Interfaith effort aims to keep seniors in own homes

Running in place may be a bad idea, but "aging in place" is a good one, according to the organizers of a new program whose goal is to help senior citizens in one Albany neighborhood remain there.

About 850 seniors live in the area between St. Peter's Hospital and Academy Road, and the 2000 census revealed that 47 percent of households in that area had at least one resident 65 or older.

Such neighborhoods are known as "NORCs," or "Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities."

In place

In the case of the Albany community, said NORC program director Katalin Mandelker, many residents who are now seniors gravitated to the neighborhood because so many churches and synagogues are within walking distance. Two are Catholic parishes: St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila.

"They're very connected to their community that way," Ms. Mandelker said of the NORC-area residents.

Although seniors in those neighborhoods are often encouraged to sell their homes and move to assisted-living or long-term-care facilities, many want to stay in the communities where they've lived for decades.

"What you're really doing by 'sending them off' is making them more dependent. There might be small things they need to help them stay in place," observed Deb Riitano, a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Albany and community outreach coordinator for Jewish Family Services, one of the organizations overseeing the NORC program.

Interfaith effort

This year, the New York State budget includes funding for nine new NORC grants, which allow for the development of programs and services to help seniors stay in their homes.

The Albany NORC is the first upstate area to receive a grant ($144,000), and the program has become an interfaith effort to help seniors stay in the neighborhood. It is being run jointly by Catholic Charities, the Albany Diocese, Jewish Family Services, The University at Albany's School of Social Welfare, Albany Senior Services, the Jewish Federation and St. Peter's Home Care.

Only a month after its inception, NORC is already being inundated with calls from seniors eager to get a little help with household tasks.

Mrs. Riitano told The Evangelist that one woman wanted help with grocery-shopping, since she couldn't leave her ill husband; a male caller was struggling to do the math to pay his bills, but his wife had Alzheimer's and could not help. Several callers wanted someone to shovel their sidewalks after snowstorms.

Simple needs

Those services are just a few in the spectrum of what NORC coordinators eventually hope to offer.

Ms. Riitano said that the program directors are working with area home-care services to provide personal care, help with odd jobs, transportation and more.

In addition, she said, "a big part of this [program] is volunteerism." NORC hopes to recruit volunteers from the neighborhood -- adults and teenage Confirmation students -- to grocery-shop for seniors, visit them or help with household chores.

Faith component

Because coordinators say the area is so "rich with faith tradition," they're contacting the various faith communities to alert them about the NORC program.

One Jewish temple will host a breakfast for clergy and social outreach workers in the area, urging them to tell their congregations about NORC.

Coordinators are also in touch with local colleges, including Sage and Maria, and putting the word out in area newspapers. Ms. Mandelker hopes especially to reach isolated seniors whose only contact with "the outside world" may be their attendance at religious services.

Model for others

The goals, said Mrs. Riitano, are to "maximize [seniors'] control, promote independence, reduce the chance of their being institutionalized too early, and increase their activity and participation in the community."

The NORC coordinators want their program to become the model for other Capital Region neighborhoods that may receive NORC grants in the future.

"The Capital District does wonderful interfaith events" that explore theological common ground, said Mrs. Riitano; now, she would like to see the same interfaith effort put toward helping the elderly with more practical needs.

That's all part of religious mandates to help people in need, she pointed out, adding: "When we share our common humanity first, the work goes so much better."

(To learn more, seniors in the NORC-targeted area of Albany and potential volunteers can call 514-2023.)

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