Demonstrations are also conducted on cooking for one or two together with senior participation in preparing attractive and appetizing dinners for the individual dining alone.

Programs were also developed in all areas affecting seniors such as lawyers, doctors, nurses and professors from the University of Connecticut active in the field of Gerontology.

Regularly scheduled monthly programs in conjunction with a representative from the U.S. Social Security Office keeps our elders informed as to any changes in their benefits increases in Social Security as well as a person to person assistance program as required.

The medical services available are extremely limited on our area and there are no preventive medical clinics. We organized and established with the cooperation of the local visiting nurses and the Northeastern District Department of Health regularly scheduled Hypertension Clinics for our seniors as well as local town residents. Podiatry clinics and a weekly Eye Clinic by an opthalmologist, who has recently settled here. His statistics reveal the appalling need for this type of professionalism. A high percentage of our participants have already been diagnosed and treated immediately as a result of these examinations. We have additionally held flu clinics at our Multi-purpose center over the past two years.

A regularly scheduled network of transportation has been established to provide shopping assistance to needy elderly of the communities. A fully operational Outreach Program that extends throughout the 288 square miles in ten towns has brought to our center 2,000 enrolled members with an average age of 74 years, and many other seniors since membership is not a requirement for participation. Outreach is a constant on-going process through mass media, as speakers at Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, Fraternal Organizations, Church groups and a Monthly Center Newsletter.

Information and Referral Services are an integral part of the center's operation and continually assists elders in directing them to the proper agency that will answer their needs. In addition the Director and Assistant are actively involved as members on Boards of Directors of other local service agencies. In our second year of Title III operation we applied for and obtained a Federal Emergency Food and Medical Services grant of $18,000. These funds enabled us to renovate and enlarge our kitchen. We had been preparing 100 meals each day on a four burner house stove plus a three burner apartment size stove with a shotgun hole in its side. All kitchen equipment and service places had been donated. With these funds we were able to equip our kitchen with badly needed commercial size pots and pans as well as service appointments. It was now possible for us to apply for a Title VII Grant.

When we first learned of the Title VII Nutrition Program our center seniors petitioned the Governor to include our area in the 20% funding remaining for state non-priority areas, which would then allow us to expand our Meals Program to provide more than one weekly hot-meal to our needy elderly. The Governor visited our center and Title VII funds were allocated to our area. Our program has the lowest grant in the state and provides for a meal quota of 750 additional meals per week. With this Title VII Grant we opened four satellite sites, three sites serving meals three days a week and on remaining days transportaton is provided to the center for meals and programs. One site serving meals one day a week with transportation provided to other sites and center on remaining days. All meals are prepared at the center and transported to the sites. Additionally along with the center's meal program, all services required under Title VII regulations are provided at the center by the Title III Grant. Our home delivery service was sorely needed by the homebound elderly. An application was submitted and approved by the Department on Aging for a MealsOn-Wheels Grant. The funding level allotted allowed for a total of 40 meal-pack deliveries daily, but the need is so immediate and urgent we are presently preparing and delivering daily to seventy homebound elders covering an area of 288 square miles daily. Seniors in need of this asistance are referred to us by the visiting nurses and/or doctors in our area. We presently are providing

meals for holidays and it is our hope, if we can find additional monies, we will be able to provide meals for week ends.

We applied for and were certified to accept for Meals-On-Wheels, and more recently the center and satellite sites, food stamps as donations from our elderly. The Quinebaug Valley Senior Citizens Center, Inc. is Grantee Agency for all three programs that are operated from the center, which while independently funded are completely inter-related as shown above. The kitchen at our center is presently preparing, serving and delivering 2,000 meals weekly. Your attention is invited to the attached organizational chart, appendix I, which points out the actual management and operation of the two elderly programs funded by the Older Americans Act as well as the third program, which is state funded. The governing board of directors of the Grantee Agency is comprised of the executive committee of the center members, one delegate appointed by each of the local ten-town officials and representatives from other local service agencies. Our Title III funding which supports the center began with $15,000 in Federal Funds and local contributions and has grown to $30,000 in Federal Funds in its fourth year, matched by 51% local cash and in-kind donations. The Title VII Grant has a funding level of $6,667 from local sources.

Representatives from the Boston Regional Office, Region I, Administration On Aging have photographed and evaluated the Meals Program at our center, prior to the start of any Title VII Program. Slides of the center's programs, meals and kitchen were used in lectures throughout New England and Washington as one of the Model Meals Programs in Region I.

The Governor and local state and federal representatives and senators have visited our center and all have gone away impressed. Impressed not only with the physical center but by the people who are the center and by the happiness and well-being their tax dollars are bringing to the people.

We have scrounged and receive from local merchants for the center, merchandise such as draperies, fabrics, bathroom fixtures, lumber, shop equipment, used appliances and discounts on food purchases for our kitchen.

The seniors of the center hold weekly whist and penny social evenings which earn $1,000 yearly in project income. Special periodic open house events are conducted at the center such as bazaars, auctions, an annual Palm Sunday break fast and exhibits in County Fairs where items made by the seniors of the center, help promote between $2,500-$3,000 in project income yearly.

