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CHRIC Offers Repair Programs For Owner-Occupied Homes

Our region has some of the oldest housing stock in the state of New York. According to the 2022-2024 Chautauqua County Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan (https://chqgov.com/sites/default/files/document-files/2023-01/CHQ.CHA—.2022.Final—.pdf), “Housing structures in the County are relatively old with 40.5% built in 1939 or earlier, compared to 31.0% in New York State. In Chautauqua County, 52.7% of homes were built prior to 1950, compared to 32.3% in New York State”. These homes might have been great when folks were younger, but as we age, they may ...

OFAS To Provide Opportunities For Older Adults To Share Thoughts

Every four years, the Chautauqua County Office for Aging Services (OFAS) must submit a plan to NYS Office for Aging (NYSOFA). This plan must outline how we will use the funding we receive to best meet the needs of Older Adults and Caregivers in Chautauqua County. It will include goals like “allow older adults to age in place in the community” and it must demonstrate how the programs and services we provide meet those goals and the needs for most older adults. We cannot come up with this plan on our own. If we did, it would not reflect the true needs of our community. So, over the ...

Focus On Senior Issues: To Deal With Changing EPIC Coverage

Question: EPIC sent a letter saying it was changing, but I don’t remember what it said. Will my medications still be covered? Answer: New York state is one of a limited number of states that provides assistance with prescription drug coverage for those who qualify, EPIC. The EPIC program (Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage) to New York State residents, who are over age 65 and make less than $75,000 for an individual and $100,000 for a married couple. (This income standard is based on last year’s income.) EPIC has two levels of coverage, the Fee Plan and the Deductible ...

Longevity Literacy

Women often don’t score as well as men in surveys of financial literacy. One area where we seem to do better is “longevity literacy,” or understanding how long we’re likely to live. Longevity literacy is essential to smart retirement planning. Overestimate your longevity, and you ...

Are You A Caregiver Or Do You Know One?

Do you have an aging grandparent, parent, neighbor or friend? Does your work or personal life involve assisting an Older American who is experiencing difficulties related to aging and you assist them in navigating difficult choices related to care, shopping, transportation or just assisting with finding options for assistance? You may call this by another name like: Partner in Care, Long Distance Caregiver (if your location separates you geographically from your loved one) or maybe you feel you are just behaving like a good neighbor or lifelong friend. If you are helping someone you care ...

R.U.O.K. Program For Responding To Home Bound Individual Emergency

Did you know that the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department has a program that can check to see if you are OK. It is called R.U.O.K. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with the Office for Aging Services (OFAS), provides this service. The referrals are processed by the OFAS NY Connects staff. You can also go online to apply at https://www.sheriff.us/ruok You can complete the online request below and you will be contacted by the OFA to confirm participation. The R.U.O.K. Program is when a computer located in the Sheriff’s 911 Emergency Dispatch Center calls an ...