Senior Daze

by Katie Bourg

About Katie: Having arrived in time for the Great (?) Depression, WWII, and all other 20th century problems, I am endowed with long and varied memories. Writing classes have long been my home away from home. Other people's stories are fascinating, and sharing is growth at its best. Hope you seniors will join me with your stories. Try it. You'll like it.

Through this ongoing column, I'm hoping you will join me in an exploration of things that are available for seniors in our area. This issue, I'd like to relay what I've learned about Senior Services of Snohomish County.

Senior Services began in 1974 as a small nonprofit with a handful of employees. According to its 2007 annual report, the professional staff of 223 and some 180 volunteers were serving more than 35,000 people annually. It is now the largest and most comprehensive service provider for older adults, their families and people with disabilities in Snohomish County.

The agency expects the senior population of Snohomish County to double in the next decade, and with that increase will come a corresponding increase in needs for services in critical areas like housing, health and nutrition, employment, elder abuse, transportation and more.

Senior Services publishes the Senior Source Resource Guide annually. It is an information-packed booklet that provides seniors and others with information about public and private non-profit organizations and businesses that offer services directed to older citizens. They also publish a newspaper, previously known as the "Senior Source" and now newly renamed "Senior Focus." It is currently being published every other month and includes many interesting articles and columns of interest to seniors.

Programs sponsored by Senior Services include:

* Family Caregiver Resource Program, which offers assistance to those caring for loved ones with dementia or other chronic illnesses or disabilities, including respite care, workshops and seminars and various resource materials.

* Food and Nutrition, including Meals on Wheels and a Senior Dining Program.

* Health Services, including help with Medicare questions and local health services for seniors and the disabled. One of the newer offerings is the geriatric depression screening program.

* Housing, with affordable housing for eligible seniors at 16 locations in Snohomish County; also a "Minor Home Repair" program for low-income seniors and disabled persons.

* Transportation, including Dial-a-Ride Transportation (DART) in cooperation with Community Transit, Transportation Assistance Program (TAP), Everett ParaTransit, in cooperation with Everett Transit and others.

* Legal and Advocacy, providing information and referral to various legal services.

* Senior Peer Counseling, offering emotional support from peer counselors to aid with caregiver stress, loss of loved ones, coping with chronic pain or illness, and other life changes or losses.

A social service employee of Senior Services, Karen Van Atta recently transplanted from Michigan. Van Atta said most Snohomish County residents don't know how lucky they are to have an organization that provides assistance to accessing the many services available here.

"In most states," she said, "the seniors have to figure out how to find whatever services might be available to them on their own."

I must agree that we are very fortunate to have such a service and hope that those of us who find ourselves wondering where to turn concerning some problem will give Senior Services a call.

For information about any of the listed programs, contact Senior Services at (425) 290-1252 or 1-800-422-2024, e-mail to seniorinfo@sssc.org, or by "snail mail" at 8221-44th Ave W., Suite E, Mukilteo, WA 98275. The organization will also provide speakers on a number of these programs for interested groups. The Web site provides more information at www.sssc.org.