Senior Citizens' Friendship Center
Introduction and History
The Carroll County Senior Citizens' Friendship Center is the base location for the majority of senior services offered within Carroll County. The Center is located at 100 Kensington Road, Carrollton on the south edge of the county fairgrounds. From this location a host of services are made available to the sixty and over population of the county.
In 1979, a grant from the Older Americans' Act was secured to establish Carroll County's senior services program. It began as a congregate meal facility where some senior activities were also offered. The initial location for these services was the Harsh Memorial United Methodist Church in Harlem Springs about five miles southeast of Carrollton. The first director of the program was Rhoda Long.
In 19__ a building was constructed at the current location on the Carroll County fairgrounds. This structure was approximately 2000 square feet. The first expansion took place in 1985 and added approximately1000 square feet to the existing building by expanding the congregate dining area and adding two offices and a community room with space for a quilting frame for the quilters group, a lending library for books and movies, public computer space, a television viewing area, and a pool table. As the program continued to grow, another addition was made to the structure in 2001, creating a great room of approximately 4000 square feet, including restrooms. This addition also included a basement storage area below which remained unfinished.
In 2009 a Community Development Block Grant was secured to finish the unfinished basement space making it useable to the seniors as well other groups within the county. Bids for this project will be opened later this week and construction will take place this summer.
The continued financial support of this facility from taxpayers approving levy renewals and grant monies being awarded has enabled it to continue to grow along with the senior population of Carroll County. With cuts occurring everywhere in this economy, those in this industry must be careful with their spending habits and ever watchful for grants and other funding opportunities that may arise.
Throughout this growth, the Center has been under the watchful eye of longtime director Sue Henderson. She has served as the Center's director since 1994. Sue Henderson provided details about the services provided to the senior citizens of Carroll County by the Carroll County Council on Aging. This council is a part of the Ohio Area Agency on Aging's Region 9.
Summary of Services Provided
The primary service provided via the Friendship Center is home-delivered meals (HDM). According to the Carroll County map, the county covers some 388 square miles and meals are delivered throughout this area Monday through Friday by four employees. Funding for the HDM program comes from donations from clients and community groups, Title III funds from the Older Americans Act (OAA), Passport, State Subsidy Block Grants (SSBG), and Title XX funds from the Department of Job and Family Services (DJFS).
There are primarily three qualifications to receive home-delivered meals in Carroll County. The client must be: 1) A county resident, 2) 60 years of age or over, and 3) homebound - meaning the client is at home the vast majority of the time leaving only for occasional shopping, doctors' visits, etc. Exceptions to these rules are sometimes made to serve disabled residents who can benefit from the service as well. There are currently approximately 200 clients receiving meals on any given day. These clients are divided into four routes which the four drivers cover by traveling some 270 combined miles daily.
The majority of HDM clients are female, accounting for up to 70% of those served. The diversity of these clients covers the full spectrum from those with significant ADL and IADL limitations to those with only minor limitations. Some of the clients have memory disorders and others have handicaps from legal blindness to Multiple Sclerosis and severe hearing loss. Drivers are trained to meet the needs of their individual clients and adjustments to procedures are made as needed. Some examples include special instructions for entering homes of non-mobile clients to opening containers and telling the visually impaired what they are receiving daily. Payments for HDM are made primarily in the form of cash donations by clients and Passport reimbursement.
Menus are prepared by the on-site head cook and then evaluated by a dietician from the Area Agency on Aging to be certain that daily nutritional requirements are being met. All menus are low sodium and diabetic substitutes are available for those requiring them. Currently diabetics account for approximately 1/3 of HDM clients. Frozen meals are also offered to clients for use in the evening or on the weekends. These are delivered along with the daily hot meals.
Quality assurance measures are monitored by the Area Agency on Aging who performs periodic inspections of the meal preparation facilities as well as requiring regular reporting of temperature testing of meals which have been transported. The Carroll County Health Department also conducts routine inspections of the kitchen and facilities to be sure all safety measures are followed. Meals are transported via heated and cold coolers to provide the utmost safety to all clients. Food recalls are also closely monitored to be certain no recalled products are served.