We have met and are presently meeting with local town officials to present and discuss our budget requirements for the center to assure local town approval and support. Our statistics are documented based on the number of seniors participating from each town and the share requested has been a 25é contribution per capita town population. In the three years of budget requests from the towns, with a $1,000 total local contribution received in our first budget, we have increased local cash support to a total of $10,600 from six of the ten towns as indicated below:

Brooklyn

Eastford

Killingly

$1,800 Plainfield

200 Putnam 3,500 Woodstock

$3,100 1,500 500

Each town when they saw the benefits of the center wanted to contribute. but do not have the substantial funds to run the type of program we have at the Quinebaug Valley Senior Citizens Center. Ours is a model program. Towns. several of them spending almost 100% on education, can not be expected to help us in our funding. Are we to close the center and all its programs because the Department on Aging can not expand Federal or State funds to keep us alive? We need this money to stay alive as core money. Ten or fifteen thousand dollars does not establish a program to go after needs. Many of our seniors would be institutionalized or dead, if not for our center, the meal they get as well as the social atmosphere to eradicate the loneliness that old age brings.

Respectfully submitted.

LILLIAN PITSCHMANN, Director.

Hon. JOHN BRADEMAS,

NORTH-CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA, COMMUNITY ACTION ASSOCIATION, INC., Fairmont, W. Va., January 31, 1975.

Select Subcommittee on Education, Rayburn Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. BRADEMAS: I was pleased to receive your news release for hearings on the extension of the Older Americans Comprehensive Service Amendments. As a project director for a Title VII Program I feel very strongly that the program needs to be continued and expanded. Our rural area is in extreme need of transportation to allow more people to make use of the program and services. Services to the elderly need to be improved and continued instead of being cut by our President. Our Seniors are just now getting a few of the programs that they deserve. Why put them back into isolation by cutting down the amount of money allocated to these programs?

Let's have our youth oriented society have a few concerns for those sixty and

over.

The Nutrition Program not only improves diets of those sixty and over but these people are taking a new interest or lease on life.

Let's think about how it is going to be for us when we reach the age of 60. Are we going to be the forgotten group? I certainly hope not.

Please continue this important legislation in the Older Americans Act, it is a very good program.

Sincerely,

To: Wayne Wedin, Brea City Manager.

DIANTHA B. LA VOIE,

Project Director.

BREA, CALIF., February 27, 1975.

From: Joe Bowley, Human Services Coordinator.
Subject: Working with our senior citizens program.

In an attempt to depict our involvement with our senior citizens program, we felt we could best describe to our readers of this report previous writings, pictures and stories from our local newspapers and a brief statement showing what our joint Revenue Sharing Grant with Brea-La Habra is doing for our older Americans. A tremendous impact has been made in our City, as you will be able to see, by bringing in broker services such as: Transportation, Lunch, Counseling (TLC) program; Meals on Wheels; Senior Citizens Employment program; and a City sponsored senior citizens group called the Forever Young Club with over 400 members.

SENIOR CITIZENS EMPLOYMENT

The Revenue Sharing Grant states that we may hire 17 older Americans. Before doing this, a great amount of thought went into the planning as to how we would place them throughout our City. The entire City Council, our City Manager and total staff support were given to our philosophy that these positions would be people oriented, people helping people and self-help. We were not about to place them in non-meaningful jobs, such as custodians or street cleaners. We had no problem filling these positions, in fact, we are requesting more positions at this time as we got started late with our Grant and will have some extra money. Some of our job orders consist of the following:

In our Tiny Tots program, they are teachers aides, helping children in story telling, game playing, etc.

In our schools, the older Americans help children in the library, by reading to and story telling, supervision in recreation, locker problems and creative arts. Through our ACT office, they refer calls to our Brea Welfare, Polyanna Group, TLC program, Meals on Wheels and the ACT case workers for emergency situations. Out of this office they also operate what is called "Operation Contact" for our shut-ins.

Our transportation personnel provide transportation for our TLC program, the poor and disadvantaged. They take people to the doctor, dentist and shopping and also make home visits to our shut-ins.

Out of the Social Services office we administer our Youth Employment Service for youth from 14 to 21 years of age.

Our Social Services information and referral person is developing a booklet with some 205 different types of human services that will be printed and dis tributed to our Brea residents sometime in the early part of 1975.

We have one position that works with the Orange County Probation Depart ment, setting up appointments and helping the probation officer to plan programs with the girls.

At our Police Department we have one of our older Americans that assists the School Resources Officer and the Crime Prevention Officer.

Monthly meetings are most productive with these staff. We cover many of our programs we are developing and implementing into our community. They play a major role in carrying out, not only their own responsibilities on the job, but acting as communicator to our overall delivery of service related to shut-ins, youth employment programs and information and referral services. They did an outstanding job at our Open House in communicating to the public their involvement.

SENIOR CITIZENS LEISURE TIME PROGRAM

Our Social Services Specialist spends much of her time in advising, acting as consultant, and planning programs with our Forever Young Club. Following is material covering her involvement this past quarter.

Staff are presently involved with two other important programs. First.-A Senior Citizens Booklet that will be completed within the month of March that we feel will be a model for many cities throughout Orange County. This booklet will consist of the following material.

A. Role of the City as a sponsor.

B. Role of the Club in carrying out their responsibilities relating to their goals and objectives.

C. Role of Staff.

D. Complete set of By-Laws.

E. Responsibilities of their Officers and Committee Chairpersons.

F. Guidelines for their Kitchen Band.

Second. We have a 76 year old woman acting as an information and referral person on our staff that would equal any professional in the field of social services. For several months now she has been gathering data from nearly 200 agencies providing service to our City, directly or indirectly. The material she has been gathering will go into a printed booklet for every resident in the City of Brea. Aside from this, she is also an art teacher. She teaches art classes for our City Recreation Division one day a week and we can assure you she is an outstanding art instructor with paintings of her own known throughout California. One of the most enjoyable times is when our Senior Citizens Staff gather for their monthly review meetings to convey to each other what is happening and what each of them is doing in their work experience. It also gives staff an opportunity to share new programs with them and allows for interchange of ideas and to make need assessments.