For the elderly, living alone can be isolating and dangerous. But thanks to local funders, hundreds of Baltimore area elderly residents are getting free and low cost transportation, health education and screening, social services, and social, cultural, and recreational activities in the comfort of their own homes and neighborhoods.
The program, Senior Friendly Neighborhoods, serves some 900 seniors per month, many of whom are low-income, in several apartment buildings and homes in the Northwest corner of Baltimore City and Milbrook neighborhood in Baltimore County.
It's coordinated by numerous funders, including The ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, with support from the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Baltimore Community Foundation, Leonard & Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation, Jewish Women's Giving Foundation, and others.
Senior Friendly Neighborhoods also receives in-kind help from participating apartment buildings, as well as federal, state, and county funds. Services are also provided by The ASSOCIATED partner agencies such as Comprehensive Housing Assistance (CHAI), Jewish Family Services, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore, LifeBridge Health Systems, and the Edward A. Myerberg Senior Center.
The results have been life-changing for residents like Gertrude Fine, 93, who was reluctant to impose on her children after she stopped driving and had a hard time even buying groceries. Today, she not only gets bus service to any store in the area, but takes full advantage of health programs, concerts, birthday parties, lectures, and holiday events from Passover Seders to Sabbath gatherings. "I'm elected many times to sing the B'ruchah!" Fine says proudly.
It's all made possible through "a wonderful collaborative funding relationship with public and private investors," notes Michael Hoffman, vice president for planning at The ASSOCIATED. "This is one of the shining jewels of our interagency coordination."
"The concept makes good sense," says Barry Schloss, treasurer of the Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. "If you don't pay for it, you end up having to build expensive nursing homes that people don't want to live in anyway. If you can get people some services and socialization opportunities in their own homes, it works well for the community and for the people, and relieves some of the burden on family members."
