Caldwell LIVE was designed to make a great place to live a better place to grow older.

With that goal in mind, Caldwell LIVE (Lifelong Involvement for Vital Elders) launched in the fall of 2008 to serve the borough’s nearly 1,000 residents over the age of 65.

During the past three years, the program has worked to provide a wide range of community services for older adults, including health and wellness classes and talks, social work support, transportation assistance, home safety assessments, volunteer opportunities and spiritual caring programs.

On Wednesday, the Grover Cleveland Senior Center, which has been the hub of Caldwell LIVE activity, was filled with organizers, partners and supporters who came to celebrate the program’s many accomplishments. By year’s end, Roberta Schoenberg, the LIVE site coordinator for Caldwell, will hand off her responsibilities to various organizations and partners in the community.

Schoenberg, who has been a friendly face at the Grover Cleveland Senior Center since the program’s inception, explained how Caldwell LIVE was designed to be sustainable.

The hand-off will look something like this: The Caldwell LIVE calendar will continue to be created by the borough’s Dept. of Human Services. The Caldwell Public Library will coordinate Feel Good Friday health education programs with Mountainside Hospital. Congregation Agudath Israel will continue to host the Wednesday Walking Club with a JCC of MetroWest volunteer coordinator.

In addition, the West Essex Ministerial Association will continue the efforts of the Spiritual Caring Committee and partner agencies will still make and accept referrals for services from Caldwell residents.

Karen Alexander, director of eldercare services for Jewish Family Service of MetroWest, created the Caldwell LIVE model.

Alexander explained Wednesday that the aging in place program started in 2004 in Parsippany with a federal grant. The program expanded to Caldwell and Verona when additional funding was acquired through a federal earmark thanks to U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.).

Caldwell was chosen because there was a strong sense of community, the right demographics and it was well-served by public transit, among other reasons, Alexander said.

She said the program has been used as a model at the American Society on Aging’s National Conference.

But the numbers speak for themselves. A survey of Caldwell LIVE participants revealed that 65% of survey respondents felt more confident in their ability to age in place, 87% said they were more knowledgeable of community resources and 87% said they have new friends.

Alexander said Caldwell LIVE has accomplished what she learned growing up going to Jewish summer camps: “You leave things better than you found them.”