According to The Senior Source‘s President and CEO Cortney M. Nicolato, CPHIT,
“This year, The Senior Source has assisted, protected and connected nearly 35,000 older adults in North Texas. With 10,000 Americans turning 65 each day in the US, our wish is to work together to raise awareness about aging issues and give all older adults here in Dallas to tools they need to not just survive, but Thrive. To do this, we must first draw attention to the struggles seniors in our community, and across the nation, are facing.
“More than 20,000 older adults in the city of Dallas alone live below the poverty line and nearly that same amount live barely above that line. More and more older adults seek to live independently, but many do not have the means or resources to do so. Additionally, we are seeing an influx of elder abuse – emotional, physical and financial. Just last year alone, older adults lost $36 billion dollars to financial exploitation, frauds and scams.
“The Senior Source works to give seniors access to a better quality of life. A great example of this is one of our amazing clients, Ms. Julie. Ms. Julie suffered a stroke in her 50s, which required her to leave her job and therefore she lost her income. She lives in her childhood home, in West Dallas, which was in dire need of repair. The ceilings had caved in, instances of mold were a daily sight, bursting pipes in the winter were a given, and fences were so broken that stray dogs would roam into her yard regularly. No one should live like this, but unfortunately many older adults in our community do.
“Her pastor recommended she call The Senior Source, and we immediately jumped into action. We helped Ms. Julie with her budget and finances, and we worked with the city to get her home rebuilt through the city’s Neighborhood Improvement Program. This is one of the thousands of stories that illustrates how The Senior Source has helped some of the most vulnerable in our community. To see Ms. Julie’s full story, see our YouTube video.
“As 2016 comes to a close, and we reflect on our many blessings, we hope you will consider a gift to The Senior Source to allow us to help lift even more older adults out of poverty, to work to end elder abuse and neglect, and to ensure that everyone has access to critical services. Also, help us raise awareness by referring an older adult in need to us, introducing someone to our Agency and consider giving of your time to volunteer. Check out the variety of ways you can give back at www.theseniorsource.org or call 214.823.5700. With your support, we can make 2017 brighter for a generation who has given so much to us.”
-By Cortney M. Nicolato, CPHIT, The Senior Source’s president and CEO