By MARGIE TRAX PAGE - Staff Writer - mtrax@starbeacon.com
The Ashtabula County Senior Levy funds transportation and socialization for area senior citizens, but it also provides meals delivered right to their doors, Director of Community Services Division for Community Action Dave Jordan said.
The home delivered meals program is funded through the Ashtabula County senior services levy. The levy renewal will be on the ballot Nov. 3.
The senior services levy is a five-year, one-mill property tax levy that generates $1.6 million a year. As a renewal, it will not raise taxes.
“The senior levy has allowed Community Action to almost double the number of meals that we can deliver each year,” Jordan said.
Jordan said the program is more than just norishment for the body, as it also provides an opportunity for seniors to stay in their homes.
“Home delivered meals helps prevent institutionalization, allowing seniors to stay in their homes,” he said.
Jordan said a home delivered meal not only brings a nutritional meal, but also a watchful eye to check on the safety and well-being of the senior citizen. Drivers have made that all-important 911 call to save a senior’s life, alerted family members of a decline in health or made an Adult Protective Services referral to alert others that the senior is in need of assistance,” he said. “Home delivered meal drivers are a critical lifeline to area seniors.”
Community Action delivered 103,717 meals in 2008, Jordan said, and 47,054 were funded by the senior levy money.
“To some, a home delivered meal could mean the difference between life and death,” Patrick Arcaro, director of the Ashtabula County Department of Job and. Family Services said.
“Because of this, it is one of the most valuable programs offered through senior levy funding. It is another example of what a difference this levy makes in people’s lives,” he said.
