtown include at least one person age 60 or older; the median income of residents age 65+ is $67,596 as compared to Hunterdon’s average of $90,843 for the same age group.

During the grant period, Frenchtown created an Age-Friendly Committee that updated borough demographics, created an inventory of services available to older residents, conducted a survey that received 206 responses, held listening sessions with key stakeholders, and hosted two town halls with significant participation.
The community-needs assessment found that:

• Older residents feel a sense of “not belonging” within the community and have limited access to information about news, civic happenings, and social opportunities, which seems to stem from the absence of a local news source.
• The county offers plenty of programs and services for older residents, but there are fewer programs within the borough and limited awareness of them.
• A “community connector” would increase the availability of services and programs in Frenchtown by serving as a “match maker” between local volunteers and older residents with specific needs such as home repairs, transportation, and food delivery.
  The borough government could consider the needs of older residents with regard to home renovations to support aging-in-place, promoting repair of sidewalks to support walkability throughout the borough, ensuring the safety and livability of the approximately 48% of Frenchtown’s households that are rentals, improving parking downtown especially near Borough Hall and the library and strengthening the library’s ability to serve as a local “anchor” for all, including older residents and children.
• The borough is poised to use two grants to improve sidewalks and pedestrian access.
• That many residents and local organizations are eager to support age-friendly efforts, including the Frenchtown School, local businesses, churches, and service nonprofits.

To continue the age-friendly momentum, the state is allowing the borough to use its grant to implement several strategies that can serve as the foundation for ongoing age-friendly efforts. These include:

• Launching the monthly newsletter that you’re reading now.
• A free Operation Blue Angel program designed to assist Frenchtown residents who are at risk of a medical or life-threatening emergency. The program allows first responders to enter the home during a medical emergency without delays or causing damage. To read more about Operation Blue Angel or to sign up, go to: https://frenchtownpolice.com/. Contact Chris DeWire with questions.
• Earmarking funds for the borough to consider changes to current ordinances that would reduce the cost and burden of obtaining local approvals for medically necessary home renovations that would facilitate aging-in-place.
• Establishing a Constant Contact borough news service. See here to learn more.
• Setting up a municipal trust that would allow the borough to seek funds to support creating an age-friendly community-connector effort.

On June 4, the Borough Council will consider the Age-Friendly Action Plan, and may modify it and may pass a resolution adopting it. Updates on Frenchtown’s age-friendly initiative can be found on the borough’s website at: https://frenchtownboro.com/community-services/age-friendly-frenchtown/.