Merced County moving forward on senior volunteer program
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday received an update on a volunteer program aimed at senior citizens who no longer receive daily visits due to Merced County’s elimination of hot meal deliveries.
County supervisors approved swapping the delivery of daily hot meals for frozen entrees last month. The decision to eliminate hot meals to homebound senior citizens also got rid of daily visits from delivery drivers. The board asked Human Services Agency Director Ana Pagan to come up with a volunteer program to supplement the loss of visits.
Pagan said state and federal funding doesn’t cover the costs of providing daily checks of seniors on the Meals on Wheels program. However, her agency is looking at ways to create a companion program, using one-time funding and unpaid volunteers.
“Nowhere in the (state) regulations is there a requirement for welfare checks,” Pagan told supervisors Tuesday. “If we wish to do more, community involvement is essential in meeting these needs.”
About 10 volunteers have signed up to provide visits to the seniors, Pagan said, but only 12 seniors have requested companionship. County officials conducted an assessment of 75 seniors in the program – mostly those who live alone and have few visitors – to gauge whether they would like daily visits.
The seniors were also given sample frozen meals, asked whether they can operate a microwave and if they own a freezer. Pagan said the county will use one-time funding to purchase freezers and microwaves for seniors who don’t have them.
County officials plan to survey all 150 seniors enrolled in the program. Pagan also has enlisted the help of Nancy Young-Bergman, a founding member of the Merced County branch of the Court Appointed Special Advocates and co-owner of a nonprofit.
Young-Bergman will be paid $50 an hour for her work on the senior volunteer program, according to her contract. Pagan also plans to request adding a full-time volunteer coordinator position in next year’s budget.
Pagan said many seniors want visits from the same volunteers who delivered meals under the previous program.
“Some seniors and family members were fearful of strangers entering their homes,” she said. “We reached out to the current volunteers and they showed interest in our programs.”
Steve Pietrzyk, 84, said he will not return as a Meals on Wheels volunteer after being involved with the program for nearly three years. His reason for not continuing is personal, Pietrzyk said, but he also expressed concerns with switching to frozen meals.
“There are some people that can’t see and having to get the food out of the freezer to the microwave would be a problem,” Pietrzyk said. “Whereas with the cooked meal they could just open and eat it.”
But the switch to frozen meals will save the county $80,000 a year, county administrators said.
The home-delivery program costs are estimated at $342,751 for fiscal year 2014-15, with $199,193 coming from the state and federal funding. The county is required by the state to kick in just $31,436 but provides an additional $112,122 to ensure the program is fully funded.
County officials are also looking at purchasing emergency alert devices for seniors who live alone and don’t have visitors. The county has one-time funding to pay for the devices and activation costs, but two of the three devices have monthly fees, which would have to be paid by the seniors.
One option, which has GPS-activated technology, would cost $16 to $18 a month for seniors and another would be $40.95 to $50.95 per month.
When asked how low-income seniors would pay the monthly fees, Pagan said the county is looking at partnering with nonprofits and seeking grant opportunities to assist those seniors.
This story was originally published September 16, 2014 at 8:32 PM with the headline "Merced County moving forward on senior volunteer program."