Some communities are better to grow old in than others. With the goal of collaborating to make Whatcom County a great place to age, in December of 2017 the Chuckanut Health Foundation invited 20 partner organizations working on advancing issues for our older adults to have a discussion about the needs and opportunities in Whatcom County. It became clear that creating a shared community vision to support aging well would be a good investment, as this work is complex and will take both nonprofits and businesses, philanthropy and government, community groups and policy change to work together to truly create a community for aging well. There are programs and services that exist for older adults and their families; however, we lack a coordinated approach to supporting them and creating an environment for aging well. Twenty months of research, needs assessments, and listening to the experiences of older adults and caregivers led to the development of the original Blueprint, which was shared with the community at the Aging Well Whatcom Summit in September 2019.

In late 2021 the AWW Steering Committee determined that an update was due, especially given the many ways COVID impacted older adults. The Blueprint update sought to answer two main questions: “What has changed in our communities since the assessment for the original Blueprint?” and “What are the current challenges and opportunities?” Following numerous discussions with partners and community members, an online and paper survey of older adults, a review of other local organizations’ recent assessments and strategic plans, and community work sessions, the updated Blueprint was released in June of 2022.

Through the development and updating of this document, it has become evident that Whatcom County has a major opportunity to recognize and leverage the skills and capabilities this population brings, and to better address the needs of older adults through designing a community for people of all ages. Our goal is that the Blueprint will be used throughout the community to guide policy and funding decisions, program and service development, grassroots activism, and business opportunities for the private sector.