Posted on 06/02/2004 9:52:03 AM PDT by Phantom Lord
Project aims to identify needs of growing elderly population
Lillian Lee of East Point learned the hard way that going without needed home improvements is risky for the elderly.
Not long ago, the 79-year-old widow found herself stuck inside her bathtub for two hours when she was unable to pull herself out. If she'd had a safety bar installed the potentially dangerous incident could have been avoided.
"I turned this way and that way," Lee said. "I finally got out."
Lee's story is the kind the Atlanta Regional Commission wants to hear. ARC is gathering experiences from senior citizens like Lee to set up programs to help the elderly with home improvement and transportation needs.
The metro agency mostly known for its sermons against suburban sprawl has launched a four-year campaign on the needs of the elderly, particularly in East Point and the Toco Hill neighborhood of DeKalb County. The areas were chosen because of their large elderly populations.
In East Point, volunteers are conducting surveys and disseminating information on free public services available to seniors.
Armed with pink fact sheets, the yellow shirt-wearing senior volunteers want to know how seniors are getting around, what inconveniences them the most and what services they need to stay in their area.
The survey portion of the $2 million ARC project will end this month. The results will be used to develop a long-range plan to help seniors in other parts of metro Atlanta.
"The main goal is to reach people who are not connected to the system and find isolated seniors and get them engaged in any way we can," said Kathryn Lawler, project director of ARC's Aging Atlanta.
Senior citizens are good for the local economy, according to ARC. They have assets and tend to be stable homeowners. Few have school-age children, so they do not burden the school system. They tend to stay in one area for a long time and are home during the day, looking out for communities in an era of two breadwinners. The elderly also tend to volunteer more than other age groups.
ARC already has identified a couple of big issues: getting around and home repairs. By 2025, more than 1 million residents of metro Atlanta will be over age 65, the ARC estimates. Nearly 100,000 of them face difficulties in getting health care because they do not drive, the agency said.
One possible solution is a trial program that gives poor senior citizens an allowance of $100 to $200 a month. Their modes of transportation then will be analyzed.
"They can hire their daughter, they can hire their neighbor, they can take a taxi, they can use their MARTA card, and they can do whatever they want, and we'll be watching how they get around," said Lawler, of the Aging Atlanta project.
Such an effort is crucial, said Professor Frank Whittington, a sociology professor and director of the Gerontology Institute at Georgia State University. Whittington was a consultant to the ARC on the aging project.
"We are going to have to plan better than we have done for the future because our senior population is on the verge of exploding," Whittington said. "Where the funds are going to come from is uncertain."
Census data show 13 percent of East Point's senior citizens, who make up 8 percent of the city's 40,000 residents, live below the poverty level.
After paying for gas, phone, electricity, cable bills and groceries, Lillian Lee said she has little left each month from her Social Security check.
Lee, who has lived in East Point nearly all her life, said she can no longer afford to live in her home. "I don't have enough money to take care of everything."
Farther north in Toco Hill, life is more affluent, but the demographics on the elderly are similar: 16 percent of the population is 65 or older. Many are Jewish and live in old neighborhoods of 1950s ranch-style homes.
ARC has reached out to the Jewish Family & Career Services and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, plus the DeKalb County government, in trying to create a place for seniors to meet during the day. The agency also has created "Safe Homes for Seniors," a home repair program that provides minor repairs for seniors at no cost.
Denise Solomon, a 70-year-old widow who lives in a small three-bedroom ranch off Briarcliff Road, cited two instances where she felt she was cheated when it came to repairs: $500 to upgrade the ceiling lights in a bathroom and $1,000 to fix a hole in the crawl-in basement.
Her elderly friend, Gloria Kersh, summed up the feeling.
"This is not a good city if you're old," the grandmother of four said. "If you get older, you need contact with people of your own age. To me it's important to sit and talk, to connect."
The grandfolks earned their way (many do not believe in credit cards) and the kids can earn their way--no matter what politics dictates (or steals) to/from each of us. I say good for granny and gramps if they are spending wildly. They are not responsible for their childrens' offspring.
You are so wrong. If there were so many in "our" generation out there helping why is this thread running? These people of this generation are not gready or gimmie gimmie gimmie--far from it--they have pride our generation can only dream about. If you don't believe that then you are not aware of the theft in your paycheck? It is not going for these good people.
Exactly.
Yes --- I may feel I owe my own grandparents or parents something --- but not someone else's. Of course if you went to public school or took a government scholarship --- someone else's money was given to you so you would owe them in a way.
Talk to their father. I would go for more, but he almost faints when I suggest it. : )
My church helped raise $1200 to repair the roof of one old womans house.
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