The Roanoke Valley is attracting more and more seniors, but do we have the resources to care for them?

By Beth Macy
published Sunday, March 16, 2008

Bill Wingfield and his wife, Kathy, chose to retire to the Roanoke Valley in 1994 for the same reasons many people do. Having lived in Salem when their children were young, they appreciated the moderate weather, friendly people and reasonable cost of living.

Wingfield crunched the numbers. Though his salary as a Baptist education minister at a Georgia church was modest, he’d saved up enough to build a split level in south Salem - an easy drive from his son’s home in North Carolina and his daughter’s in Nelson County.

What he didn’t figure on was becoming, at the age of 76, a full-time caregiver to his wife. In the advanced stages of dementia, she can no longer locate the den in the dream home she helped design or cut her own meat.

Bill Wingfield leads his wife, Kathy, through the grocery store parking lot. (Click image to enlarge)

He still holds her hand, as he always did when they went out in public. But now it’s so she won’t wander away.

Bill Wingfield feels utterly alone much of the time. But on so many levels, he’s not.

With an elderly population rate that mirrors the communities of Miami and St. Petersburg, Fla., Roanoke’s senior population is among the largest, per capita, in the nation.

Before long, the baby boomers will retire, and the senior population will comprise an unprecedented chunk of the demographic pie.

The Virginia Employment Commission projects the region’s 65-and-over population will jump from 47,868 in 2006 to 73,805 in 2030.

By that time, a projected 13,666 of us will be unable to recall what day it is or operate a stove.
Click to enlargeThe 85-and-older set will have nearly doubled — thanks largely to projected population bursts among the very old in Roanoke, Botetourt and Franklin counties.

In 2002, when Money magazine named the Roanoke Valley a top-10 place to retire, area aging experts looked at each other and sighed. Sure, it makes economic sense to recruit wealthy retirees, but just how well are we taking care of the old folks already here?

Not very, according to area doctors, social workers and senior advocates.

“By and large, we have fewer family members around to help care for elderly family members, so it follows that we need a lot more community-based services than we have now — especially if we’re looking at Roanoke as becoming this retirement mecca,” said Cathy Thompson, older adult services director for Family Service of Roanoke Valley.