Not sure who to call? Elder Services of Cape Cod & the Islands, free: 800-244-4630

Sign in
Text size
Cape Cod Senior Resource Directory Free to use, checked by hand, and nobody pays to be listed
Search
Text size
Menu

Start here

Whatever brought you here, there is a next step and someone free to call. Pick who you are, then find where you are on the path below.

Is someone in danger right now? Call 911. If you think an older person is being abused, neglected or exploited: 800-922-2275 (MA Elder Abuse Hotline, 24 hours). For anything else, dial 211 any time.

Who are you?

I’m getting older on the CapeStart with the free help most people never claim: tax relief, Medicare help, a safer house. I’m helping a parentWhat to notice on a visit, how to start the talk, and how to help from another state. I work with older adultsCouncils on Aging, clinics, libraries, churches and businesses: print, stock and link to these guides free.

Your first free call

Whatever the question, your town’s Council on Aging is the front door. Staff know the local programmes, help with forms, arrange rides and SHINE Medicare counsellors, and talk to families off-Cape every day. It costs nothing.

Councils on Aging by town
Barnstable
Barnstable Adult Community Center (Senior Ctr)		508-862-4750
Bourne
Bourne Council on Aging (Veterans' Memorial Community Ctr)		508-759-0600 x5300
Brewster
Brewster Council on Aging / Senior Center		508-896-2737
Chatham
Chatham COA / Center for Active Living		508-945-5190
Dennis
Dennis Center for Active Living (DCAL)		508-385-5067
Eastham
Eastham Council on Aging / Senior Center		774-801-3151
Falmouth
Falmouth Senior Center		508-540-0196
Harwich
Harwich Council on Aging (Community Ctr)		508-430-7550
Mashpee
Mashpee Council on Aging / Senior Center		508-539-1440
Orleans
Orleans Council on Aging / Senior Center		508-255-6333
Provincetown
Provincetown Council on Aging		508-487-7080
Sandwich
Sandwich COA (Center for Active Living)		508-888-4737
Truro
Truro Council on Aging / Senior Center		508-487-2462
Wellfleet
Wellfleet COA / Adult Community Center (WACC)		508-349-2800
Yarmouth
Yarmouth Senior Center (Div. of Senior Services)		508-394-7606

Where are you on the path?

Most families move through these five stages, not always in order. Each has a short reading list; every page ends by pointing to the next one.

1Planning ahead

While things are fine — the cheapest time to decide anything

  1. The papers every family needs
  2. Property tax relief at 65+
  3. Medicare Open Enrollment
  4. Fall-proof a Cape house
  5. Why Cape houses are hard to grow old in
  6. Winter and storms

2Something has happened

A fall, a hospital stay, a diagnosis, a licence handed in, a scam

  1. Leaving hospital this week
  2. Your Council on Aging, town by town
  3. A dementia diagnosis: the first 30 days
  4. When driving gets harder
  5. Scams and contractors

3Deciding what comes next

Stay and adapt, bring help in, or move — and where

  1. For adult children: the visit and the talk
  2. Staying or going? A worksheet
  3. Which kind of place is it? Levels of care
  4. Sell first, or move first?
  5. What an agent owes an older seller

4Selling the house and moving

Timing, the septic inspection, selling from a distance

  1. Does the season matter when selling?
  2. When a septic inspection is required to sell
  3. Selling a Cape house from out of state

5After a death

The first weeks, probate, and the family house

  1. After a death: the first days and weeks
  2. An empty Cape house over winter
  3. Pricing an inherited Cape house
  4. Cash offer letters: how to read one

Or search the directory

535 local services in 57 categories, each with a phone number and the date it was last checked. Open the directory.