Citizens-Montevue

One of County Executive Jan Gardner’s proudest accomplishments has been retaining Citizens and Montevue – keeping our promise to our seniors and honoring the deed on the property. Retaining Citizens and Montevue also saved taxpayer millions of dollars from a very bad financial deal put together by the previous administration.  We would have had to bring $7.5 million to the table to close the sale because they were sold at below what it was worth.

The operation of these facilities is self-sustaining. We use the revenue from Citizens Care and Rehabilitation Center to provide care for seniors at Montevue who would otherwise be unable to afford assisted living cares. Right now, we are subsidizing 32 assisted living residents and look to expand that number this year up to 40. There are no general fund tax dollars supporting Citizens & Montevue.

Senior Services Division

Like much of the country, Frederick County is experiencing a growing population of seniors.  In fact, our population of seniors is expected to grow faster in Frederick County than in the state of Maryland, and faster even still than in Florida. By the year 2020, Frederick County will be home to more people over age 60 than school-aged children.

Creating a Division of Senior Services (formerly the Department of Aging) was the top recommendation of the Seniors First committee, which Executive Gardner appointed during her first year in office. With older Americans working longer and engaging in their communities in different ways, the traditional idea of what it means to age has changed. Members of Seniors First considered how the County would need to re-shape its delivery of services as a result of shifting demographics.

The new Senior Services Division will champion the needs and services for seniors and will be structured to focus on three areas: new innovative services for active seniors, traditional services for more frail and aging seniors, and operations management, or all of the behind the scenes things that make everything work well.