[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 1187]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       RECOGNIZING REAL SERVICES

  Mr. DONNELLY. Mr. President, today I wish to recognize the 50th 
anniversary of REAL Services, an organization that works to support 
independence and higher quality of life for the elderly, disabled, and 
low-income Hoosiers in northern Indiana.
  In 1966, Lester J. Fox founded REAL Services to create a service 
network for seniors in St. Joseph County. With the help of a Federal 
grant from the U.S. Administration on Aging, REAL Services developed 
programs to address the housing, health, employment, and legal needs of 
those aging in St. Joseph County.
  REAL Services expanded its reach in 1981 to include assistance 
programs for poverty-stricken Hoosiers. In 2013, REAL Services merged 
with the Alzheimer's and Dementia Services of Northern Indiana. Today 
REAL Services assists more than 30,000 elderly, disabled, and destitute 
Hoosiers annually in 12 northern Indiana counties through more than 20 
programs. This would not be possible without those who volunteer their 
time to further REAL Services's reach and mission. On average, REAL 
Services has 2,000 volunteers each year.
  The effectiveness of REAL Services's commitment to preserving the 
self-sufficiency and life quality of elderly, disabled, and low-income 
Hoosiers has been highly praised over the years. In May 1974, then-
Governor of Indiana, Otis R. Bowen, designated REAL Services as the 
Area Agency on Aging for five counties in northern Indiana. A little 
over a decade later, then-Governor Robert D. Orr designated the 
organization the Community Action Agency in northern Indiana.
  In 2005, REAL Services was designated by the Federal Government as an 
Aging and Disability Resource Center. REAL Services was one of two 
Indiana organizations to pilot this designation, which was funded 
jointly by the Federal Administration on Aging and the Center for 
Medicine and Medicaid Services. REAL Services continues its work as an 
Aging and Disability Resource Center.
  Additionally, REAL Services created the first Nutrition Site in the 
United States, a program that provides the elderly with meals, 
educational courses, and a sense of community. This model served as an 
example for nutrition programs instituted across the country as part of 
the Older Americans Act. It is clear that over the past five decades 
REAL Services has helped make our State and our country a better place 
for thousands of Hoosiers and Americans.
  On behalf of the citizens of Indiana, I thank REAL Services for the 
hard work they do every day for the people of our great State who need 
our help the most, and I congratulate them on an important milestone. 
From its inception, REAL Services has demonstrated a dedication to 
those they serve and continues to promote human dignity. I commend REAL 
Services for exemplifying the beliefs we hold as Hoosiers: recognition 
of the value of all people and a willingness to lend a hand to those in 
need. I am proud that REAL Services calls Indiana home, and I wish them 
continued success in the years to come.

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