Massachusetts still committed to Community First
By Governor Deval L. Patrick
The global economic decline has taken a severe toll on all of us, government, businesses, and families alike. Everyone is facing unprecedented uncertainty, having to do more with less.
Despite these challenges, I am as committed as ever to sustaining the principles of our Community First and Community Choice initiatives.
This is an issue that speaks to our most fundamental responsibilities as a community. Our elderly residents have a right to live in their own homes and communities, and state government must be a partner in that process.
I do not approach this issue unaware of both the joys and the challenges of home care; indeed, I understand both quite clearly. I’ve been having home care conversations for most of my life in both professional and personal settings. Professionally, during my time with the Clinton Justice Department’s Civil Rights division in the 1990s we worked extensively on a variety of community care issues, including the Americans with Disabilities Act. I heard directly from seniors – most on fixed incomes – who couldn’t find affordable housing or get around on their own.
More personally, I grew up in my grandparents’ home and brought my mother to live with me in her old age. I got to experience the joy of watching my daughters get to know their grandmother. I saw how much it meant to my grandparents and my mother to stay involved, to stay part of our family and community life. It is for these reasons that we must help individuals who need care get that care in appropriate settings with appropriate services.
That’s why my administration, through the Executive Office of Elder Affairs and the 27 Aging Services Access Point agencies, including Elder Services of Berkshire County, offers a wide range of programs and services to support people in the setting they prefer.
In Berkshire County alone, Elder Services provides assistance to 10,000 seniors, disabled people and their caregivers in 32 communities.
Elder Services’ Nutrition and Meals on Wheels program serves over 1,000 meals a day, and another 1,000 seniors benefit from Home Care and Community Choices programs.
In our Home Care program, paid caregivers help seniors with a variety of needs, from personal care to laundry and transportation. For those at imminent risk of nursing home placement, the Community Choices Program provides a range of support services. We offer access to translators and interpreters, legal assistance, financial consultants, and bill payers.
And through our Massachusetts Recovery Plan, the Elderly Nutrition Program will receive $2.1 million statewide in 2009 federal stimulus dollars to pay for the equivalent of 300,000 senior meals in Massachusetts. With rising food prices and increased need, the additional nutrition dollars come at a critical time for seniors.
But no simple allocation of resources will meet our needs. Community care is the quintessential community issue, and it requires the generosity and commitment of the entire community to succeed.
That’s why I especially commend the more than 400 Elder Services of Berkshire County volunteers, many of whom are seniors, who contribute almost 30,000 hours a year to help their neighbors. Without their dedication, fewer seniors would be able to stay in their homes and more communities would face funding shortages. These volunteers exemplify the very best of civic engagement, and the longstanding Massachusetts tradition of community service.
By continuing that tradition and working together with the senior community and our new Secretary of Elder Affairs Ann Hartstein, I know we will rise to meet our challenges. I look forward to continuing this extremely important conversation.
To contact Governor Deval Patrick call 1- 617-725.4005, 1-888-870-7770 (in state) or TTY: 617-727-3666. The website is http://www.mass.gov.
