|
Fremont
seniors
to
benefit
from
$300,000
in
grants
by Wes
Bowers
Fremont
Bulletin,
March
8,
2007
City
of
Fremont's
Human
Services
Department
received
$300,000
in
grants
that
will
improve
information
access
and
referral
services
for
senior
citizens,
it
was
announced
at
Tuesday's
Fremont
City
Council
meeting.
The
grant,
to
be
distributed
over
the
next
two
years,
was
awarded
by
the
Robert
Wood
Johnson
Foundation,
a
philanthropic
group
devoted
to
improving
the
health
and
healthcare
of
Americans.
City
council
unanimously
approved
the
grant's
acceptance.
The
grant
was
awarded
to
Fremont's
Human
Services
Department
as
part
of
the
foundation's
Fresh
Ideas
Initiative.
The
grant,
according
to
staff
reports,
will
fund
additional
work
to
implement
a
Senior
Action
Plan
developed
by
Human
Services
and
the
foundation
in
recent
years.
It
will
provide
training,
funding
and
technical
support
to
cultural
and
faith-based
organizations
to
enable
them
to
offer
information
and
referral
services
in
their
respective
communities.
The
city's
Human
Services
Department
is
planning
to
partner
with
six
community
ethnic
and
faith
organizations
to
enact
a
Community
Ambassador
Program
for
Seniors.
Partners
in
the
program
include
Muslim
Support
Network,
Centerville
Presbyterian
Church,
the
Taiwanese
Senior
Association,
India
Community
Center,
Sikhs
Engaged
in
Volunteer
Activities,
and
the
Stanford
Geriatric
Education
Center,
staff
reports
state.
Volunteers
from
these
groups
will
then
learn
how
to
access
service
information,
identify
eligibility
requirements
and
link
seniors
to
services.
Reports
state
that
success
will
be
determined
by
an
increased
number
of
vulnerable
seniors
linked
to
services
and
successful
sustainability
of
the
program.
"CAPS
will
build
capacity
to
serve
seniors
in
their
own
communities,
in
their
own
language,
with
their
own
cultural
norm,"
Human
Services
Administrator
Mary
Anne
Mendall
said.
"And
it
will
also
do
so
where
seniors
live,
where
they
worship,
socialize
and
learn."
Mendall
said
many
Fremont
seniors
aren't
served
by
current
senior
services
for
a
number
of
reasons,
including
lack
of
knowledge
about
what
is
available
to
them.
Additionally,
seniors
are
physically
isolated
or
unable
to
benefit
from
services,
she
said.
Also,
language
and
cultural
barriers
make
attaining
senior
services
difficult
for
some,
Mendall
said.
Under
the
CAPS
program,
Mendall
said
each
participating
group
would
hire
a
site
coordinator
and
recruit
10
volunteers.
City
staff
will
then
train
the
site
coordinator
and
volunteers
to
provide
information
and
resources
to
seniors.
They
will
then
meet
on a
regular
basis
to
share
results
and
ideas.
In
2004,
City
of
Fremont
partnered
with
the
Tri-City
Elder
Coalition,
and
became
one
of
11
sites
nationwide
to
receive
a
planning
grant
from
the
Robert
Wood
Johnson
Foundation
to
develop
a
comprehensive
Senior
Action
Plan.
The
Senior
Action
Plan
was
aimed
to
improve
long-term
care
and
supportive
services
for
at-risk
older
adults
in
the
Tri-City
area.
Last
year,
the
partnership
was
one
of
eight
sites
awarded
a
four-year
implementation
grant
of
$750,000.
"It's
not
really
an
accident
that
the
Robert
Wood
Johnson
Foundation
finds
friends
in
Fremont,"
Mayor
Bob
Wasserman
said.
"In
California,
counties
typically
finance
social
services.
In
Fremont,
we
decided
many
years
ago
to
take
that
on
to
any
extent
we
could,
and
we
have."
Councilwoman
Anu
Natarajan
said
she
hoped
that
the
program
would
not
segregate
Fremont
seniors
in
the
long
run.
"I
think
it's
a
tremendous
amount
of
effort
that's
gone
into
structuring
this,"
she
said.
"The
one
thing
I
would
like
to
make
sure
as
we
move
forward
is
that
it
doesn't
create
a
silo
effect
of
each
community
having
to
take
care
of
its
own
set
of
seniors,
and
that
it
becomes
a
more
integrated
program."
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