Columbus Dispatch reports on Aggressive Ohio outreach program successful in providing services to isolated seniors
The Meyerhoff Center in Hollywood has a program similar to the one discussed in this article. However, unlike Ohio, the Broward facility faces closing its doors due to lack of funds . . .
No longer alone: Aggressive Ohio outreach program successful in providing services to isolated seniors
Sunday, June 12, 2011
By Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - The people Dick Douglass wants to help the most are often the hardest to find.They are the senior citizens of his community who are stuck in their homes, most of whom no longer drive, many with no relatives close by.They are isolated and lonely. And they are of an era that taught them not to ask for help.That's why Douglass, director of Union County Senior Services, spent nearly $27,000 on billboards, newsletters and other advertising last year to try to reach people who, in turn, can reach those in need.
He says the strategy has worked. He has neighbors who pop into the office, and postal carriers, doctors, ministers and others who regularly call: "There's this woman nobody ever checks on ...."
Every community has a group of active seniors who go bowling, go to restaurants and organize day trips, and that's great, Douglass said. "But I wanted to find the ones who don't understand Medicaid and don't know who to ask, the ones who can't get to the grocery, the ones who don't have money to fill their propane tank in the winter.
"I always wanted this program to be for those seniors, for the ones society doesn't see."
Advocates for senior citizens say the Union County network is a success and has exceeded expectations since voters approved a sales tax in 2008 to start it.
The sales tax earmarked for senior services was expected to bring in about $700,000 a year; in 2010, it generated $937,188. Douglass said that has allowed him to build a bit of a financial cushion for when more senior citizens use the services, and it has allowed him to build more partnerships than he imagined.
Senior Services already has one full-time social worker and, starting this week, will pay half the salary of a second one. The other half will be paid by the organization that runs Windsor Manor, a Marysville housing complex with more than 200 senior citizens. The new social worker's office will be at Windsor.
Senior Services also pays for an adult protective services worker, a mental-health counselor who treats only older adults and a case manager dedicated to Alzheimer's patients.
The organization contracts with other agencies to provide in-home personal care and housekeeping, respite care and meals. It provides monthly coupons to nearly 400 seniors for fresh fruit and vegetables, provides medical equipment, helps cover prescription costs and provides fans and air conditioners in the summer and money for heating fuel in the winter.
With the help of a local church, the organization even builds wheelchair ramps for seniors in need.
Last year, about 1,200 seniors were served by the programs Douglass tracks.
"What Union County has been able to do in such a short time is really unbelievable," said Cindy Farson, director of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. "Our older adults are people who, by nature, don't like to reach out for help. And Dick and his staff find them and meet their needs."
Union County is the only one in the state to fund local senior services by a sales tax, according to the Ohio Department of Aging. Most of Ohio's 87 other counties use property-tax levies, and a few cities and townships have their own levies on the books. Fifteen counties have no levies for such services.
A local seniors club recently asked the Union County commissioners whether any of the local sales-tax money could be used for a new building, a place where activities could be held and seniors could gather. The commissioners deferred to Douglass, who says buildings are a financial drain and don't help provide any services.
Surveys consistently show that transportation is the No. 1 need of seniors. "When you lose your car keys, you lose the world," Farson said.
Last year, Douglass spent about 9 percent of his $1million budget on transportation. The county's handicapped-accessible vans take people to appointments, doctor's offices, meal sites and stores.
On the most-recent "Walmart day," 86-year-old Donna Spyker was already at the door ready to go when van driver Clarissa Amstutz pulled into her driveway, right on time.
Spyker had her cloth shopping bag with her and said she would pick up some staples at the store. But to her, this trip was as much about friendship as it was about dish soap and Kleenex.
"This is our social life," Spyker said as she chatted with the other women on the van about the previous night's thunderstorms.
Spkyer's children live in San Diego and Florida, and she doesn't drive anymore. An ankle that was broken long ago is bothersome enough now that she can't manage the walk to the strip mall a block from her home.
"My children are so grateful that I live in Marysville," Spyker said. "The places they live don't have anything like this. I feel so lucky."
