Executive Director Tammy Pennington gave her annual report to the Barry County Commision Tuesday. She said the focus of the COA for an aging population is decreasing isolation and loneliness, improving health and wellness, increasing support to caregivers and supporting financial stability, stressing how important it is to prevent isolation among the elderly.

 

 

Pennington’s report centered on the staff and volunteers who provide COA programs.

The 32 highly qualified staff has an average of 10.25 years of service; all are residents of Barry County. Staff has in-service training annually on ethics, health safety and welfare, abuse and neglect and HIPPA privacy and confidentially, she said.

 

All four nurses are RN’s with up-to-date licenses; all nurses aides are registered by the State of Michigan and most have up to date certification, although it’s not required by state standards, she said. The kitchen manager and nutrition program coordinator have food manager certification and food Allergan training. One staff and seven volunteers are certified Medicare/Medicaid counseling with 60 hours of face-to-face counseling and two annual tests.

 

The staff has won awards for more than 10 years for their Barry County United Way (BCUW) campaigns, volunteers have won Everyday Hero awards from the Volunteer Center for the last four years and the 20 volunteers for the Meals on Wheels won a 2018 Community Impact Award from the Barry County Chamber of Commerce, Pennington said.

 

Colleen Acker wrote a grant from the Barry County Foundation for the Art in Action program and was selected to present the program at the National Council on Aging 2019 Conference in Washington, D.C. in June.  The partnerships the COA has with many other county organizations all contribute to their goals; for example The BCUW helps them with in-home respite care, where the demand is up. Pennington said.

 

The COA offers:

In-home services, senior nutrition programs, adult day services, Medicare/Medicaid assistance programs, community-based services and fundraisers that help support the COA. All of the headings have several subheadings with its programs listed; for example, in-home services has five programs within it; community-based services provide seven separate programs.

 

Fiscal year 2018 Quick Facts:

* 1,800 older adults served

* 63,721 meals provided

* 12, 607 in-home care hours provided

* 10,554 day service ours provided

* 188 community volunteers

* $407,606 in federal and state grants written and received

* $13,116 emergency funding or utility shut off notices, prescriptions, ramps and other necessities

* 100 percent of Barry County townships and municipalities served.

 

COA’s official mission statement: “To provide independence, dignity and quality of life to the aging population and their families.”