Hollister forum gives residents a chance to share thoughts
Hollister forum gives residents a chance to share thoughts
The Seniors Council Area Agency on Aging, which oversees funding for senior programs in San Benito and Santa Cruz counties, held a forum Monday at Jovenes de Antano.
Clay Kempf, the executive director of the Area Agency on Aging, Mitch Matthews, a member of the long-term care commission, and Pauline Valdivia, a Hollister city councilwoman and director of Jovenes de Antano, all gathered to listen to seniors’ comments before lunch on Monday.
“Today we are here to hear from you about what services you need,” Kempf said. “We get federal and state funds to provide services such as today’s lunch. We asked you all what your biggest needs are.”
The forum offered a chance to present information from a survey conducted last fall that helped to inform the 2012-16 priorities for the council. The meeting on Monday was a chance for seniors to express needs that will continue to set those priorities and to help the agency provide funding where it is most needed in 2012-13.
“We try the best we can to bring aid to the aging population,” Matthews said. “Also think about the people who can’t make it. You can be the voice of many today. What about people who aren’t here to speak today.”
Next year Jovenes De Antano will receive $309,100 in funding to provide meals at the senior center, home-delivered meals, information and assistance, transportation, assistance with forms completion, in-home assessment and case management, and family caregiver support services.
The community will also benefit from $406,000 to four organizations that benefit both Santa Cruz and San Benito counties. These agencies provide ombudsman services (including visits to nursing home and care facilities) and elder abuse prevention; legal services; health insurance counseling and advocacy program and in-home assessments.
A few dozen seniors were in attendance at the start of the meeting, with others trickling in as lunchtime approached. Most of those who took the time to talk expressed concerns about medical issues. Some said they could not find doctors to take Medicare or Medi-Cal insurance in Hollister. Others said the cost of an ambulance ride when they are “half-dying” is prohibitive. One woman
said an ambulance ride cost her $900 and it still took 15 minutes to get to the hospital. Another man also expressed concerns about the cost of an ambulance ride. One senior said the cost of a doctor’s appointment is high, especially when his doctor just tells him to go home and take his medicine.
Another man said the Meals on Wheels program was especially helpful to him at a time when he was sick and could not come to the senior center for meals.
Other seniors expressed a desire for more activities for seniors.
“I’m new in the community,” one man said, adding that he had lived in Hollister for six months. “I heard from some seniors that they enjoyed coming to San Justo (Reservoir.) They enjoyed the entertainment (of fishing.)”
He asked if the seniors council could speed along the reopening of the reservoir, which has been closed since zebra mussels were discovered in the water way.
Another senior said that any type of activity at the senior center would be a fun way to socialize, from dancing to arts and crafts activities.
“Sometimes seniors have family working in San Jose or Salinas and they are home alone all day,” she said.
She also said that sometimes the bus service runs late, which can make it hard for seniors who rely on the bus to get to lunch at the center.
The high percentage of medical concerns expressed at the meeting were similar to the top concerns expressed in the 2011 survey. At the time of the survey, San Benito seniors said their number one concern was how to pay for dental care, with 54 percent saying it was an issue. The second was paying for health care costs, with 51 percent citing it as a concern.
Other top concerns included paying rent or a mortgage; paying for medications; buying food or other essentials; understanding Medicare/Medi-Cal; paying for car expenses; home maintenance; understanding legal issues like wills; doing housework; and finding doctors who accept Medicare.
The draft of the 2012-16 Area Plan on Aging plan includes goals for creating leadership and collaboration; advocacy and service delivery.
Kempf asked the seniors to call or send a letter if they thought of other things they wanted to add after the meeting.
The 2012-16 Area Plan on Aging draft is available online at www.seniorscouncil.org. Residents can share comments on the plan at [email protected]; by phone to 688-0400 or by sending a letter to: Seniors Council Area Agency on Aging, 234 Santa Cruz Ave., Aptos, CA, 94003.
