ElderONE Helps Couple Thrive

Rochester Regional Health's ElderONE center in Newark is helping the Kanaleys feel at home.

“This is all of our family here,” 82-year old Allen Kanaley said. “You may not call them by name, but they're all our family."

The Kanaley's met through a radio station dating program in 1997, and both are proving that at the ElderONE center, age really is just a number.

“Anything that we need is here,” Eudora said. “It's just nice to come over here and be with people."

ElderONE is a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) that gives the elderly like the Kanaleys an alternative to nursing home placement with in-home care. The Kanaleys credit  PACE for helping to keep them young.

PACE was created to provide the elderly, family, caregivers, and professional health care providers the flexibility to meet their health care needs and help the elderly continue living within their community.

“Our goal here is to really bring all of those pieces that people are missing at an older age here to the center so that all those needs can be met,” said Laura Ehle, recreation therapist at the center.

While aging is a struggle for many, the Kanaleys have found their way together.