Home-delivered meals are provided to home-bound clients to address the three goals of in-home services; prevention, maintenance, and restitution. The meals can be beneficial as a temporary aid to help a senior recovering from an accident or injury or they can help someone with more permanent disability remain in their home for a greater period of time. There is always the possibility of the theory of social breakdown occurring and leading to learned helplessness, but the nutritional requirements are also important for these individuals. This nutritional support will quite possibly stall the full disability stage and perhaps even encourage recipients to maintain other social roles and thus contribute to maintaining external continuity and functioning.
A complement to the HDM program is the Congregate dining program. The Friendship Center has a variety of programs to provide congregate meals. The primary dining site is at the Friendship Center location where anywhere from ten to sixty meals are served daily Monday through Friday by paid employees and one volunteer. Additional sites offering Monday through Friday meals are located in Sherrodsville and Malvern. Meals are delivered to these locations by the HDM vans and served by site employees with the assistance of a volunteer. In addition, meals are delivered to the Carroll Square Apartment complex for congregate dining on Thursdays and the Carroll Court Apartments meeting room on Fridays. Congregate meals are offered on the first Tuesday of each month at a site in Amsterdam as well. Combined these congregate sites serve approximately 1200 meals per month.
Congregate meals are offered as a part of community-based services for several reasons. They offer a warm, nutritious meal for a very reasonable suggested donation of just $1.50. (This was increased effective Jan 2010 to $2.00) Another important reason congregate meals are offered is to give senior citizens an opportunity to get out of the house and socialize with one another, thus maintaining social functioning. Often times this is an important part of a client's daily social interaction. Clients are not turned away if unable to pay for meals and the $1.50 donation is merely a suggestion, not a requirement.
Those participating in congregate dining at any of the locations are required to be 60 years or older and a resident of Carroll County, but sometimes seniors from adjoining counties are encouraged to attend as well. Payments are primarily made by client donations and added funding comes from the Area Agency on Aging via Title III funds.
Like home-delivered meals, oversight for the quality of this program is provided by the Area Agency on Aging Region 9 and the Carroll County Health Department as well as self-monitoring. There is a lesser range of diversity in the congregate dining program versus the home-delivered meal program. Clients generally have only minor disabilities of either a physical or a mental nature. There are of course clients with varying degrees of hearing and visual loss as well as memory disorders. The Center is handicapped accessible to make it easier for clients who may be physically challenged to participate in meals as well as other activities offered there.
Another program offered by the Friendship Center is financial assistance for legal consultations. Title III funding secured through the Area Agency on Aging is used to allow senior residents of Carroll County up to $250 toward legal fees each year. These can be applied toward estate planning, elder abuse issues, property disputes, or other legal matters. Eligibility criteria simply requires being a Carroll County resident 60 years or older. These funds are accepted by a number of area attorneys who contract with the Carroll County Council on Aging. Approximately 100 seniors take advantage of this program each year and no payment is accepted in exchange for these services.
Telephone reassurance service is available through the Friendship Center as well. Volunteers are utilized to contact seniors by phone daily to check on their well-being and provide social contact. These services do not receive any direct funding and are provided on an as-needed basis without any charge.
Information and referral services are offered from the Center as well. Seniors throughout the county may call at any time for further information on services available to them as well as assistance with contact information. This service is also not directly funded, but offered on an as-needed basis to all County seniors. The number of calls varies greatly from one hundred a month to several hundred. There are no fees for this service and every effort is made to either find a solution for the client or refer them to someone who can assist them further. Like all services offered by the Center, oversight is administered by the Carroll County Council on Aging board as well as the Area Agency on Aging Region 9.
Home repair and maintenance is also offered to Carroll County residents. This service is not funded either and therefore service is limited. It is provided on an as-needed basis by a retired senior volunteer. Director Sue Henderson evaluates potential clients in order to determine need and eligibility.
