By LOGAN RIPLEY

A grant application that helps older people continue living in their homes was sent to the state by a local not-for-profit agency that intends to maintain current programming and expand its offerings.

Jewish Family Services submitted the application earlier this month requesting renewal of a grant to support the Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NNORC) here in the Pine Hills.

The application was sent to the New York State Office for Aging, which underwrote the first round of funding, according to Judy Avner, interim president and CEO of Jewish Family Services.

The patchwork of offerings “have helped seniors from all segments of the community to maintain their quality of life and independence, access services, and remain connected to their neighborhoods,” said Avner.

The natural retirement community administered by Jewish Family Services “provides a wide range of individually tailored activities and supportive services specifically designed to enable older residents, age 60 and over, to age in place and live with dignity,” said Avner.

Households that are eligible for help from this program stretch from Western Avenue to South Main Avenue down Woodlawn Avenue and around the park up to South Manning Boulevard.

In Albany, parameters were set by the State Offices for the Aging to only include 2,000 residents in the neighborhood retirement community. However, there is a chance the population could expand soon.

Currently the state awards around $2 million, “in state funds for the Naturally Occurring Retirement Community programs,” according to its website. Funding is spread between the classic retirement community, normally found in New York City, and in a neighborhood community, like the one in the Pine Hills.

There are a total of 16 classic retirement communities and 13 neighborhood communities in the state of New York. Avner wouldn’t speak to how much they received per year in the past or what they hope to receive.

A major part of the application that the state offices require is a needs assessment of the surrounding community. Jewish Family Services outsourced this data collection to a community partner, The College of Saint Rose, specifically its Institute for Community Research and Training.

The college circulated about 1,000 random questionnaires to the Pine Hills community and has received 250 back so far, according to the leader of the community research team, Nancy Dorr, a professor of psychology at the college.

The questionnaire was geared toward houses which had one or two residents of 60 years or older. Questions featured on the survey mostly pertained to what those residents would need in order to live at home for the remainder of their lives, Dorr said.

“We help them with what needs there are in the community, how effective is the program, and what kind of impact the program is having on the residents,” said Dorr.

The idea behind the needs assessment is to make sure that the service providers deliver the services that are needed, as determined from the results of the questionnaire filled out by community members, said Dorr.

The application reassures the community and state that this particular neighborhood retirement community is doing all it can for its residents and that they are fulfilling participants’ needs either with resources they can direct to them or provide outright.

Jewish Family Services and the neighborhood community can provide some supports to allow residents to age in their home, but if they do not have the tools to do so, they can help find the right match, according to Dorr.

“When people are struggling with something to do with aging, they can get someone from the NNORC to come in and say ‘what are your issues’ and ‘where can we connect you to other services.’ Help them get to where they need to go,” said Dorr.

The Albany retirement community comes staffed with trained nurses, case managers and other professionals to address challenges that plague older generations.

“Over the past decade, Albany NNORC staff has garnered extensive experience coordinating services and community resources,” said Avner.

To stay active in the community and active at home, residents in the retirement community can use services such as case management, assisted transportation, shopping assistance, friendly home visits and counseling.

Also provided is advocacy, information and referral, help with household maintenance and repair, educational programs, social enrichment activities, health management, health screenings, exercise and wellness programs, along with recreational activities.

They are able to provide these wide-ranging services because of fundraising done each year, but primarily because of the state’s grant assistance.

Nursing homes do offer these items at a cost, but all these facets provided by the retirement community comes to the residents free of charge.

“Eighty-five percent of people over the age of 60 want to stay in their home,” said Dorr. They don’t want to be elsewhere like retirement homes, that sometimes cost over $300 a day, she said.

“To me, it’s a win-win. It’s enriching their lives, it’s maintaining autonomy and independence by supporting people to stay in their home,” said Dorr.

There is no timetable for when the Jewish Family Services will find out about the funding, according to Avner. They plan to keep working with the community and its members to keep people aging in place.

We find that, “seniors are happiest when they can live in their own homes and remain in the communities of their choosing,” said Avner.

-30-