Area Five Agency on Aging and Community Services

Aging and in home Services is designed to provide options for individuals to assist themselves in activities of daily living and to make available opportunities for a safe, healthly home environment. Home visits are made to clients to assess mental and physical ability as well as their financial situation. Through a systematic analysis of care, appropriate Services are recommended and brokered through a variety of home care service providers. This process allows individuals to maintain independence in their homes rather than risk institutional placement. However, there are situations where residency within a long-term care facility is imminent. Area Five provides an independent evaluation for the level of care for individuals entering a nursing home facility. This opportunity allows the individual and their family to make a more informed decision regarding their options, as well as to prevent inappropriate placement. The senior nutrition program is designed to provide an environment of fellowship and fun for seniors in our Area. Program activities are provided at the congregate sites and various agendas of interest are shared with the participants. Area Five serves congregate meals at 11 sites and provides home delivered meals to participants unable to leave their home in our six counties. Other activities that Area Five provides either directly or indirectly through available providers include transportation Services and information and referral Services. Caregiver support, respite assistance, and guidance for grandparents raising grandchildren are also available through our programs.

As a dual Area Agency on Aging and a Community action Agency, Area Five has the capacity to fulfill the needs of families from birth through the Aging years. The Community service program attempts to move families toward self-sufficiency. This is done through a variety of programs, techniques, and activities. We assist individuals and families in accessing appropriate activities to meet their individual needs, while making the best use of their available resources. Individual development accounts help build an approach to investing in a savings account that can be used toward home ownership, education, or business development. Other programs that are offered as a part of our Community service program include the small business development program, parent support and education groups, and health initiatives and many other activities that supplement these and other programs. We have hundreds of volunteers who donate thousands of hours toward helping our families. We have a multi-faceted mission that drives our staff to either provide or make a referral to Services that are appropriate for participants. We have many tools available to us in the Agency, as well as within our Community, that we utilize and share to make linkages to help just about anyone, and we challenge our staff, families, and Community citizens to help us build on this foundation.

Head start program - Area Five's head start program serves over 179 children and families in cass, fulton, and wabash counties. Class size was reduced to 13 each due to the pandemic so numbered served is much less than previous years. Along with nutritionally balances breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, children from low-income families (100% poverty or below) receive developmentally appropriate and individualized instruction. There is an emphasis on literacy, numeracy, math, and science, allowing the children to learn in context, while surrounded by acceptance, love, understanding and a feeling of security and structure. The administrative staff, in conjunction with the teachers and assistant teachers, work throughout the year to help parents set goals for themselves and their families and to assist them in learning the value of working toward and accomplishing their objective and goals. Every day our program sees parents helping their children grow by joining them in the classroom for the day as a volunteer or by serving as a member of the parent committee or policy council.

Description of other program Services: housing and development program - for more than 25 years, Area Five's housing and development program has actively pursued economic development in the communities we serve through the development of housing and commercial real estate projects. Our projects are based on the needs of the people we serve. Innovative solutions are sought to meet the needs once they are identified. Our Agency is fortunate to create projects, with the assistance of a variety of partners, financial institutions and funding sources, which are often used as models by other organizations. Area Five has created more than 300 units of rental housing and more than 30 home ownership opportunities. Housing projects range from single-family homes to large apartment complexes. Many projects are dedicated to special needs populations, including senior citizens and individuals with mental illnesses. Community projects range from senior centers to childcare centers and from historic preservation of libraries to downtown streets capes. Our projects meet a Community need and involve a variety of partners. Profits generated by these projects allow us to better serve our clients in all areas of programming. The energy assistance program (eap) is designed to help income eligible families and/or individuals who are 60 years of age or older or who are disabled and/or are in a crisis situation of having their heat disconnected. Eaps is offered through the cold winter months to individuals and families living in cass, howard, miami, tipton, and wabash counties. The energy education component was added in 2002 in an effort to educate clients with simple low-cost, no-cost methods of reducing energy consumption. The eap summer program includes providing window air conditioners and fans to eligible participants. The emergency rental assistance program focuses on providing housing stability to families that have been financially impacted by covid 19. Through era2, housing case management has been implemented and focuses on budgeting, housing stability, family development, goal setting, and action planning. Eligibility is based on income, categorical eligibility, and covid 19 financial impact.