East Hill Woods Fund Provides $100K in Emergency Assistance for Area Seniors

WATERBURY, CT – March 29, 2010 – Members of the East Hill Woods Fund advisory committee recently awarded $100,000 in grants to benefit individual seniors in 21-towns in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills. Funding will provide assistance to local seniors who are struggling to pay for prescriptions, utilities, and other critical needs.

“We surveyed municipal agents, first selectmen from our 21-town service area, and the Western Connecticut Area Agency for Aging to get a sense of the needs of our seniors,” said Carol O’Donnell, a Cheshire resident, and associate CEO of the Connecticut Community Foundation. “The top three needs were very similar across communities including uncovered medical and dental expenses, fuel costs and transportation.”

O’Donnell also said that the Foundation researched demographics of seniors in the region including the percentage of seniors on food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), and the percentage of seniors over 80 many of whom, because of their age, have greater needs.

“We felt it was important to distribute these initial funds because of the dire circumstances many seniors are facing,” said John Michaels, an East Hill Woods Funds advisory committee member. Michaels serves on the advisory committee with fellow Southbury resident, Representative Arthur O’Neill, Lee Sherman of West Hartford, Joe Vannucci of Bethel, and Craig Lifland of Bridgeport.

Gaining Knowledge of Senior Needs
With guidance from the advisory committee, the Foundation will launch a more in depth needs assessment in April to learn more about senior needs in the area.

“We will be reaching out to the community to fully understand the needs, map out existing resources and generate ideas for addressing the needs,” said O’Donnell. “We believe that we will make a bigger impact and help seniors more effectively by focusing funding on a few key needs that are priorities of the communities we serve.”

During the needs assessment, the Foundation will examine what resources are already available, how they can leverage other funds, and gaps in current services that should be addressed.

“The East Hill Woods Fund gives the Foundation an opportunity to carefully study the needs of our seniors, many of whom are reluctant to ask for help,” added Ingrid Manning, CEO at the Foundation.