Living History at the Pioneer Home

Every now and then, a local news outlet features the story of a Pioneer Home resident celebrating a centennial birthday, and we get a brief glimpse into this residential home for older Alaskans.

But who runs them? How many are there? How long do you have to be an Alaskan to qualify for a spot? How much does it cost? What’s the waiting list like? What are some of the challenges to offering this service?

And, most importantly, what stories of Alaska’s earlier days can the Pioneers tell us?

We’ll find out this and more when administrator Rich Saville, several staffers and a resident join host Kathleen McCoy to talk about Anchorage’s Pioneer Home, located downtown at 923 W. 11th Avenue. Saville and a staff of 200 care for 168 residents in the Anchorage home.

If you’ve got a relative living there, a friend working there, or you just have questions about how the homes are organized and run, join us Wednesday at 2 pm on Hometown Alaska.

GUESTS:

• Rich Saville, administrator for the Anchorage Pioneer Home
• 
Bob Montague, activities director
• Toby Anderson, driver
• Bob Larson, resident (calling in at 2:15 p.m.)

LINKS:

• Our Pioneer Homes: From way back till now, SitNews, Ketchikan, Alaska, May 31, 2002
• Alaska Pioneer Homes website (a division of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services)
• Anchorage Pioneer Home website
• Volunteer opportunities, Anchorage Pioneer Home
• Overview of all the Pioneer Homes in Alaska (PDF)
• Anchorage Woman’s 95 and Still Groovin’ (Dec. 23, 2007, Anchorage Daily News)
  Requires library card for free access through Loussac.

PARTICIPATE:

• Call 550-8433 (Anchorage) or 1-888-353-5752  (statewide) during the live broadcast (2:00 – 3:00pm)
• Send e-mail to hometown@alaskapublic.org before, during or after the live broadcast (e-mails may be read on air)
• Post your comment or question below (comments may be read on air)

HOST: Kathleen McCoy

LIVE broadcast: Wednesday, January 23, 2013. 2:00 – 3:00 pm (Alaska time)

REPEAT BROADCAST: Wednesday, January 23, 2013. 7:00 – 8:00 pm (Alaska time)

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HOMETOWN ALASKA ARCHIVE