Town Hall Series Concludes (for Now) With Focus on Seniors and Homeless

FOR THE FAMILY, INC.

Building a stronger community through its families

www.StrongerCommunity.com

For Immediate Release                              Information Contact:

                                                                      W. Ward Cox, Administrator                                                                         (813) 653-5239, Alfolk@aol.com

Valrico– The Town Hall Series wrapped up its initial phase of exploring how budget cuts are changing lives last Tuesday at Bloomingdale Regional Library.  There was a dual emphasis: the hard choices that face seniors, and an imaginative approach to possibly resolve a homeless crisis that is more serious because of lost funding in recent years.

Fortunately, people will have another chance to describe the impact of reduced or eliminated services when For The Family and Pastors On Patrol begins its second phase of the Town Hall Series this fall.  As things stand now, this will roughly coincide with the opening round of federal sequestration cuts that will hit local governments about as hard as individuals and families.

For The Family Administrator Ward Cox put it this way: “The best way for our community to see what people are dealing with is to either hear them describe their real-life struggles, or how agencies are doing the best they can to fill a gap that keeps growing larger.”

In that vein, the final meeting of Phase 1 began with a sobering assessment by Maureen Kelly, longtime President and CEO of the West Central Florida Area Agency on Aging. Ms. Kelly described how she has seen a steady erosion of the “safety net” of services that many seniors rely on during at least the past 15 years.  Besides seniors, she noted that every age group is feeling the pinch.

The people who care for aging relatives or friends are faring the worst in her opinion: “One reason is that they’re too busy to speak out.  My
biggest fear is that caregivers might fall prey to illness and not be able to
continue if there isn’t a program that can give them a break.”  She expects that dilemma to affect more families because of a higher rate of both Alzheimer’s and dementia in recent years.

What’s more, Hillsborough County government may not be able to continue the Adult Day Care service that Ms. Kelly cited for its effectiveness in relieving the burden on caregivers.  She is trying to ensure that respite sites will remain in place for another provider to assume this responsibility, but says that it’s a much bigger challenge than when an afterschool program or similar service shuts down.

Her agency operates the Elder HelpLine, which is flooded with calls from people seeking immediate assistance in taking care of relatives with a wide variety of health issues.  Because Florida provides limited funding compared to most other states, many are shocked to hear that their only option is a waiting list.

Perhaps the biggest shock is how long that wait can be.  For example, the waiting list for Hillsborough County residents needing help from the state-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Initiative is more than four times the number of people being served.  The waiting list for Community Care for the Elderly services is about 6.5 times as large.

Ms. Kelly is trying to guide the Area Agency on Aging into partnerships with faith-based, secular, and academic entities to at least keep pace with this deteriorating situation.  However, she believes that people must speak up loudly to advocate for improving both direct services and the public transportation that is needed by so many people of all ages.  Unless that happens quickly, she is convinced that the funding allocated to essential services will be reduced to a pittance.  “We cannot surrender to arbitrary limitations when the need is so great.

Another important contributor was Dr. Coleman Hill, whose human service experience extends from treating sexually abused children to assisting families in overcoming extreme circumstances.  He says that people need to realize that a
commitment to provide social services to the vulnerable must be unwavering to
be successful: “We were able to build the interstate highway system over many
years because politicians of both parties shared a belief that it was necessary
no matter who was in power.  Investing in people who need a hand instead of a slap deserves the same level of commitment if we are going to have the same success.”

Dr. Hill believes that we may also be missing an opportunity to help the homeless get back on their feet, which is especially relevant because Hillsborough County leads the state in the number of homeless people, families and children. 
“There was a juvenile detention facility in Seffner that I used to visit
when working with youthful offenders.  I went by there again and found it had been unoccupied for ten years.  Why can’t it be fixed up to serve as housing
for homeless families and maybe even offer job training there?”  He added that other underused government-owned properties might be converted to other purposes, and wondered how many a thorough inventory could identify.

Budget cuts have made this ongoing problem even more difficult to deal with. 
In 2011, state funding for programs run by the Homeless Coalition of
Hillsborough County dropped from $862,000 to $75,000.  Among other programs, that ended assistance to help the unemployed keep their homes, avoid eviction, pay utility bills, and be connected with jobs.  Reduced tax revenue prompted Hillsborough County’s contribution to shrink $110,000 in that year alone.  Florida’s Office of Homelessness lost $7 million for its statewide efforts.

The next Town Hall Series will also involve people whose services are at risk of being cut along with those already affected.  Other areas of need are
currently being identified, with input coming from community service providers
and other organizations that realize the urgency involved.