The town of Greenwich is in the process of receiving designation as an Age-Friendly Community by AARP and the World Health Organization (WHO) and has officially been named as a Dementia Friendly Community by Dementia Friendly America.
Most recently, Lori Contadino, the director of the Greenwich Commission on Aging, along with a small, dedicated staff, have been working with several community stakeholders to create programs that assess need, connect people to information, nutritional food and resources and enable remote social, physical and cognitive engagement.
The day after the Senior Center closed its doors March 11, the staff began calling a roster of individuals every day and as time went on, not only did the number of phone calls increase, but also the number of older adults requiring assistance. Issues related to food insecurity quickly became a parallel priority. “The lack of access to groceries became a concern for older adults who previously did their own grocery shopping but were now being told to stay at home,” said Contadino.
The CARES Act funding, that became available through the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging, created a new and valuable opportunity to provide weekly grocery bags to our homebound older adults.
To further connect with older adults, Contadino said, “We also established a program called ”˜Hello Neighbor.”™ Our goal is to phone every resident age 70 or older.”
“As we progress through this pandemic and the remainder of 2020, challenges and uncertainties remain in a variety of areas for each of us. The staff of the Commission on Aging and Greenwich Senior Center remain available by telephone and email.”
