State Committee on Aging Hears Compliments and Complaints from Area Seniors
Michigan’s Committee on Senior Services held its June meeting at the Huron County Senior Center last Friday, taking care of statewide business while listening to compliments and complaints from seniors in the region present.
The meeting began at 9 a.m. as members attended to statewide business before taking a break and beginning the public comment portion at 1 p.m.
A common complaint among the seniors who spoke out was that after the senior center events are over, they wait about an hour for a Thumb Area Transit bus to pick them up. They asked if the funding would help create an on-demand taxi service for seniors. There was also a question about asking people to watch elderly people in their homes after last week’s power outages.
Region VII board member Dan Glaza explained how he and his wife were helping a friend whose wife is in hospice care and the closest care facility that would take him is Cass City. , which the husband refused to move forward due to being estranged. He mentioned how the program being developed for the all-inclusive care center for the elderly in Bad Axe, once all phases are completed, would have beds for short-term respite care.
“Our population is aging, we’re getting up there,” Glaza said. “The direct care providers are fewer and fewer and the challenges are more and more. Travel costs are different in rural areas. Sometimes social workers have to drive 20 to 30 miles.
Glaza also said that the PACE program will help seniors on fixed incomes with any food security issues and stressed how important it is to get seniors out of their homes and prevent them from being isolated. .
Compliments to the commission included several elderly women who received new eyeglasses through Region VII’s optical program, as well as through its dental and hearing program.
Representatives from Region VII who were present spoke about the different programs offered and their coverage area in Huron, Tuscola and Sanilac counties. They mentioned how more than 200,000 Meals on Wheels were distributed across the three counties in the past fiscal year with the help of volunteers, providing non-emergency medical transportation and lending medical equipment and supplies.
“They have a waiting list that’s longer than my arm right now,” said Region VII Care Coordinator Connie Garcia.
Each year, the commission holds meetings across the state for seniors to talk about policies and issues that impact their lives. The next meetings are planned in Rochester and Manistee.
Some items the committee approved during the business portion of the meeting included approval of fiscal year 2022 funding for the USDA Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, Community Services Employment Program for seniors and the senior center wellness program.