SCRANTON, Pa. — Small cottages will soon become homes across Lackawanna and Wayne Counties.
Members of NeighborWorks, county Area Agencies on Aging, and Pennsylvania Department of Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich gathered inside Simplex Homes in Scranton on Monday to get a tour of the Elder Cottage Housing Opportunity (ECHO) units.
The goal is to place these temporary homes on a family's property and continue to live independently.
"It gives us an option to say you know we know you're not safe in this home, however, but let us get you closer to your caregivers. Let us keep you in your community," said Mary Endrusick, NeighborWorks Aging in Place manager.
Lackawanna County was the first county in Pennsylvania to make this project a reality.
Kavulich was the director of the Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging when this project was announced two years ago.
"What we've done here is a model for the Commonwealth. It was in the third phase when Lackawanna County became involved when the Department of Aging came to us and said would you please consider jumping in on this project," said Secretary Kavulich.
Students from Johnson College played a big part in this project, from designing to constructing the ECHO units.
"They get this experience, and then they get to see the results. It's very tangible out in the community, and they can show their family and their friends and say, 'I helped build this, or I helped make a piece of this,'" said Katie Leonard, Johnson College President and CEO.
There are already ECHO units in place, and officials are seeing the benefits.
"The one woman was afraid she was never going to see her grandchildren grow up. Well, now she has four grandchildren she's currently babysitting," said Endrusick.
Funding is already in place to build two new ECHO units in Lackawanna County and one more in Luzerne County.
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