Transportation is also offered in Carroll County using OAA funding monies. The Carroll County Council contracts with the local transit facility, Carroll County Transit, to provide transportation to local residents for routine trips about town for shopping and visits to the Senior Center. County residents are charged a fee for utilizing these services and must pay out-of-pocket while city residents are not charged a fee, but are advised that donations are welcome and appreciated to help offset the costs of this service which is covered by the Carroll County Council on Aging. Each week, regular visits are made to Drug Mart on Mondays and Wednesdays, The Dollar General Market on Thursdays, and Thornes' Market on Tuesdays.
Any client having a problem with this service can contact either Carroll County Transit directly or the Carroll County Council on Aging to discuss any issues. Funding for these transportation services come from Title III and state funds. This is an important service because it also contributes to keeping seniors in their homes longer, allowing them to maintain a degree of external continuity and functioning they might not otherwise achieve.
Medical transit is also provided for the seniors of Carroll County via a contract with Carroll County Transit. County residents 60 years of age and over may use the public transit system for up to three trips per month for medical care. These transits must be scheduled through the Friendship Center and donations from clients are welcome. Funding for this service is provided by Title III funding as well.
All transit services are provided to seniors of all abilities. Wheelchair vans are available for those requiring them and clients with aides are welcome and encouraged to be accompanied. During the first quarter of 2009, fifty-two clients were provided transportation for a total of 756 trips. Funding for the transportation program comes from Title III by way of the Area Agency on Aging. These services are vital to keeping seniors in their homes for as long as possible.
Another area of services offered by the Friendship Center is socialization and group activities . The advantages of social interaction are of great importance in the senior community to maintain social function and external continuity and the Center strives to fill that need. Some of the ways that this socialization are provided include: exercise classes on Monday and Friday, Tai Chi on Tuesday and Thursday, quilting on Tuesdays, Bingo, Euchre, Bridge, Skip-Bo, Wii, and more. Residents are encouraged to participate in as many activities as possible when they visit the Friendship Center.
Every attempt is made to offer a wide range of activities so there might be something for everyone. There is no direct funding for these services and there are never any fees involved. There is some diversity within the groups participating in these activities, but most are not seriously disabled. Exercise classes are led by Center director Sue Henderson and most other activities are client-initiated.
The final area of services delivered is health and nutrition services and screenings. Blood pressure and pulse screenings are provided by the Carroll County Visiting Nurses and Great Trail Care Center each month. These nurses also offer information on health and nutrition for clients. These services are funded by Title III monies via the Area Agency on Aging which administers oversight. All clients visiting the Center are eligible for these services which are delivered to approximately sixty individuals per month.
Older Americans Act Objectives Addressed
The Carroll County Senior Citizens' Friendship Center and The Carroll County Council on Aging work diligently to provide services to the senior citizens of Carroll County. They do this by addressing a number of the objectives of the Older Americans Act.
Among these are:
The best possible physical health is one of these objectives. Meals are provided along with nutritional information and exercise and screening services to assist seniors in achieving and maintaining the best physical health possible.
Restorative services to sustain older people in their homes and their communities for as long as possible. Home-delivered meals are provided to those recuperating from illness or injury in order to allow them to more quickly return to their independent state. These meals also allow seniors to stay in their own homes longer than they might otherwise be able to. The Center also makes referral to Passport and other services which may act as a means to that end as well. Transportation services also work to this end providing a vital service many seniors are unable to continue for themselves as health issues interfere with the ability to drive.
A retirement in health, honor and dignity is also addressed by the Center as every effort is made to keep seniors healthy through education and meal programs and to maintain their dignity by offering services regardless of ability to pay. This is also done by the use of envelopes for donations made so no one is aware of how much another client may or may not have contributed. Also, no records are maintained regarding payment for HDM's. Clients simply submit money to the Center in an anonymous fashion or not at all.
Participating in and contributing to meaningful activity, education and recreational activities is also important. The Center offers numerous physical activities and recreation to seniors throughout each month. Day trips are offered for shopping in Canton , Alliance, and New Philadelphia and fun trips are planned to locations like Amish Country and Christmas Light displays.
