Since our initiation in 2017, SAP has enabled thousands of people in Larimer County to find the aging-related resources they need through our website. Our community outreach has also directed hundreds of people to the Larimer County Office on Aging’s options counseling services which help individuals and their families navigate community-based resources. Because we track website usage, we know that our efforts have helped to address our community’s most urgent needs.
One of our team members was recently approached by an older adult who was having a hard time finding legal supports in the area of elder financial issues. He wrote to Sue: “I don’t want to close my eyes and point at a page to find an attorney or an advisor, and Googling city and county social services is an exercise in futility if your question doesn’t involve housing or Medicare. I’m hoping you can help.”
Sue offered a link to the legal/financial page of the SAP website to help this individual understand the resources available to him. She also offered the phone number for options counseling at the Larimer County Office on Aging. He immediately responded: “Thank you, you’re wonderful! I spent 30-40 minutes Googling and clicking around through Fort Collins Seniors and Larimer County Seniors without finding it and you gave me exactly what I needed in seconds.”
This is the power of Senior Access Points and the reason why we work so diligently to maintain LarimerSeniors.org and to educate our community about aging-related resources. Older adults deserve to have the information they need at their fingertips.
Because we track website usage, we know that our efforts have helped
to address our community’s most urgent needs.
Joan’s Success Story
A Story from a Family Member
Joan had been supplementing her income for several years by pet sitting. Due to COVID she lost most of her clients. Joan needed assistance with her rent for the month and she was concerned that she would not be able to afford her water/sewer/trash service. The staff on call through SAP’s partnership with the Office on Aging connected her to Neighbor to Neighbor for rent assistance. They walked Joan through a list of Financial Assistance Programs that she might qualify for, including LEAP, Food Assistance, and the Colorado Property Tax/Rent/Heat Rebate Program. Neighbor to Neighbor staff mailed the applications to Joan and followed up.
During a follow-up call, the call staff talked to Joan about the Medicare Savings Program and let her know that she could get assistance with the application through the Office on Aging Benefits Counselor. Joan also was made aware of the MarketDays! program, run through Larimer County Extension, which provides fresh produce from the Larimer County Farmers’ Market to low-income older adults. Joan was encouraged to call in May to participate in that program. Senior Access Points was a gateway to so many resources as Joan navigated the economic impacts of COVID!
Companion Care Success Story
The Senior Access Points team received this note from a family member who had discovered LarimerSeniors.org:
My husband and I were concerned about his mother’s well-being. She was 94 and still living on her own, doing fine for the most part, but having a harder time getting out. She was very stubborn about staying at home and not moving to an assisted living facility (which we understood). We thought it would be best to look into some type of companion care for her, to enhance what we were providing.
I had received information about the Senior Access Points program and hung onto both the magnet and rack card; at the time we didn’t need any services, however a few months later when my mother-in-law started to decline we called the phone number to get advice. What a wonderful experience, given we were anxious, worried and weren’t sure where to turn. When my husband called the number on the SAP magnet he was pleasantly surprised by the personal, straightforward and local care he immediately received from the Office on Aging. They suggested the Seniors Helping Seniors program, asked about my mother-in-law’s personality and then matched her with someone in a very short timeframe.
Not surprisingly, my mother-in-law was apprehensive about this new “companion” and the first few times decided she didn’t need this service. Thank goodness our companion (JoJo) was patient because in a very short time my mother-in-law looked forward to their visits and seeing her new friend. This was such a blessing for her and for us. During this time, we began to look into assisted living facilities and realized this was no small task. We called the SAP phone number again and they immediately sent us a list that included all of the information we had been looking for, and it was all in one place!
Unfortunately, my mother-in-law was hospitalized during this time and passed away quite suddenly. She didn’t go without a visit from her new friend JoJo, she was so happy to see her in the hospital; what a wonderful experience our family had with the SAP program.
