Seniors Foundation Community Focus Projects

 Health:

Support of the “Forever Strong” Strength and Conditioning program for older adults.

• Although today more older adults are participating in physical exercise, those who often are in most need lack the resources, education and motivation to participate. Social factors such as income, transportation and peer acceptance also fuel the lack of activity.

• The Foundation’s focus is to increase participation, by low income older adults, in the Strength and Conditioning Program of LAAA. Additionally, the Foundation is securing funds to update the program's equipment.

• The primary target population are individuals residing in identified subsidized housing facilities in Lincoln, minority Senior Center participants and family caregivers. The identified subsidized housing facilities include LEW Housing for the Elderly, Crossroads House, Charles Senior Housing and the Rudge Memorial facility.  
• Combined, these housing facilities have nearly 400 one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. A significant percentage of the minority older adult population reside in these facilities - specifically refugees and immigrants.

• Since initiating a marketing campaign in the spring of 2005, more than 250 older adults have enrolled in the program. Currently nearly 70 percent of program participants are female. The majority of the female participants are between the age of 61-80.

Social Transportation:

In Collaboration with Lincoln Area Agency on Aging, research and implement, as needed, a social transportation program focusing on non-medical assistance.

• Social transportation for older adults includes activities such as trips to the bank, grocery store, church, community events and social activities.  

• Social transportation for older adults has been identified as an issue for older adults in Lincoln in several studies including the recent “Blue Print Project” conducted by the Community Health Endowment of Lincoln.  

• Nationally, the majority of older adults utilizing social transportation programs, are 70 years of age and older. In Lincoln, the 75 plus age group is expected to grow to more than 18,000 in the next fourteen years. With the older adult population increasing, the need to provide affordable alternatives to taxi and accessible transportation will become more critical. 

• National statistics reflect, on average, men live an additional six years after they stop driving and women live an additional 11 years.  

• A committee of Senior Foundation volunteers and staff from the Lincoln Area Agency on Aging are currently working on identifying options of implementing a social transportation program which merges city and volunteer resources.

 Education:

Serve as a resource conduit to consumers, and the community as a whole, on issues impacting older adults and services available.

Strategic Partnership Development of 5 City TV Productions:

“Live and Learn” “Forever Strong,” “Exercise for a Lifetime,” “Pilates” and “Yoga: Refresh & Renew” 

• Programming on channel 5 City TV serves as a tool to educate, inform and impact the lives of older adults in Lincoln and the surrounding area. Currently, 90,000 area households have access to Channel 5 TV.

• “Live and Learn” has been on the air since 1999, serving as a video magazine show for older adults. Show topics have included issues such as the new Drug Benefit Card, Medicare, local historical events and more. Each monthly segment is divided into four or five interviews with a 30 second Spot/PSA between each segment.  “Live and Learn” airs from seven to eleven times weekly. 

• The Health Exercise programs which include Forever Strong, Exercise for a Lifetime and Yoga: Refresh & Renew run daily, including weekends. The exercise programs continue to receive positive feedback from both the medical and the general community.

• “Live and Learn” and the Health Exercise programs, annually provide over 1,000 hours of programming to the citizens of Lincoln.             

• Seniors Foundation web site – www.seniorsfoundation.org 

• More than 20,000 individuals visited the Foundation web site during 2006.  

• The site is updated on a regular basis, and contains information on local programs and services as well as general information. The site is also home to the “Front Porch Journal,” a collaborative project with the “Neighborhood Extra.”

 Increase Community Outreach and Partnerships

• The members of the Seniors Foundation Board of Directors have created a five year plan to increase community awareness and participation in developing better services for older adults.