The CAPS Phenomenon: Growing Across America
Letter from the CAPS Chair

by Dan Bawden, CGR, CAPS

If you are a CAPS graduate, I salute you! The CAPS designation program is alive, well and growing across the nation. Thanks to the visible PR efforts of the NAHB Remodelors Council and the NAHB Seniors Council the term “aging in place” is steadily making its way into American jargon.

Because of endless promotions in the consumer-oriented press of the National Remodeling Month focusing on CAPS and aging in place in May and the recent Aging in Place week, organized by the National Association on Aging and National Reverse Mortgage Lender’s Association, home owners and professionals are finally “getting it.” I would like to share with you my experience during Aging in Place Week, Nov. 8-12. See if you can apply some of ideas outlined below to develop a CAPS-based Aging in Place Week program in your area in 2005.

In October, I received a call from a member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association with Wells Fargo Bank in my city. She found me through the NAHB CAPS online list. Through the corporate support of Wells Fargo we were able to host a large event featuring speakers from all disciplines. I contacted the local BBB and lined up the staff member involved in the “scams and schemes” speeches given to seniors groups. She was a wealth of knowledge about how to reach ready-made groups of seniors. Together we formed what we call the “Houston Aging-in-Place Coalition” (HAIPC) and started a basic Web site.

The intent of this group was: 1) put on city-wide event during Aging in Place Week, and 2) establish a senior’s Speakers Bureau. We want to keep the momentum going the rest of the year. We soon discovered that there was interest by other professionals to join the coalition. We quickly completed the paperwork to form a 501C3 non-profit corporation. We found this surprisingly easy to do although it takes several months to get IRS approval and receive the blessed non-profit status. Once we had the non-profit pending we approached some of the geriatric medical groups and others we thought might be interested in joining the coalition. We had a great turn-out at our first meeting. We came prepared with membership applications. Our membership fee is set at $30 to cover administrative time. All of the senior professionals who came to check out the HAIPC coalition signed up.

Next year, with more time to plan we intend to put on an “Aging in Place Expo” during Aging in Place Week marketing it heavily through press releases, radio and television public service announcements and any other exposure we can get. The game plan calls for providing a forum where seniors can come and visit with a variety of senior-focused professionals who have table tops around the perimeter of the room.

I hope that you will try some of these ideas in your town. I’d love to hear how it worked for you. I have found that these events generate some remodeling work, but the biggest benefit is meeting other professionals such as health professionals who give me solid leads. They usually tell me that they have been looking for remodelers that have expertise but didn’t think any existed. Enter CAPS.

The ideas above are a great way to get the word out to the public and the senior-targeted professions who are out there looking for you. I hope this gives you some ideas about how to start such an organization, do an event for Aging in Place week, and grow your business.

Dan Bawden, CGR, CAPS
2004 Chairman CAPS Board of Governors [ return to top ]