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Funding Supports Meals on Wheels - July 08, 2008
Many Berkshire County seniors are at risk of losing their independence because they are unable to live safely in the community without specialized intervention. Others need assistance to manage monthly financial tasks.
For some, all that is needed to help them remain in their own homes is a hot, nutritious mid-day meal. In response to these needs, Elder Services offers the Enhanced Elder Intervention, Money Management, and Meals on Wheels programs. Berkshire United Way, Northern Berkshire United Way, and the Williamstown Community Chest will provide funding to enable Elder Services to continue to provide these three programs to seniors in need.
The Enhanced Elder Intervention program was created by Elder Services to address the needs of at-risk seniors who, due to a variety of personal challenges, are unable to live safely in the community without assistance. The majority of the seniors served are low-income. Some are homeless. Almost half are age 80 or older. In many cases, the senior exhibits extreme self-neglect, has undiagnosed or untreated mental health
issues, denies having a problem, or resists receiving help. Trust must be built and a rapport established before the he or she will consider accepting help.
The Enhanced Elder Intervention program benefits local communities by providing a safety net for fragile Berkshire seniors and by providing support to police and fire departments and other community organizations when they become involved in situations involving at-risk seniors requiring interventions for which they may not have the resources. The existence of the Enhanced Elder Intervention program frees municipal workers, such as members of the police and fire departments, to focus on their primary job descriptions: fighting crime, responding to emergencies, and putting out fires.
The Money Management Assistance program assists seniors with monthly financial tasks while enabling them to maintain autonomy over their financial matters. The program matches trained volunteers with seniors to help organize monthly bills, write checks at the senior’s direction, balance the monthly checking account statements, and develop a workable budget. The Money Management Program often serves seniors dealing with unpaid bills, threatening notices, and the fear of eviction. The volunteer sees that bills are paid, budgets followed, and independence is maintained.
The Money Management Manager works in conjunction with local human services organizations, housing authorities, Councils on Aging, and financial institutions to identify seniors in need of this service. Referrals also come from other health and human service providers such as the Visiting Nurse Associations, the Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse of the Berkshires, and religious institutions. Also, increasingly, seniors in need of service are referring themselves.
Elder Services’ Nutrition/Meals on Wheels program serves all of Berkshire County.Last year, Elder Services’ kitchen prepared over a quarter of a million meals, producing more than 1,000 hot, nourishing meals a day each Monday through Friday. Over 200,000 meals were delivered directly to the homes of frail seniors, and the rest served to seniors attending 14 lunch sites located throughout the county. Drivers
travel more than 226,000 miles each year to bring hot, nutritious, home-delivered meals to frail homebound seniors each weekday.
Federal funding for Elder Services’ Nutrition/Meals on Wheels program has remained basically the same for the past 13 years, while the cost of purchasing and preparing the food, and delivering the meals to the homes of frail seniors has continued to grow. The program has been dangerously under-funded for years, even as the cost of food and gasoline has skyrocketed. The Meals on Wheels program, which has a very lean budget, has been hit particularly hard, and needs community support in the form of *donations, sponsorships and grants, to help reduce its operating deficit.*
United Way/Community Chest allocations for these three programs for the fiscal year July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 are: Berkshire United Way, $58,355 to help seniors in Central and Southern Berkshire County, Northern Berkshire United Way, $20,900 to help seniors in Northern Berkshire County, and Williamstown Community Chest, $11,000 for Williamstown residents.
The invaluable support provided by Berkshire United Way, Northern Berkshire United Way, and Williamstown Community Chest will help Elder Services fulfill its mission to provide Berkshire elders the opportunity to live with dignity, independence, and self-determination, and to achieve the highest possible quality of life.
To learn more about Enhanced Elder Intervention, Money Management, Meals on Wheels, or other Elder Services programs, call 413-499-0524 or 1-800-544-5242. |
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