Senior assistance programs from Colorado Agency on Aging.
Agency on Aging services in Colorado coordinate and provides resources and assistance to older individuals and adults, including seniors as well as residents aged 60 and older. A number of programs are offered across the state by the offices listed below. The resources include care giving; respite care; housing/rental assistance; elder rights; long term care ombudsman; Medicare and prescription assistance; and various nutrition and wellness services.
Senior Community Service Employment Program can help people find a job. Applicants need to be legally eligible to work in Colorado and the United States, age 55 or older, and living in a low income household.
If you are placed into a job, SCSEP participants will gain marketable job skills training in public and non-profit organizations. They will be paid, however it is usually minimum wage. Some of the job locations will include schools, senior centers, private non-profit businesses, and libraries. Participants will be able to develop their own job skills, a restored sense of self-worth, and gain confidence.
There are four main agencies that operate the Senior Community Services Employment Program in Colorado, and they include Seniors' Resource Center, Association of Aging and Retired Persons (AARP), Seniors! Inc., and also Service, Employment, Redevelopment International, or SER. Your local Agency on Aging office can help you apply.
The Old Age Pension (OAP) program may be offered for low-income adults age 60 or older who meet basic eligibility and income requirements. The program may offer limited financial assistance, help for medical expenses and health care benefits for seniors, rent, and more. While funding will vary, it can provide up to several hundred dollars per month.
Home Care Allowance may offer cash assistance to elderly and disabled individuals in Colorado. The money is offered for services paid directly to a home care provider of the client’s choice. The home care provider that is paid by agency on aging will need to conduct services such as assisting the senior with their activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, transfers, supportive service such as money management and credit counseling, and appointment management.
The Colorado Burial Assistance program may be able to provide financial assistance to help pay for costs including burial, cremation, or funeral bills. The deceased must have been a recipient of Old Age Pension, Aid to the Needy Disabled, Medicaid, Aid to the Blind, or Colorado Supplement. The also need to meet income limits.
Money Management Services are offered by Colorado agency of aging offices in partnership with the AARP Foundation Money Management Program. They also partner with non-profit credit counselors as well as state and local government and nonprofit agencies. A variety of organizations sponsor the program in Colorado, including senior centers, Departments of Social Services, and Area Agencies on Aging. Read more on credit and debt help.
Nutrition, Food, and Well-being can help seniors stay healthy and independent. The Older Coloradans Act provide funding for nutritious meals and food items, nutrition education, screening and counseling, health promotion and disease prevention, and physical activities.
Congregate Meals are offered at many Colorado senior centers, churches, apartments, agency on aging offices, and recreation centers. They serve seniors and the elderly free meals in a group setting. The social atmosphere and group atmosphere also makes mealtime a friendly, positive experience and helps promote conversation and community. Food provided will meet all Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Home-Delivered Meals can be offered to the homebound, or to those in which an illness or hospitalization makes it difficult to prepare a nutritious meal. For example, an older adult or senior may be unable to undertake this task temporarily or for a longer period of time. In these situations, it is reassuring to know that a hot, nutritious meal will be delivered by a caring volunteer from a local agency like the agency of aging or a local church.
Another service is nutrition education, which takes the idea of a healthy, nutritious meal and carries it through to the rest of the day. Potential topics may include good food sources of specific nutrients, practical suggestions to extend the nutrition dollar, eating for chronic illness, and safe food preparation.
Transportation assistance is in high demand, and it may be provided to elderly Coloradans. Senior transportation assistance programs make it possible for seniors and older adults who do not drive to obtain rides for essential trips. Transportation can be provided for medical and doctor appointments, senior activities such as congregate meals, and errands.
Outreach, information, and referrals are offered. It can help people learn about available services and assistance programs offered in Colorado, at the federal level, and locally. Outreach has another benefit of also identifying homebound or isolated people in need of help.
The information and assistance program connects senior citizens, older persons, and families to non-profit community agencies. People can contact their local Area Agency on Aging office in Colorado for information on resources available for individuals 60 and over.
Free legal assistance services are offered to address counseling, limited representation, and other legal advice. Services can assist eligible individuals in dealing with issues of assistance in understanding their rights, financial management, evictions, exercising choices, and exploring government benefits.
Chore Service is available to seniors and elderly who are physically unable to perform tasks, such as minor repairs, yard work, or heavy cleaning. Many agency on aging offices coordinate this.
Care Coordination involves a coordinator meeting with the senior. They will assess his or her needs and work with them to develop a service plan to meet those needs. Once services are signed up for and begin, a care coordinator can provide follow-up as well to ensure things are going well.
Colorado Home Health Care provides a variety of services in the senior’s home, under the direction of a physician.
In-Home Services such as personal care and homemaking are available to elderly and individuals who have functional limitations, are homebound due to illness, or have a disability.
Telephone Reassurance and Friendly Visitors provide telephone or personal contact for seniors or older persons who are homebound or who live alone in Colorado. Usually a volunteer from an organization like the area agency on aging provides the service for the senior.
Find Aging on Aging centers in Colorado
Grand Junction Regional Center is located at 2800 Riverside Parkway, Grand Junction, CO 81501, phone (970) 245-2100
Pueblo Regional Center. Address: 270 W. John Powell Blvd., Pueblo West, Colorado 81007. Telephone number is (719) 585-4001
Wheat Ridge Regional Center, 10285 Ridge Road, Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303) 463-2500
Or call the main location at Colorado Department of Human Services, 1575 Sherman Street, Denver, CO 80203. Phone number is (303) 866-5889
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