KDSN RADIO News
Funding is restored to independent living program in northeast Iowa
A Waterloo program that helps older adults live on their own is resuming service after its federal funding was restored.
The Senior Companion Program pairs volunteers who are 55 or older with elderly adults to help them with housekeeping, meal prep, and transportation.
The program lost its federal funding in June, and if it didn’t receive new funding before September 30th, it would have shut down completely.
Vicky Buss has volunteered with Senior Companion for almost 14 years.
“I think that there’s a lot of people that are out there that are really needy, that need the companionship and need our support, because they don’t have it, they don’t have family,” Buss says. “It’s just hard for them.”
When the program paused its services, Buss kept meeting with her clients weekly. When she told her clients she could return to work full-time after the funding was restored, they were thrilled.
The program runs out of Hawkeye Community College, where Sonya Carlson is the program’s director.
“After everything that we’ve been through in the last few months, I’ve really recognized how important it is for us to get that message out to our community,” Carlson says, “that this is extremely valuable and necessary for seniors to live well, whether they’re serving or receiving that service.”
The national service agency AmeriCorps awarded the college over $400,000 for three years to run the program.
All volunteers are expected to be able to return to work. This year is the program’s 50th anniversary.
(By James Kelley, Iowa Public Radio)
