
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993                   TAG: 9305140099
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AGENCY ON AGING GETS $136,400 GRANT

It was difficult to say whether it was better to give or to receive Thursday as representatives of the League of Older Americans Area Agency on Aging did a little of both.

At a news conference at the Radisson Patrick Henry Hotel, league Executive Director Susan B. Williams accepted a symbolic check for $136,400, representing a federal grant to set up and operate a Senior Companion Program.

The program will recruit and train a corps of volunteers - aged 60 or older and with limited incomes - to provide in-home care and services to frail, elderly residents of Botetourt, Craig and Alleghany Counties and the cities of Covington and Clifton Forge.

Meanwhile, in the hotel's grand ballroom, volunteers and other affiliates of the league's's Foster Grandparent Program gave and received recognition and awards at a luncheon marking the program's 20th anniversary.

The federal Senior Companion Program grant, which was one of only three awarded nationwide, will be ongoing as long as the program is productive. It will be matched by nearly $33,000 in locally raised "in-kind" revenues.

After presenting the check, Rocco J. Gaudio, acting regional director for the federal volunteer agency ACTION, said, "This concept has evolved from 1974 to the present and it's really state-of-the-art. By helping the frail elderly to remain at home, it will help cut health-care costs and meet the needs of an aging population."

The Senior Companion Program initially will match 40 volunteers with 40 clients. But the clients may rotate as their needs change, Williams said. Volunteers will serve 20 hours per week and receive an hourly stipend, on-duty insurance, transportation and meal reimbursements and other benefits.

There are 150 Senior Companion Programs nationwide, including ones in Tazewell and Norfolk.

Williams said that by matching older volunteers one-on-one with elderly clients, the volunteers would be able to empathize with the clients' desires to remain at home and independent for as long as possible. She said clients and volunteers also would probably share many memories of their localities and have things in common to talk about.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Foster Grandparent Program, also partly funded through ACTION, matches seniors with special-needs children at child-care centers, schools, hospitals and Head Start centers. It serves Roanoke, Salem, Lynchburg, Vinton, Clifton Forge, Covington and Alleghany County.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB