• More than 1.6 million Michigan adults are caregivers, according to new data
• They’re often exhausted, overwhelmed and squeezed for time
• A new website connects them for the first time to the state’s network of Area Agencies on Aging as a sort of one-stop shop

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Michigan caregivers now have a new way to connect to help — emotional, financial, logistical and otherwise.

The Area Agencies on Aging Association of Michigan has launched

Mi Caregiver Connection at www.micaregiverconnection.com, a one-stop, online resource for caregivers throughout Michigan to connect to a network of 16 Area Agencies on Aging.

And in doing their searches, users are guiding the state on what older Michiganders and caregivers need most.

About 34,000 visited the website in its first month, many of the users shunted there from searches that began when they typed in “senior living facilities near me,” said Jenn Dubey, who as operations manager at the association oversaw the project.

Driven to the site by online algorithms, those searchers then were connected to a host of options to help people age in their own homes or a caregivers’ homes —  transportation, respite care, housing and financial help, Dubey said.

Among the resources on the new website:

• respite care for caregivers
• home safety assessments
• in-home care
• caregiver support groups
• education workshops and training
• caregiver case management
• Counseling
• assistive technology

While some seniors find living in an independent or assisted living space or nursing home best, “our mission is to give people choice on where they age,” she said.

The website is an important tool for a state aging faster than most. More than 1.9 million Michiganders are already 65 or older. That’s nearly 400,000 more older Michiganders than a decade ago, and a significantly larger slice of the population — nearly 1 in 5 now, compared to less than 1 in 6 in 2014. And an estimated 1.6 million Michigan adults are caregivers, according to a new report by AARP, Caregiving in the US 2025. 

Related:

• Read our 2025 coverage about the challenges of aging in Michigan
• Michigan-based group reframes dementia: There’s life after diagnosis
• Worn-out caregiver? Not alone. 1 in 3 Michigan women aged 50+ care for others

As Bridge has previously reported, many older residents, people with disabilities and their loved ones struggle to find help because of a shortages of home health aides, direct care workers, and other paid caregivers. 

“You get so overwhelmed, you don’t know what to do,” said Leslie Simons, of Holt. “And you don’t call, because you don’t know what you need.” 

Simons, 70, and her husband, Jim, are caregivers for two adult sons with physical disabilities and Jim Simons’ 97-year-old mother, all in the same house.

Local Area Agencies on Aging are a federally funded network created in 1974 and tasked with providing assistance to older Americans. Staff connect residents to local, state and federal sources of help in every corner of the state.

Yet the network remains largely unknown by the people who could most benefit: A poll last year, conducted by the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging, found that just more than half of older Michiganders had heard about the Area Agencies.

Complicating matters is that Michigan’s 16 area agencies go by different names — AgeWays and The Senior Alliance for seven southeast Michigan counties and CareWell Services for two southwest counties, WellWise Services in three southern counties, and UPCAP in the Upper Peninsula, for example. Some families may not recognize these agencies as part of the statewide network.

Moreover, the AARP poll found that more than half of caregivers — 53% — are also working full or part time employment, and nearly half — 46% — report financial setbacks because of their caregiving responsibilities.

That leaves little time or energy for time-consuming online searches, Lachowski said.

“Caregivers take on a lot of things, from bathing and meal prep to managing medications, to helping their care recipient with transportation (to, among other places,) medical appointments,” said Jason Lachowski, associate state director of government affairs at AARP Michigan. “They’re often handling medical tasks with little or no training.”

The website brings the full statewide network of Area Agencies on Aging to a single, centralized portal. 

There, users answer questions about who they’re caring for — a parent or spouse or friend, for example. They’re also asked about specific needs — disabilities, transportation, respite care, for example, and where they live.

The online tool then builds a customized resource guide connecting them to their local Area Agency on Aging office, identifying support groups (virtual and in person), and highlighting local events and services tailored to their needs.

Even talking to others helps immeasurably, said Simons in Holt. 

Being a caregiver for three means extra shopping, driving and managing logistics like medical appointments. 

Before the website, she reached out to the Lansing-based Tri-County Office on Aging, and was connected to other caregivers through a program called Powerful Tools for Caregivers.

“I was nervous,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect, but as soon as I told my story, everyone at the table was nodding their head. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. They get it.”

The website, a video describing how to use it and a social media awareness campaign was funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

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