Members of the Town of Hubbardston Senior Center advisory group heard from volunteers about a range of services and programs for older residents, including behavioral-health visits, aging-services intake, taxi and paratransit arrangements, farmers’ coupons, fuel assistance and property-tax or dog-license exemptions for seniors.

Claudia reported that Melissa Kajala, identified as a counselor with aging services, visited and brought pamphlets describing “behavioral health services for older adults.” Claudia said Melissa told the group she sometimes makes home visits: “I even go to homes,” Melissa said, according to the group’s account. Volunteers suggested scheduling a small seminar or arranging one-on-one consultations to help seniors learn about those services.

The group discussed transportation options after members described a local program identified in the meeting as “Mark Van Connect,” which contracts taxi service for seniors in several nearby towns. One attendee said the service will transport seniors to grocery stores and medical appointments for relatively low fares (an $8 trip was cited as an example) when trips fall within participating towns. Volunteers recommended checking whether similar services cover Hubbardston.

Volunteers also reviewed food and energy assistance programs. They described farmers’ market coupons (sometimes referenced as $50 in coupons), SNAP and fuel assistance; one member said fuel assistance can have higher income cutoffs for two-person households. Patty and others described direct help assisting seniors to apply for benefits and noted that some seniors find the paperwork challenging; volunteers suggested offering in-person application help.

On local taxation and fees, members discussed programs for residents age 70 and older: a dog-license exemption was reported to exist for residents 70+ and a property-tax abatement or exemption for older or low‑income homeowners and for disabled veterans. The group agreed to invite the town assessor to a future meeting and to prepare a one-page, town-specific summary of benefits seniors might be eligible for.

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Volunteers and board members agreed to assemble local contact information (aging services intake, veterans’ counselor, transportation contacts) into a single Rolodex or one-page guide for town seniors, and to schedule follow-up outreach including a possible fall health fair and a meeting with the assessor to explain available exemptions.