Grant to aid housebound seniors

A $39,000 state grant has been awarded to the Kennett Area Senior Center to help expand its Neighbors in Action, an initiative to assist the center in meeting the needs of the homebound elderly.

Anita O'Connor, the center's director, said the funds from the state Department of Aging will be used to expand a project piloted in 2009, with an eye toward creating a Village Concept model that can be used to provide assistance for all ages in a wider geographic area, a news release said.

The original initiative was started because a significant number of low-to-moderate income seniors were unable to afford many basic needs that are available to both higher- and lower-income elderly. The Village Concept model, in place in other parts of the country, enlists volunteers to assist neighbors with tasks such as transportation to medical appointments and shopping to simple home maintenance.

The local initiative, which provided over 50 assists to seniors last year through 30 volunteers, also developed a local online resource guide for southern Chester County seniors, providing more than 150 resources in over 35 categories. It is available at www.kennettseniorcenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=32&Itemid=37.