[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 144 (Thursday, October 6, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 6, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          IONA SENIOR SERVICES

  Mr. GLENN. Mr. President, as a member of the Senate Special Committee 
on Aging since 1977, I am well aware of the challenges presented by our 
aging population. Action is needed now to benefit older Americans and 
their families, and to plan ahead to ensure a better life for today's 
workers and their children and grandchildren.
  Due to our spectacular increase in longevity during this century, the 
number and proportion of elderly people is increasing and the 85 and 
older group is growing fastest of all. A major policy issue related to 
this growing older population is how to provide the community-based 
support that will enable us to continue to live in our homes rather 
than institutions as we age and need health and social services. Most 
people prefer to remain in their own homes, and in most cases this is a 
less expensive alternative than nursing home care.
  Here in our Nation's capital, we have an excellent example of what 
the future will bring and of how to provide for an aging population. 
Northwest Washington, DC, where nearly 20 percent of the population is 
already 60 and older and 2.5 percent is 85 or older, has a headstart on 
the national phenomenon of population aging. Many of these older people 
have chronic illnesses, live alone, have no one to help during an 
emergency, and some have no regular daily contact with other people.
  Fortunately, IONA Senior Services makes it possible for many 
Washingtonians to continue to live with independence and dignity in 
their own homes. IONA, which stands for Independence, Opportunities, a 
Network for Aging, accomplishes this through a cooperative effort which 
ties in religious and community institutions, businesses, schools, 
apartment managers and the professional community. IONA is an excellent 
example of the importance of local, neighborhood-based programs in 
providing services which enable the elderly to remain in their homes 
and communities.
  Recently, Elizabeth S. Fox, executive director of IONA Senior 
Services, told me the story of Mrs. Jones, who has lived in an 
apartment on Connecticut Avenue for 40 years. She is 87 years old and 
is seriously disabled by arthritis and osteoporosis. Bent double at the 
waist, she can maneuver slowly around her apartment and uses a mobile 
wheel chair to go out.
  She has very limited use of her hands so that preparing meals and 
cleaning are extremely difficult. Mrs. Jones has no relatives in the 
area and many of her friends and former colleagues from a Federal 
Government job have died, but she loves conversation and has made 
friends with the staff and residents of the apartment building.
  The apartment manager put Mrs. Jones in touch with IONA last year 
when she confessed she was worried about not being able to take good 
care of herself and her apartment and not having any savings left to 
pay for extra services like taxi cabs, delivery services, and cleaning 
help. She was afraid she would have to move to a nursing home, knowing 
that after all her savings were gone she would qualify for Medicaid 
which would pay indefinitely.
  IONA Senior Services now provides or arranges for these services for 
Mrs. Jones: home-delivered meals 7 days a week, a weekly volunteer 
visitor, subsidized homemaker services twice a week, a daily volunteer 
telephone caller, twice yearly special cleaning and repair by high 
school students, and free transportation to medical appointments. In 
addition, a neighborhood coalition, organized under the leadership of 
an IONA community organizer, the apartment manager, and other local 
leaders, has established outreach and volunteer activities throughout 
the large apartment complex. Mrs. Jones is an inspiring speaker for the 
coalition. Mrs. Jones feels safe, less threatened by financial drain, 
and much, much happier.
  IONA Senior Services estimates that the monthly cost of these 
services to Mrs. Jones is $365, not counting the enormous value of 
volunteer service. A portion of funds are provided through the U.S. 
Administration on Aging, Older Americans Act funds, the D.C. Office on 
Aging and the rest through private fundraising. If these services were 
not available to Mrs. Jones, it is likely she would end up in a nursing 
home at a cost of over $4000 per month in Washington, DC. After a very 
few months in a nursing home, Mrs. Jones' care would be reimbursed 
under Medicaid, with the Federal and D.C. governments splitting the 
cost.
  Mrs. Jones' story has a lot to teach us about policies and programs 
which will help our country cope with its growing older population. The 
Government alone cannot give Mrs. Jones the quality of life she 
deserves--or the quality of life that we would want for ourselves and 
our loved ones. Rather, the Federal Government needs partners to 
mobilize volunteers and neighborhood coalitions to be part of the 
solution.
  IONA Senior Services is an outstanding example of this partnership. 
It is a community-based agency begun on a shoestring to respond to a 
need. After 20 years, it is on the verge of establishing a permanent 
comprehensive service center in Washington, DC which will be the hub of 
the cooperative network IONA has built over the last 20 years.
  IONA's new center--Isabella's Center--has my enthusiastic support. I 
believe it will be a national model from which we can all benefit and 
it will help other communities that want to follow IONA in forging a 
dynamic approach to the challenges brought about by our aging 
population.

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