CALHOUN COUNTY, Mich. — For many seniors, staying independent takes more than just a place to live. It can also mean having access to health care, transportation, meals, home repairs and a place to connect with others.
In Calhoun County, programs providing those services are supported in part through the Senior Services Millage.
Calhoun County Senior Services Manager Rod Auton said the county currently distributes about $3.5 million in millage funding to 21 programs.
"We fund about 3.5 million dollars in millage dollars to programs, 21 different programs in the county, and each of those programs has a contract attached to it," Auton said.
Those taxpayer dollars support services ranging from hearing, vision and dental care to transportation, meals and home repairs.
Auton said just under 6,000 older adults received services through the program in 2025.
"What we're doing through senior millage is being able to effectively support older adults to stay at home, stay in the community as long as possible," Auton said.
Now, Calhoun County is accepting applications for its 2027 Senior Services Millage grant cycle. The county opens applications each year as contracts for certain programs expire.
At the Forks Senior Center in Albion, millage funding helps keep the center running.
"We wouldn't have the building without them. We have a full time director. We have an office manager who works two days a week, sometimes three, and then we also have a paid receptionist," Forks Senior Center Board President Carol Maynard said.
But the impact goes beyond keeping the doors open.
The center offers exercise programs, a fitness center and opportunities for seniors to spend time with others. Forks Senior Center Director Luann Sommers said that connection can be especially important for people who live alone or have lost a spouse.
"They're lonely. They want someone to talk to, and someone to connect with, and someone to play cards with, and do bingo, and have a senior meal, and have a lunch and learn, and potlucks, and just time together with other people," Sommers said.
Sommers has seen the impact of the millage come full circle.
Thirty years ago, she said she was part of the committee that worked to get the Senior Services Millage before Calhoun County voters in 1996. Today, she runs a center supported in part by that same millage.
Sommers said many older adults may not realize how many services are available to them.
"Sometimes it's the best kept secret that people don't know that they can get hearing aids, or that they can get glasses, or help with prescriptions, or get a ramp built, or get grab bars put in their restroom or in their bathroom," Summers said.
Organizations interested in applying for the 2027 Senior Services Millage grants have until Sept. 1, 2026, to submit their applications.
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