Pew Announces More Than $4.3 Million to Support the Philadelphia Region's Elderly Population

The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today that it will provide $4,386,000 over the next three years to 31 Philadelphia-area organizations that serve the region's elderly adults. The awards—provided through the Pew Fund for Health and Human Services—will help support individuals age 65 and older who are struggling to maintain their independence and well-being.

According to Frazierita Klasen, director of the Pew Fund, “The Philadelphia region is home to thousands of elderly who not only face economic hardship, but isolation, and health and mobility challenges that seriously compromise their quality of life. We are fortunate to have many strong organizations that are able to make a meaningful difference in the lives of these vulnerable seniors.”

The 31 agencies offer a range of services, helping low-income elderly to meet their basic needs;  offering counseling to alleviate the social isolation and depression that afflict so many of these individuals; delivering personal care and chore services; and providing respite for family members, such as adult day-care.  

Among the organizations funded are:

• Thirteen that help elderly individuals secure available public benefits or improve their access to nutritious meals, financial counseling and housing-related legal assistance. Among these are Benefits Data Trust, which offers the BenePhilly Enrollment Center, helping seniors to qualify for such supports as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, property tax and rent rebates, and home heating assistance; Kennett Area Senior Center, which, in collaboration with five other senior centers,  provides nutritional services to low-income elderly throughout Chester County; and Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, which offers legal representation to low- and moderate-income elderly around such issues as bankruptcy, utility termination, and mortgage foreclosure.
• Six that help alleviate the symptoms of depression among elderly individuals and decrease their social isolation, such as Central Montgomery Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center, which offers in-home mental-health assessments and treatment to elderly and support for their caregivers; Contact Greater Philadelphia, which uses volunteers to make daily telephone calls to isolated elderly to check on their safety and well-being; and Supportive Older Women's Network, located in Philadelphia, which conducts support groups in elderly housing and senior centers where women share common concerns and helpful information about resources.
• Seven that help elderly persons to live safely and independently in their homes by providing personal care assistance, fall prevention and other safety-enhancement efforts, as well as volunteer chore services and friendly visiting. This group includes Drexel University College of Medicine's home visiting program which addresses the medical and social service needs of frail elderly with limited mobility; Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, which, in collaboration with peer agencies in Bucks and Montgomery counties, offers training to  blind and visually impaired seniors to help them perform basic home management tasks and use assistive technology for such needs as shopping and bill paying; and Penn Asian Senior Services, which provides home care services to frail elderly immigrants.
• Five that strengthen the ability of informal caregivers to provide high-quality care through respite, training and other supportive services. Included among these grantees is Adult Care of Chester County, which serves elderly people living with chronic illnesses and offers respite and educational programs for their caregivers; and Temple University's Time Out program, operated by its Center for Intergenerational Learning, which places college students as providers of respite care.

The full 2012 grants listing for programs serving the elderly in the region is below.

2012 Grants

Assisting elderly individuals to meet basic needs:

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network — $125,000
For support of the west oak lane naturally occurring retirement community

Benefits Data Trust — $150,000
For support of the Benephilly enrollment center for seniors to obtain needed benefits.

Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly — $189,000
For continued support of the Carie Line, a free telephone service providing information and consultation to vulnerable elderly people. 

Community Legal Services — $158,000
To continue to provide legal assistance to low-income elderly to help them secure financial and health benefits as well as home-based services.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley — $120,000
For continued support of financial education and counseling for seniors.

Eldernet of Lower Merion and Narberth — $45,000
For continued operating support to provide education, referral and a range of in-home services to elderly people.

Family Service Association of Bucks County — $140,000
To continue to provide case-management services to elderly public-housing residents in Bucks County.

Golden Slipper Center for Seniors — $130,000
For continued support to vulnerable elderly, including those who are Russian immigrants.

Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia — $145,000
For continued support of the senior help initiative for elderly residents of Northeast Philadelphia.

Kennett Area Senior Center — $85,000
For support of the Chester County Senior Center collaborative to expand nutritional services to low-income elderly in the county.

Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania — $126,000
To continue to provide legal services to low- and moderate-income elderly in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties.

Philabundance — $120,000
For support to provide monthly food boxes to low-income elderly in the five-county Philadelphia area.

Seniorlaw Center — $158,000
For continued support of the homeowners assistance program to provide low-income elderly in Philadelphia with housing-related legal assistance.

Alleviating the symptoms of depression among elderly individuals and decreasing their social isolation:

Central Montgomery Mental Health/Mental Retardation Center — $137,000
For continued support of the senior outreach service program, providing in-home mental-health assessments and treatment to elderly and supporting their caregivers.

Contact Greater Philadelphia — $50,000
For continued support of the reassurance contact program providing daily calls, referrals and crisis intervention assistance to frail, isolated elderly people.

Family Services of Montgomery County — $126,000
For continued support of project hearth to provide in-home mental health counseling and support services to frail elderly people of Montgomery County.

Intercommunity Action — $158,000
For continued support of peer-led therapeutic support groups to elderly in Philadelphia who are at risk of or experiencing depression.

Senior Community Services — $155,000
For continued support of Senior Center at Home, a recreational therapy program that maintains and improves the mental health of low-income homebound elderly residents of Delaware County.

Supportive Older Women's Network — $121,000
For continued operating support to maintain and establish support groups to reduce the incidence of depression among low-income elderly women in Philadelphia.

Maintaining or increasing the ability of elderly persons to live safely and independently in their homes:

American Cancer Society — $174,000
For continued support to provide homemaker and home-health-aide services to low-income elderly cancer patients.

Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired — $130,000
To provide a continuum of services to blind and visually impaired older adults in bucks, Delaware and Montgomery Counties through a multi-agency collaborative.

Drexel University — $150,000
For support of a geriatric home visiting program for low-income, frail elderly in Philadelphia.

Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia — $242,000
For continued support to provide in-home services to frail elderly in Philadelphia.

Penn Asian Senior Services — $168,000
For support of home care services to frail elderly immigrants.

Surrey Services for Seniors — $120,000
For support of the surrey cares program for older adults in Chester and Delaware Counties.

VNA Community Services — $128,000
For continued support of the in-home care program to provide personal-care and homemaker services to low-income elderly people.

Strengthening the ability of informal caregivers to provide high-quality care through respite, training and other supportive services:

Adult Care of Chester County — $100,000
For continued operating support to provide adult day-care services for elderly people living with chronic illnesses as well as respite and educational programs for their caregivers.

Madlyn and Leonard Abramson Center for Jewish Life — $252,000
For continued support of counseling for caregivers, to provide assistance to families caring for frail, elderly relatives.

Lutheran Settlement House — $150,000
For support of the caregivers reducing stress (cares) program.

Temple University — $184,000 
For continued support of the time out program to place college students as providers of respite care.

Thomas Jefferson University — $150,000
For support of the Jefferson Elder Care dementia service program.

The Pew Fund, part of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Philadelphia Program, provides support for nonprofit health and human service organizations in Philadelphia and neighboring Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties. The Pew Fund serves three at-risk populations: vulnerable adults; the isolated and frail elderly; and disadvantaged children, youth and their families.  www.pewtrusts.org/pewfund.