Homepage
-- Programs and Services -- Contact Information Grants to benefit Berkshire elders awarded
By Beth Hinkley, Elder Services Planner
Elder Services has awarded grants to eight Berkshire County agencies to provide services and support to elders age 60 and over, and their caregivers. With funding through Title III of the Older Americans Act, the grants began on October 1, 2004 and will conclude on September 30, 2005.
Grants awarded for Caregiver Support:
• Lee Regional Visiting Nurse Association Inc. - $7,030 for Caregiver Training and Support. They will provide education on a variety of topics for family caregivers who are caring for a loved one at home. Topics include providing personal care, preventing skin breakdown and safe positioning and transferring. The program will begin in January 2005.
• The Berkshire Alzheimer’s Partnership - $3,000 for the Caregiver Resource Expo to be held in April 2005.
• Parker-O’Brien and Associates - $11,500 for The Transition Home Program. This pilot project provides counseling, caregiver support and continuity of care to high-risk individuals age sixty or over in Northern Berkshire who are transitioning home from nursing facilities.
• Community Health Center of the Berkshires - $5,000 to provide a Care Coordination Program for elders in South Berkshire.
The following were awarded for other types of services:
• The Brien Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services - $4,500 for Chore Services for elders, which include assistance with hard-to-do household chores like cleaning ovens or washing windows. Berkshire elders who need help with chores can contact Elder Services’ Information and Referral Department at 413-499-0524 or 1-800-544-5242.
• Western Mass Legal Services' Elder Law Project - $18,926 to provide advice, representation and other direct legal service to elders on matters involving government benefits, housing, healthcare, or institutionalized persons.
• Gabrielle Elston-Ferry, G.N.P. - $1,500 to offer In-home Health Risk Assessments and consultation about Alzheimer’s disease to residents in Berkshire County.
• Berkshire Community Action Council - $5,000 for Medical Reassurance Service, a program that provides daily telephone calls to elders to remind them to take their medications.
For information about the Title III funded programs call Elder Services Planner Beth Hinkley at 413-499-0524 or 1-800-544-5242.