Bus mate Pat Edelman, 75, said that on one snowy and windy winter day, Amstutz picked her up and drove her to her doctor's office, which she can practically see from her front window. "What a godsend this has been for me. And it really expands our world."
hzachariah@dispatch.com
No longer alone: Aggressive Ohio outreach program successful in providing services to isolated seniors
Sunday, June 12, 2011
By Holly Zachariah
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
(Kyle Robertson | DISPATCH)
Clarissa Amstutz, center, of Union County Agency Transportation Service, waits for Donna Spyker to board the bus. The UCATS bus was picking up six to eight older adults to take them to Walmart for shopping as part of the Union County Senior Services.
MARYSVILLE, Ohio - The people Dick Douglass wants to help the most are often the hardest to find.They are the senior citizens of his community who are stuck in their homes, most of whom no longer drive, many with no relatives close by.They are isolated and lonely. And they are of an era that taught them not to ask for help.That's why Douglass, director of Union County Senior Services, spent nearly $27,000 on billboards, newsletters and other advertising last year to try to reach people who, in turn, can reach those in need.
He says the strategy has worked. He has neighbors who pop into the office, and postal carriers, doctors, ministers and others who regularly call: "There's this woman nobody ever checks on ...."
Every community has a group of active seniors who go bowling, go to restaurants and organize day trips, and that's great, Douglass said. "But I wanted to find the ones who don't understand Medicaid and don't know who to ask, the ones who can't get to the grocery, the ones who don't have money to fill their propane tank in the winter.
"I always wanted this program to be for those seniors, for the ones society doesn't see."
Advocates for senior citizens say the Union County network is a success and has exceeded expectations since voters approved a sales tax in 2008 to start it.
The sales tax earmarked for senior services was expected to bring in about $700,000 a year; in 2010, it generated $937,188. Douglass said that has allowed him to build a bit of a financial cushion for when more senior citizens use the services, and it has allowed him to build more partnerships than he imagined.
Senior Services already has one full-time social worker and, starting this week, will pay half the salary of a second one. The other half will be paid by the organization that runs Windsor Manor, a Marysville housing complex with more than 200 senior citizens. The new social worker's office will be at Windsor.
Senior Services also pays for an adult protective services worker, a mental-health counselor who treats only older adults and a case manager dedicated to Alzheimer's patients.
The organization contracts with other agencies to provide in-home personal care and housekeeping, respite care and meals. It provides monthly coupons to nearly 400 seniors for fresh fruit and vegetables, provides medical equipment, helps cover prescription costs and provides fans and air conditioners in the summer and money for heating fuel in the winter.
With the help of a local church, the organization even builds wheelchair ramps for seniors in need.
Last year, about 1,200 seniors were served by the programs Douglass tracks.
"What Union County has been able to do in such a short time is really unbelievable," said Cindy Farson, director of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging. "Our older adults are people who, by nature, don't like to reach out for help. And Dick and his staff find them and meet their needs."
Union County is the only one in the state to fund local senior services by a sales tax, according to the Ohio Department of Aging. Most of Ohio's 87 other counties use property-tax levies, and a few cities and townships have their own levies on the books. Fifteen counties have no levies for such services.
A local seniors club recently asked the Union County commissioners whether any of the local sales-tax money could be used for a new building, a place where activities could be held and seniors could gather. The commissioners deferred to Douglass, who says buildings are a financial drain and don't help provide any services.
Surveys consistently show that transportation is the No. 1 need of seniors. "When you lose your car keys, you lose the world," Farson said.
Last year, Douglass spent about 9 percent of his $1million budget on transportation. The county's handicapped-accessible vans take people to appointments, doctor's offices, meal sites and stores.
On the most-recent "Walmart day," 86-year-old Donna Spyker was already at the door ready to go when van driver Clarissa Amstutz pulled into her driveway, right on time.
Spyker had her cloth shopping bag with her and said she would pick up some staples at the store. But to her, this trip was as much about friendship as it was about dish soap and Kleenex.
"This is our social life," Spyker said as she chatted with the other women on the van about the previous night's thunderstorms.
Spkyer's children live in San Diego and Florida, and she doesn't drive anymore. An ankle that was broken long ago is bothersome enough now that she can't manage the walk to the strip mall a block from her home.
"My children are so grateful that I live in Marysville," Spyker said. "The places they live don't have anything like this. I feel so lucky."
Bus mate Pat Edelman, 75, said that on one snowy and windy winter day, Amstutz picked her up and drove her to her doctor's office, which she can practically see from her front window. "What a godsend this has been for me. And it really expands our world."
hzachariah@dispatch.com
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