Lake County Council on Aging

Home delivered meals - meals on wheels are delivered monday through friday by dedicated volunteers. Each senior received a nutritious meal plus two optional frozen meals for weekends, casual conversation and safety check-in for the 1,222 seniors totaling 199,756 meals served in 2023. Of the 577 seniors new to the program, 76% were at high nutritional risk. Meals on wheels provides a service that enables many seniors to remain independent in their own home by receiving meal assistance when they are unable to get out or shop, have difficulty seeing or standing to prepare a meal or live within modest means. The program has a minimal suggested donation of 2.50 per meal. But, a meal is given to the recipient senior regardless of ability to donate. The agency does not keep track of any senior who donates so that each donation is somewhat "anonymous". The additional support programs available to home delivered meal clients; supplemental pet food, commodity supplemental food and fresh produce, were maintained or expanded in 2023. The purpose of these support programs is to bring more nutrition into a senior's life by delivering fresh and shelf-stable food and reducing senior food insecurity. 1,675 packs of pet food were provided to 125 clients and their 258 pets, 169 commodity supplemental food boxes were provided to 19 clients and 569 boxes of fresh produce was provided to 72 clients. The agency hosted the blizzard bag annual food drive as part of our participation in the subaru share the love event fundraiser which provided 152 seniors with a blizzard bag supply of 2-3 days of non-perishable food.

Congregate meals the four congregate lunch place sites are located within a short drive of nearly every Lake County resident. Two of the sites are located within the city senior center itself. The congregate lunch places offer welcoming atmospheres for seniors to have a nutritionally balanced hot meal while enjoying the company of other seniors. The congregate meals program is open to seniors 60 years or older, with a suggested donation of 1.50 per meal which is given anonymously. In 2023, the lunch place congregate meal program experienced an increase of 11% of the number of seniors attending lunch and served 11% more meals. 19,030 meals were served to 467 seniors in 2023. In addition, the agency played a key part in senior day at the Lake County Ohio fair by providing a sit-down lunch to 350 seniors in attendance.

Social worker services in 2023, the social workers at Council on Aging continued to provide vital supportive services to Lake County's senior population and their support system. The team of licensed professional social workers conducts home visits to assess each client's current abilities, challenges, and strengths to best develop a care plan to help that individual move forward in maintaining a healthy overall well-being in the home setting. The social workers identify areas of need with the client and their support system and help build connections to assist in those areas. The social workers assist clients by linking them to Council on Aging's services and other community resources. Some clients may present with more complex issues and concerns such as a lack of support, physical and mental health difficulties, and food insecurity. Social workers provide guidance to clients with referrals to community programs and ensuring the process is well-coordinated and completed. The social work department remains committed to serving the senior population in Lake County to ensure they achieve an optimal, self- defined quality of life. 2023 social work services: provided services to 1,419 unduplicated seniors provided 1,803 home visits completed 677 initial psychosocial assessments completed 567 annual reassessments completed 3,676.5 service hours

Homemaker services the agency's homemakers assist seniors with routine basic chores such as light dusting, vacuuming, changing bed linens, mopping floors, and cleaning of the kitchen and bathroom. More importantly, the homemakers provide socialization for seniors while overseeing that they are in a safe, clean environment while living their golden years. The cost for the homemaker program is based on a sliding fee scale based on the individual's income. The Lake County Council on Aging homemaker program staff and seniors allow goals to be met with a little help from a friend all from the comfort and security of their home. 2023: provided 2,614 total units of homemaker services to 161 Lake County senior households. Information & assistance information & assistance is a fundamental service of the adrc. I&a specialists take the time to listen to the caller and establish a personal rapport. This is crucial because those who call the agency may not always know to ask for a service by name. I&a specialists assist callers with determining their needs and preferences then provide unbiased information on programs and services that can help meet their needs and support independence. I&a specialists also link callers to other organizations that can help. Some areas of assistance include: housing options, transportation, personal care, respite care, and legal services. When appropriate, i&a specialists follow up with individuals to ensure the information provided was beneficial and offer other resources if necessary. 2023: provided 6,073 information and assistance contacts. Information and assistance specialists from the Lake County Council on Aging, together with lifeline/211, played an integral role of registering seniors for the Lake County mobile food pantry program. This was a collaborative effort between the Council on Aging, laketran, lifeline, Inc., the board of County commissioners, and the greater cleveland food bank. 2023: served 5,573 duplicated senior households. Options counseling options counseling takes information and assistance another step further by providing assistance to individuals, family members, and caregivers in need of long-term care support to make informed choices about the services and settings that best meet their needs. Individuals and caregivers receive unbiased information about various long-term care support options and the resources to help pay for services. The program also provides decision support to identify next steps in the process and help in connecting with services if needed. 2023: provided a total of 623 hours of options counseling assistance to 173 unduplicated individuals. Benefits assitance benefits assistance is a service that provides information and assistance related to public benefits. The benefits specialist screens for eligibility and guides individuals through the application process for public benefits including medicaid, supplemental nutritional assistance program (snap), homestead tax credit, the home energy assistance program (heap), medicare savings programs and the low income subsidy (aka extra help). Unbiased information and assistance related to medicare is provided through Ohio senior health insurance information program (oshiip) volunteers. 2023: provided a total of 665 hours of benefits assistance to 406 unduplicated individuals. 2023: during medicare open enrollment, four Ohio senior health insurance information program (oshiip) volunteers provided medicare information, education and assistance to 95 individuals totaling over 100 volunteer hours of assistance. Volunteer services volunteers serve in critical roles to accomplish the mission of the Lake County Council on Aging. Volunteers make a significant contribution in the lives of the clients of Lake County Council on Aging through multiple programs. In 2023, volunteers impacted the nutrition, loneliness and social isolation, information and support needs of our clients and special community events. "nutrition centers" 97 nutrition assistant volunteers assisted with general meal preparation, sealing and packing meals for delivery, and were the friendly faces that served food at four lunch places, our congregate meal sites. "meals on wheels delivery" 393 volunteers delivered nutritious meals and daily contact to seniors. The program supports independence while promoting the social, physical, and emotional well-being of seniors. The program consists of the delivery of a hot meal monday through friday along with a meaningful social interaction and well-being check. "loneliness and social isolation impact" volunteers positively impacted the issue of senior loneliness and social isolation through nutrition services as mentioned above and more specifically through the following volunteer roles. "letters of love and handcrafted cards" the delivery of a handcrafted card to a meals on wheels or lunch place senior brings joy and uplifts spirits. Hand-crafted greeting cards were shared on valentine's day, fourth of july, thanksgiving and christmas with nearly 1,000 cards delivered on each holiday along with positive general handcrafted greeting cards shared randomly throughout the year. The number of individual and group volunteers has grownsignificantly in the past year to 54 volunteers and includes several who live outside of ohio,but support the mission and mail their cards to be included in delivery to seniors. "information and support impact-ohio senior health insurance information program (oshiip)" under the guidance of our Aging and disability resource center, trained Ohio senior health insurance information program(oshiip) volunteers provided information to resolve medicare, medicaid, and secondary health insurance questions. 4 volunteers helped seniors make informed decisions regarding medicare benefits by providing free, unbiased information. "grocery shopping" 37 grocery shopping volunteers met biweekly with clients who can no longer leave their home to grocery shop. Grocery shopping support services enabled clients to remain independent in their own home; as well as enhance their nutritional well-being. "administrative" 8 administrative volunteers provided support behind the scenes in the business office to ensure the delivery of programs and services. "training" volunteers, as well as employees, are required to participate in annual required training to build upon their knowledge and skills and ensure high quality service is being provided to our seniors.