There was a brief primer on services available to Revere’s senior citizens at Monday night’s city council meeting.
Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya presented a motion asking the mayor request that Revere’s public health and fire departments develop a senior home safety visit program to provide free safety assessments for elderly residents in their homes. In the motion, the councillor asked that it cover services such as replacing smoke detector batteries, changing furnace filters, identifying trip hazards, installing grab bars where available, providing emergency contact forms, and offering additional fall-prevention and fire-safety education.
“I want to be clear about this motion before we discuss anything; it is not meant to suggest that the department of public health or the fire department isn’t doing their job, they are doing a fantastic job,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “They do tremendous work for our residents, and there may already be programs and services available that many residents do not know about, and that is the whole intention behind this motion.”
The Ward 5 Councillor said she wants seniors and their families to know exactly what services are available and how to access them.
“Many of our seniors want to remain safely and independently in their own homes, and I believe we should do everything reasonably possible to help them do that,” said Guarino-Sawaya.
Revere Emergency Preparedness Director Adrienne Maguire said the council motion did spark some discussion in the public health, fire, and elder services departments.
“Clearly, if people are bringing it up, then not enough people may know the information, so we are cognizant of that,” Maguire said. “There are many departments doing the work.”
When it comes to smoke detectors and making sure they are up-to-date and working properly, Maguire said the fire department partners with the Red Cross to do installation of new smoke detectors in homes.
“As far as fire education, our fire department has a phenomenal fire prevention department who does a lot of this work; they go out to the senior buildings, they go out to the senior center several times a year,” said Maguire. “We partner with (the senior center) for fire safety week and do a lot of education.”
The fire prevention department also has a program where it will go out to senior housing units and check on the smoke detectors and do housing checks for safety, she added.
“We also in the public health department have partnered with the fire department for Fire Prevention Week; we do PSAs on RevereTV, we go to every school and do every second grade and kindergarten,” Maquire said. “As a matter of fact, they are due to go to the senior center (Tuesday) morning to do one of their presentations. If people want to call the fire department, their fire prevention number is (781) 286-8363, or you can email them at [email protected].”
Maguire noted that Mystic Valley Elder Services also partners with the city to provide programs and services for Revere’s senior citizens.
“In the year 2025, they saw just under 2,000 Revere homes to do services, anything from home services to inspections to caregiver support,” Maguire said. “Meals on Wheels is also another opportunity for people to have a wellness check every day when they have their meals delivered. They do a lot of consults at low to no cost, and with MassHealth, there is no cost.”