Resources · Littleton, CO

Respite care for Littleton family caregivers: vouchers, free hours, and paid breaks

There is a way to ride a bicycle in southwest Littleton without balancing one. Cycling without Age runs free recreational trishaw outings from the Ken Caryl Ranch House at 7676 S. Continental Divide Road: a three-wheeled electric-assist cycle with a front bench for one or two passengers and a certified pilot pedaling, built for older adults with mobility or stability challenges. Riders meet at 10:15 in the morning and complete a waiver before the roll-out. On a spring Saturday the person with memory loss rides, and the spouse sits on a bench in the shade doing absolutely nothing for two hours. That is respite, and this town hides more of it inside ordinary places than most families ever find.

Respite means a planned break, three hours or three days, that keeps the caregiver standing. In Littleton there are three routes to it, in a rough order: free hours that county programs already owe the household, a state-funded voucher most families have never heard of, and paid coverage by the visit when neither reaches far enough. The wrong order is starting at the paid route, and the wrong guilt is believing rest is what other people's families earn.

When the paid route is the right one, Colorado CareAssist is the company for it: family-owned, non-medical home care, with dementia-trained caregivers matched on skills and personality, at $43 an hour in the Denver metro band, a three-hour minimum per visit, live-in care at a flat $650 a day, and no long-term contract. The first call is a free 20-minute consultation at (303) 757-1777, answered by a person, and it can be followed by a free assessment in the home or over video.

The free hours the county already owes you

DRCOG runs the Area Agency on Aging for all eight Denver-region counties, Littleton's three included, and the front desk costs nothing: the Aging and Disability Resource Center lists Options Counseling, Case Management, Information and Assistance and SHIP insurance counseling, and anyone may place the referral. Dial 303-480-6700, or 1(866) 959-3017 outside Denver. Then ask the same call about Choice Services, the program that provides no-cost community services to qualifying residents 60 and older, transportation and in-home help like meal preparation and grocery shopping. Those are paid tasks disguised as free ones.

The caregiver side of the same agency is 303-480-5656. It runs REWARDS, support for caregivers aged 60 and older living with mild-to-moderate depression, and education classes for caregivers 55 and older who care for adults with disabilities. Spouses in that age bracket should be routed there the week the break is scheduled, not the week they stop sleeping.

The voucher most families never hear about

Colorado funds respite directly. The Family Respite Voucher Program, run through the Colorado Respite Coalition, provides funds for respite care to family caregivers who have limited access to it through current systems, serves all ages including people with extensive health-care needs, and operates as a payer of last resort, which means it expects you to have asked everyone else first. The coalition's respite hotline is 303-233-1666, extension 8, and the office is in Lakewood at 940 Wadsworth Blvd. Ask about the voucher before you decide a break is impossible.

If the break happens to be a facility stay rather than an hour at home, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman number on DRCOG's contact page is 303-480-6734, and that office exists precisely to field the questions a family is embarrassed to ask alone.

Paid respite, priced honestly

The arithmetic, shown. Littleton sits in the metro band at $43 an hour with a three-hour minimum per visit, so a short check-in costs $129 and a Saturday afternoon from 1 to 5 costs $172. A full day of coverage, eight hours, lands at $344; twelve hours is $516. Once the need crosses roughly fifteen waking hours in a day, live-in care at the flat $650 beats hourly and stops the meter game entirely. The state's other band, $40 an hour, covers El Paso County and Pueblo, and only matters if the person you care for lives there; within Littleton it is $43 and worth pricing the year against.

The part families fear is the commitment, so say it plainly: there is no long-term contract, and respite can be bought as one Tuesday or one weekend a month. Call (303) 757-1777 for the free 20-minute consultation, take the free in-home or video assessment if the call goes well, and book only the hours the break actually needs.

Someplace good to leave them

Respite works better when the other half of the day has a destination. South Suburban Parks and Recreation runs STAR adaptive recreation, classes and events for people with disabilities, out of the Buck Recreation Center, and keeps an Active Adults category for 55 and older in its catalog; the Ken Caryl Ranch programs cover adults 50 and older with art, fitness and pickleball, and the Ranch House answers at 303-979-1876. The Littleton Museum at 6028 S. Gallup Street, 303-795-3950, opens Tuesday through Saturday from 9 to 5 and Sunday from 11, with last entry at 4:30, which makes a docent-filled morning easy to hand off.

For supervised daytime structure, 211 Colorado's Alzheimer's page lists Adult Day Programs and Memory Cafes as categories you can search by ZIP, and the Seniors Resource Center at 303-238-8151 describes an adult day center with chef-prepared meals, planned activities and dementia experts. Its own site prints no Littleton address, so ask about the service area on that call and do not assume the van stops on your street.

Getting there is half of respite

The city's own Omnibus is the quiet superpower: an appointment-based transportation service that has assisted Littleton's senior and disabled community since 1974, for residents 60 and older or living with a disability, temporary disabilities included. It runs Monday through Friday from 8 in the morning to 2 in the afternoon, can be booked up to seven days out, and takes same-day trips when a seat exists. Registration happens through Via's specialists at 303-444-3043. Trips stay within the city lines, with named exceptions for Kaiser Permanente in Centennial and the Tri-County health department in Englewood, which means the dentist across the county line is still your problem.