Access to low cost transportation is a very important service provided by the Center. As the numbers indicate, this is a very widely utilized service that the senior citizens of Carroll County make use of fully For daily needs and medical appointments.
Freedom, independence, and the free exercise of individual initiative in planning and managing their own lives, full participation in the planning and operation of community-based services and programs provided for their benefit, and protection against abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The Friendship Center allows seniors to participate in all decisions through surveys and feedback as well as the oversight by a board of senior community members which anyone may serve on. Employees of the Center also act as defenders of seniors by reporting any suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation to Adult Protective Services (APS) for investigation. Any and all services provided by the Carroll County Council on Aging are voluntary and clients maintain their rights to accept or reject them.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Some of the strengths of the Carroll County Senior Citizens' Friendship Center are the socialization that it offers for seniors who might otherwise be isolated in their homes. The addition of numerous limited congregate sites has increased the number of seniors socializing while enjoying their meals. Social functioning is truly enhanced by many aspects of this program.
Nutrition is also a strength of the Center offering sound meals which provide one-third of the daily nutritional requirements as well as looking out for the special requirements of clients for such things as low-sodium, diabetic, and allergy sensitive needs. Transportation is another area of strength because it is used by a broad cross-section of the county senior population and is especially valuable in the rural setting of Carroll County in keeping seniors in their homes for as long as possible.
Areas where Carroll County may have weaknesses include the limits of the transportation system and funding cuts. Ideally transportation for local shopping and errands would be free or subsidized for all county residents rather than just those living within the city limits. This is true because many seniors in the rural areas are very isolated and often lack the funds to pay for their own transportation. A great deal of additional funding would be required to transport rural residents from throughout the county because of the time and large number of miles involved.
Funding cuts are hitting every organization nationwide and the Senior Center is no exception. Funding comes to the Senior Center from many resources at this time which has helped to maintain service levels up to this point. Continued cuts may force reductions in services in the future.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (USCB), Carroll County has some 5968 citizens 60 years of age or older. Sue Henderson estimates that on any given day the Friendship Center serves 400 of these people. That means there are greater than 93% of the seniors in Carroll County who are not participating in these programs on any given day. Even if we look at seniors over the age of 70, Carroll County has nearly 3000 (USCB). More seniors need to be made aware of the services offered as well as convinced that they should participate and would benefit from doing so. This of course relates directly to the three requirements for service utilization; Availability, Accessibility, and Acceptability.
Another area of weakness in Carroll County is the lack of a website promoting our programs and services. A prospective client asked me just the other day if the email address was monitored at all times so he could just email his reservations for lunch. It is not. There are many seniors who aren't active on the internet, but a growing number of them are. If we expect to reach these seniors we must keep up with technology and post our newsletters, menus, and activities online for them. In the future, we should even be able to receive transportation request forms via email. As the baby boomer generation ages, this area of communication will need to be addressed for maximum availability of information about senior services in Carroll County.
The Area Agency Region 9 recognizes this and cites the lack of online information as an area of concern which needs to be addressed throughout the areas they serve. In their Strategic Area Plan for Programs on Aging, the Area Agency states, "Web-based applications are a natural as much of our target market group become computer-savvy."
References
2008. U.S. Census Bureau, USA Counties. General Profile Carroll, OH. (18 April, 2009). http://censtats.census.gov/cgi-bin/usac/usatable.pl?State=&County=39019&TableID=AAA
Carroll County Ohio. Carroll County Engineer. (2000). Highway Map of Carroll County. Deland, Florida: National Survey.
Henderson, S. (2009, April ). Personal Communication - Interview.
Phillips, D. (2006, March 22). Strategic Area Plan for Programs on Aging , Program Years 2007-2010. Retrieved February 11, 2009, from http://www.aaa9.org/2007-2010%20Area%20Plan%20-%20draft%202%20ALB%20at%203-22-06.pdf