Resources for Seniors

 

Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs

Prepared by: Michael Williams, Assistant Director, Public Affairs

 

For more information: David Cottengim, President, Resources for Seniors, Inc., 919- 713-1521

 

April 3, 2012 

 

Resources for Seniors Helps Seniors and

Those with Disabilities Remain Independent

 

        More than 35,800 seniors and adults with disabilities in Wake County, credit their independence to services received from Resources for Seniors.

 

Resources for Seniors, which received $25,000 in financial support in fiscal year 2011-12 from a City of Raleigh Human Service Agency grant, serves senior adults and adults with disabilities in Wake County with community-based services and information designed to help maximize their choices for independence, comfort, safety, security and well-being. Direct services include home care, adult day care and home repair.

 

Since its inception in 1973, with an initial annual operating budget of $44,000, Resources for Seniors has greatly expanded the services offered. In recent years it has enhanced, refined and consolidated its efforts, resulting in a comprehensive service delivery system. Clients receiving services:

•       93 percent are 65 years of age or older;
•     23 percent are 85 years of age or older;
•      52 percent are moderately impaired or frail;
•       80 percent are female;
•      54 percent are minorities; and,
•        60 percent have incomes at or below the Federal Poverty Level.

Senior centers operated by Resources for Seniors provide a wide range of services. They operate full-service, community-focal-point senior centers at the Whitaker Mill Center in Raleigh, Northern Wake in Wake Forest, and the East Wake Senior Center in Wendell. Activities at these three centers include socialization, recreation, education, wellness and health promotions as well as access to information and other services.

 

Resources for Seniors provides comprehensive on-site human services at the Garner and Cary Senior Centers. The recreation departments of each municipality provide the recreational and socialization components. Resources for Seniors will have a similar role with the new Five Points Senior Center when it is opened by the City of Raleigh later this year.

 

Resources for Seniors started the first:

• In-Home Aide program in Wake County, in 1975;
• Adult Day Care program in Wake County, in 1978; and,
• Senior Center in Wake County, in 1980.

 

Services currently provided by Resources for Seniors include:

• Friendly Visitor and Telephone Reassurance - volunteers visit or call homebound elderly persons on a daily or weekly basis;
• Housing Information – Resources for Seniors is a Housing and Urban Development Approved Housing Counseling Agency;
• Caregiver Assistance Service - offers confidential and objective assistance in identifying care-giving options and resources, clarifying personal and family needs, and managing stress and difficult behaviors;
• Companion Plus/Sitters - provides care and companionship for older adults. Companions and sitters receive training in the areas of home safety, entertaining one-on-one activities, communication and CPR;
• Adult Day Care Centers – two centers in Raleigh, two in Cary, one in Garner and one in Wendell offer supervised activities and care for older adults, allowing them to remain part of the community and providing respite for families who have older adults in their homes. Over half of the families have indicated that without adult day care their parents or spouse would have to be placed in a nursing home;
• Respite Care - available to individuals or families responsible for the routine daily care of an older adult that requires constant assistance and supervision;
• In-Home Aide Service - provides personal care and housekeeping to frail older adults. Physician-ordered medical care is provided under supervision of Registered Nurses in clients homes;
• Care Management - a multi-phase service designed to assist a caregiver and older adult in designing and coordinating personal care, skilled care, and long-term care services;
• Housing and Home Improvement - offers skilled staff and volunteers to provide minor home repairs such as leaking plumbing, installing locks, replacing broken windows and screens, installing wheelchair ramps and assistive bathroom devices;
• Community Alternatives Program - a Medicaid waiver, home-based program that offers eligible adults the opportunity to remain in the community and avoid institutional services, mainly through use of adult day-care and in-home aides;
• Medication Education for Drug Safety - assists older adults reduce medication-related problems and in acquiring free medication through various pharmaceutical assistance programs;
• Information, Referral and Case Assistance - assists older adults in gaining access to needed services and resources. Services are provided by telephone, on-line or through a consultation visit.   Resources for Seniors distributes approximately 18,000 copies of their Directory of Resources for Older Adults in Wake County annually; and,
• Transportation Services –
  • 0perates My Meals on Wheels of Wake County;
  • Transports the residents of elderly housing complexes to buy groceries on a weekly or bi-monthly basis; and,
  • Provides regular transportation to medical appointments to the rural elderly who are in the greatest need.

 

The Resources for Seniors web site, www.resourcesforseniors.com, offers information about all the services it provides in Wake County. Information about Resources for Seniors services is also available at 919-872-7933.

 

City of Raleigh Human Services Agency Funding

The City of Raleigh awards grants annually to nonprofit organizations that provide services to City of Raleigh residents who are elderly, are youth, who have a disability, abuse substances, or are homeless individuals.

Applications for a human service agency grant are accepted from private nonprofit organizations with headquarters in the City of Raleigh. An applicant must have at least one year of recent experience in the delivery of services, maintain 501(c) (3) tax-exempt status and demonstrate sensitivity to the special needs of its clientele.

Grants are awarded on a fiscal-year basis. The Raleigh Human Relations Commission makes recommendations on the applying agencies to the Raleigh City Council. The City Council votes on which grant proposals to fund.

 

Grant Application and Approval Process 

1. Nonprofits submit grant applications to the Volunteer and Human Services Division of the City of Raleigh Community Services Department each fall. (The application period for fiscal year 2012-13 ended on Dec. 5, 2011);

2. Applications are reviewed by a subcommittee consisting of five members of the Human Relations Commission and one representative each from the City of Raleigh Substance Abuse Advisory Commission, Wake County Human Services, the nonprofit community and United Way of the Greater Triangle;

3. The subcommittee submits its recommendations to the full Human Relations Commission. The commission considers and discusses the subcommittee's recommendations, then forwards its recommendations to the city manager;

4. The city manager submits the commission's recommendations to the City Council for final action as part of its budget approval. Grant applicants receive notification of the City Council's decision; and,

5. The Volunteer and Human Services Division ensures that grant recipients perform the services for which they received funding.

 

The City of Raleigh provided $776,500 in financial support to nonprofit service agencies in fiscal year 2011-12, and more than $9 million since the program began in fiscal year 1996-97.

 

For more information on the City of Raleigh Human Services Agency Grant process, visit www.raleighnc.gov or contact Marionna Poke-Stewart, Division Supervisor, Community Services Department, marionna.poke-stewart@raleighnc.gov, or 919-996-6100.

 

 

 

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