GREENFIELD — As of Sept. 19, LifePath will have served elderly residents, individuals with disabilities and caregivers across western and north central Massachusetts for half a century.

The organization, originally known as Franklin County Home Health Care Inc., of Turners Falls, was chartered on Sept. 19, 1974. The organization changed its name to LifePath in 2016 to reflect the large array of programs offered. Over the next few months, LifePath will kick off its 50-year anniversary celebration with a Oct. 19 walkathon at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, along with other celebratory events to be planned for next spring.

“I can say with certainty that LifePath has grown exponentially. We are always striving to have our programming meet current needs and we adapt as needed,” LifePath Executive Director Gary Yuhas said. “We are innovative in our approaches. We strive to meet the community’s needs in a way that is respectful, inclusive, person-centered and creative.”

Since its inception, Associate Director of Marketing and Development John O’Farrell said LifePath has grown to offer approximately 40 programs geared toward assisting seniors and residents with disabilities, such as Meals on Wheels, which provides warm meals to approximately 550 people, or the SHINE (Serving the Health Insurance Needs of Everyone) program, which helps older adults navigate Medicare and other health insurance options.

O’Farrell said the nonprofit also runs hospitals’ home transition programs for patients, along with protective service and adult family care programs. In recognition of the 50th birthday, LifePath will kick off a campaign to recruit 50 volunteers by the end of 2024.

“The gamut runs from A to Z, but our objective really is to provide individuals and their caregivers with options that they can evaluate to help make the best possible decision going forward and creating the brightest possible future for their loved ones,” O’Farrell said. “Our volunteers and staff really make our programs come together and our high standard of service possible.”

Yuhas, who took the helm of LifePath last year after leaving his career in pediatric health care, said the organization now serves more than 9,000 community members each year with a series of services centered around care for the elderly and disabled. After serving as a caretaker for his grandparents in Pennsylvania, Yuhas said the state’s lack of support for elder care in comparison to Massachusetts inspired him to get involved.

“I got to see firsthand what caregiving looks like, not only for the person receiving the care, but also the person giving the care, how that impacts and alters everyone’s lives, and how do you do it in a way that’s most supportive and most beneficial in a way that the person receiving the care actually wants to get their care, and that is done in a way that the caregiver doesn’t completely give up their entire self to do it,” Yuhas said. “The opportunity to work with an organization like this, where we’re supporting individuals in that way, was very appealing to me.”

Yuhas said the nonprofit, which uses grants to fund a number of its programs, aims to collaborate with more community partners to better sustain these offerings. Recently, LifePath received a total of $690,000 in grant funding from the Point32Health Foundation and the Massachusetts Community Health & Healthy Aging Funds to work alongside the Franklin Regional Council of Governments toward the five-year goal of creating “age-friendly” communities, according to AARP standards, across the North Quabbin and Franklin County regions.

By assisting with community needs assessments throughout the region, Yuhas said LifePath will help plan changes — such as fully accessible sidewalks, better lighting or spaced-out park benches — aimed at making each municipality better equipped to accommodate its aging population.

“We may help them with different planning exercises, we may come out to their Selectboard or town meetings and share information, share ideas, give them some different blueprints or plans that others have used successively that they might be able to co-opt in their community. What this has resulted in is communities that are safer and more appealing for people to stay in as they age,” Yuhas said. “I don’t think people realize how many people’s lives we touch every year, and there’s an exponential effect of that. Helping an older adult or a person living with disability to remain in their home where they wish to be has an impact, not only on that consumer, but also on the people caregiving for that person, their neighbors, their friends, their family.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.