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An Elderhaus staff member (left), Mary Shultz, Foundation on Aging Treasurer, and Sister Mary Alice Murphy (far right) play a game of Yahtzee with an Elderhaus resident in August 2009.

“We tend to look around our community and see seniors who look fine because they are out and about and active, but the reality is that those are the seniors who are doing well. The seniors who need our help are homebound because going out anymore has become a luxury they can’t afford,” says Bonnie Shetler, president of the Foundation on Aging for Larimer County.

Sharyn Salmen, Communications and Development Chair, echoes Shetler’s sentiment and adds, “The Foundation on Aging and Larimer County’s Office on Aging have been working to help these seniors, but it’s time to collaborate with community leaders and service providers. We want to act as a catalyst for innovative solutions for aging issues in Larimer County. We desire to create community awareness of the unmet needs of the aging.”

The Foundation on Aging provides emergency grants for seniors who do not qualify for low income benefits, but who also don’t have the money to afford practical needs. “Foundation on Aging tackles tough issues like these six concerns: transportation, support services, housing, nutrition, economic security and healthcare for seniors,” says Salmen. “Sometimes it’s a new pair of glasses, or sometimes it’s a wheelchair if their old wheelchair is broken.” She continues, “But that’s just how this program started. Our event in January will allow all of Larimer County to come together and speak to this growing, yet silent, need.”

Already, partnerships are being formed to take action. Margaret Long, program manager with Larimer County’s Office on Aging, is excited about partnering with Foundation on Aging, “We share a common goal of planning for the unmet needs of our rapidly growing senior population. This summit will inspire community leaders to join us in our endeavors.”

The Summit on Aging meeting will take place on January 22, 2010, at 8 a.m. at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fort Collins. The goals of this meeting are to create awareness of unmet needs of seniors in Larimer County, vocalize growing needs and diminishing resources, and examine innovative solutions to reduce this need. Of the innovative solutions, a few have already been decided: to raise unrestricted funds, to get community leaders involved in this movement, and to plan ahead and create a platform and springboard to go out into the community with the proper tools to truly help.

The essential hope is that the Summit on Aging will launch a new awareness in the community and help the Foundation partner with key players who can give time, resources and expertise to help find solutions to this growing issue. “Something organic happens when a community is made aware of hidden needs,” says Shetler. “We expect that Larimer County will do as it has done in the past: develop practical strategies for addressing those needs, strategies that incorporate the vast network of expertise and resources within our community,” she adds.

Right now, there is little understanding about the impact aging will have in our community. “This event in January is only the kickoff of something even greater,” adds Shetler. She encourages the community to think of it as a brainstorming session of Larimer County’s leaders who are the key players when it comes to working with seniors. The goal is for the Foundation on Aging to collaborate with the Office on Aging members, the service provider network and community leaders. Why? “Because when we get all these people together we are able to hear the broad spectrum of the needs present in our community,” says Shetler. And if the majority of needs are made known then, hopefully, those needs can be met.

Foundation on Aging began 23 years ago out of the compassion of one lady, Mildred Arnold, who began an endowment fund for seniors in Larimer County in dire need of practical help. It began as a not-for-profit program consisting of volunteers actively engaged in finding a solution to the growing issue of seniors in need. The program now consists of a board of 12 volunteers working hard to solve the issues at hand.

The Summit event in January is invitation only, but there will be plenty of opportunities to get involved following the event. To find further information or to get involved, contact Bonnie Shetler at the Foundation on Aging at (970) 224-5476 or visit their Website at: www.foundationonagingforlarimer.org. +