By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Throughout the county, many senior citizens are finding themselves increasingly isolated by the safety measures imposed for COVID-19.
On Wednesday, the plight of some local seniors was discussed by Wood County Committee on Aging Executive Director Denise Niese. She talked to the agency’s board members about the need for CARES funding to help seniors who can no longer get services at the senior centers in the county.
On Thursday morning, Niese had good news.
“We got everything we asked for” in CARES funding, she said. “I was pleasantly surprised.”
The Wood County Committee on Aging was awarded $180,858 in CARES money, $3,439 in nutrition funding from the Department of Agriculture, and $25,000 from the Ohio Housing Trust for home repairs for seniors.
A big chunk of the CARES funding will go toward home delivered meals for seniors. But seniors need more than food to thrive, Niese said.
Some of the funding will be used to conduct regular wellness checks for 80 clients in the county who have been assessed and determined to be socially isolated and at-risk during the pandemic. Each of these clients will be called three times weekly to verify their safety and ensure they have access to needed services.
“We want to provide them with some contact beyond their walls,” Niese said.
The funding will also be used to provide computer tablets and jet packs for loan to seniors who do not have access to technology or internet in their homes.
“We want to get some people to engage who haven’t been able to for the last six months,” Niese said.
With the loaned technology, seniors will be able to access virtual programming on educational, cultural and recreational topics.
Other funding will help seniors who qualify pay for home repairs needed due to COVID-19, so they can be safe in their homes.
Niese said the pandemic has been particularly hard on seniors whose access to socialization was at one of the eight county senior centers that remain closed.
“They’re frustrated,” she said. “We’re getting calls from people just in tears. They are so lonely.”
Many seniors don’t have children, have little to no support systems, and have outlived most of their peers.
“They are feeling totally isolated,” Niese said.
Some have called Niese to see if it is safe for them to go out to a restaurant for a meal.
“There are some who are despairing,” she said.
Niese said the state needs to work on getting senior centers and adult day care settings back open. She asked agency board members to call their elected officials and express the need to get senior facilities open.
Seniors desperate for interaction who are going out to restaurants would likely be even safer at senior centers, she said.
The Wood County Committee on Aging staff members are preparing all the county senior centers for the time when we are permitted to reopen. The reopening plan has been distributed to staff and is available to the public via the WCCOA website or a hard copy by request.
Though seniors can’t gather at centers, the staff and volunteers continue to prepare and deliver home delivered and shelf stable meals throughout the county.
During June, 18,270 home delivered meals were delivered throughout Wood County. This is an average of 830 per day and included hot and frozen meals for heating for dinner and weekends, and shelf stable for new starts. For June, donations for meals totaled $22,668.90 (average meal donation of $1.24/meal).
During July, 17,388 home delivered meals were delivered throughout Wood County. The numbers were down, since the July 3 and 4 frozen meals were delivered in June. This is an average of 790 per day and included hot and frozen meals, and shelf stable for new starts. For the month of July, donations for meals totaled $16,406.13 (average meal donation of 94 cents/meal).
In order to prevent problems, the board voted Wednesday to adopt a travel policy for employees. The policy states when staff must quarantine.
“We have to protect the older adults we are seeing,” Niese said.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Jim Stainbrook presented an update on the new senior center being constructed on North Grove Street in Bowling Green. The building is “right on schedule,” with move-in planned to start on Feb. 4.
The capital campaign goal of $1.2 million is now about two-thirds complete, with $790,597 being raised so far.
“Each week we get some more,” Stainbrook said.