For anything outside those lines, RTD's Access-a-Ride covers locations within three-quarters of a mile of fixed bus and rail routes, must be booked one to seven days ahead, and has no same-day service at all; the administrative office is 303-299-2960. A senior with ID showing a date of birth rides regular bus and light rail at half fare, a $1.35 three-hour pass or $27 monthly, though that discount does not apply to Access-a-Ride. RTD's general line, 303-299-6000, can plan the route, and buses will drop one block early on request between 7 p.m. and 5 in the morning.

Food, pills and the midday gap

A break should not end at the dinner counter. Nourish Meals on Wheels, 303-798-7642, runs hot meals Monday through Friday to seniors and home-bound adults in south metro, with frozen trays for weekends and weekly breakfasts, and the city's own page notes no one is turned away for an inability to contribute; Volunteers of America Colorado's metro intake, 303-294-0111, serves anyone 60 and older. Both assume nothing about the kitchen.

Pharmacies need the same planning, because Littleton's chain counters share a blind spot: the Safeway pharmacy at 12442 W Ken Caryl Ave, (303) 978-0184, prints a daily 1:30-to-2 closure, and the Walgreens at 2697 W Belleview Ave, 720-214-5532, closes its pharmacy over the same midday stretch; the Costco pharmacy at 7900 W Quincy Ave, (303) 948-2863, may also lose half an hour early afternoon. Check current hours before building a pickup into a routine. The independents cover what the chains close: Gem Pharmacy at 191 E Orchard Rd, 303-795-3154, lists a delivery service but shuts down weekends, and Paragon at 7720 S Broadway, (720) 627-6123, offers pickup or delivery on its refill form. Capsule delivers prescriptions by hand where it operates, reachable at (888) 910-1808 to check, with someone required to receive the sealed package.

The burnout checkpoint

Caregiver exhaustion announces itself late and in the body: dreading 3 a.m. more than the night before, snapping at grandchildren, canceling your own appointments, appetite gone. When the list gets that long, the break is not a preference and the hotline names are not trivia. The city's own resource page lists the Colorado Crisis Line at 844-493-8255, the All Health Network at 303-730-8858, and Gateway Domestic Violence Services at 303-343-1851, and Integrated Family Services hands out food by drive-through appointment at 303-789-0501.

Book the respite the way you would book a specialist: on a weekday, with the voucher question asked first, the free hours applied for next, and paid coverage filling exactly the gaps those programs leave. The number for that last layer is (303) 757-1777, and the first twenty minutes are free.

Local resources in Littleton

Cycling without Age at Ken Caryl Ranch offers free recreational trishaw experiences for older adults with mobility or stability challenges; riders meet at the Ranch House, 7676 S. Continental Divide Road, at 10:15 a.m after completing a waiver. Source
The Colorado Family Respite Voucher Program provides funds for respite care for family caregivers with limited access, serves all ages and extensive health-care needs, and is a payer of last resort. Source
The Colorado Respite Coalition's Respite Care Hotline is 303-233-1666 x8. Source
DRCOG Choice Services provides no-cost community services to qualifying individuals 60 and older, including transportation and in-home services. Source
DRCOG Caregiver Services and Support, 303-480-5656, includes REWARDS for caregivers 60 and older with mild-to-moderate depression. Source
The city's Omnibus is an appointment-based transportation service assisting Littleton's senior and disabled community since 1974, running Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., bookable up to seven days ahead, with same-day trips when available; registration is 303-444-3043. Source
RTD Access-a-Ride reservations must be made one to seven days in advance and there is no same-day service; the administrative office is 303-299-2960. Source
RTD seniors 65 and older get a 50% discount on regular bus and train service, $1.35 for a 3-Hour Pass or $27 monthly, shown with ID bearing a date of birth; the discount is not valid on Access-a-Ride. Source
The Seniors Resource Center, 303-238-8151, describes an Adult Day Center with chef-prepared meals, planned activities and dementia experts. Source
The Littleton Museum at 6028 S. Gallup Street, 303-795-3950, is open Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m. Source
The Safeway pharmacy at 12442 W Ken Caryl Ave, (303) 978-0184, prints a daily 1:30-to-2 p.m. closure, and the Walgreens pharmacy at 2697 W Belleview Ave, 720-214-5532, closes 1:30 to 2 for a meal break. Source
Gem Pharmacy, an independent at 191 E Orchard Rd, 303-795-3154, lists a Delivery service and is closed Saturday and Sunday. Source
The city's resource page lists the Colorado Crisis Line at 844-493-8255, All Health Network at 303-730-8858, Integrated Family Services at 303-789-0501 and Gateway Domestic Violence Services at 303-343-1851. Source

Families in Littleton can start with a free in-home assessment, or read about home care in Littleton.