Nov 24, 2020
Older adults have continued to receive much needed services and many new ones during COVID19, with the help of Area Agencies on Aging. These agencies were started in the late 1960's as part of the Older Americans Act. Over the years, thanks to advocacy, more funding has come available to add services like counseling, vision support and much more to a program that originally focused on food and transportation. During COVID19, even more support has been provided by these agencies and their community partners. Mr. Jody Barker, Director of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging shares many of the ways this region stepped up.
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer. Learn more at Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging.
Transcript:
Cynthia: This is Aging with Altitude, welcome to all. This podcast is brought to you by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government's Agency on Aging. We strive to provide answers, assistance, and advocacy for our elders. Thank you for joining us today. Our topic today is COVID-19 Now. I am your host, Cynthia Margiotta, a geriatric social worker and volunteer with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Government's Area Agency on Aging. With me today is Jody Barker.
Jody Barker: Thank you, Cynthia.
Cynthia: Thank you for coming. A little bit about Jody... Jody is the director of the Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging, which serves three counties: El Paso County, Park County, and Teller County in Colorado. He has served in many roles in his twenty-two-plus years in senior service organizations in Colorado. Among those roles have been editor of the Life After 50 newspaper, the director of operations for a home care agency, Central Colorado Regional Director of the Alzheimer's Association, and director of the Colorado Springs Senior Center. Jody's greatest joy is matching services with seniors and their families or enabling staff and services to do so. Jody has served on various boards and commissions over the years and currently is on the Colorado Commission on Aging, appointed by Governor Hickenlooper. I'm impressed!
Jody Barker: Thank you, Cynthia.
Cynthia: Well, thank you, Jody! I have known you through several of those organizations, all are so great.
Q: So, let's get started with our first question about COVID if you don't mind? Jody, how are you at the Area Agency on Aging? How are you still meeting the needs of our community?
Jody Barker:
A: Well thank you, Cynthia, it is a pleasure to be with you today. When the governor's order began in early March, we knew that we would have to continue operating even if we had to close our doors. March 17th, St Patrick's Day, as a matter of fact, we packed up what we needed to serve our community. That included telephones and paperwork and our computers and we began to work remotely. So, even a sense March, even with our doors closed to the physical building, we are still 100% operational. We have even added services that I'd like to share with you later. The exciting thing is that our staff has taken this as a really exciting challenge. We continue to answer all phone calls, we're reaching out to our clients, we're reaching out to past clients, we are reaching out to our community to continue to serve them every day.
Cynthia: It's amazing how much you're doing and I can't wait to talk about that. As the emergency orders have changed we are seeing changing guidelines. As of today which is June 3rd, 2020, in case you're listening to this a little bit further down the road, we are at the Safer at Home stage or in the Vast Great Outdoors.
Q: What does that mean?
Jody Barker:
A: There's a lot of interesting thoughts around the changes in the orders that have been provided by Governor Polis. Originally, as you know, we were in a Stay-at-Home order. It was necessary for all involved to really flatten that curve. This way, we could really understand more about the disease and how it was affecting our community. Of course, because covid affects upper respiratory issues, it has been very challenging for older adults, especially those with underlying health conditions. The Stay-at-Home order was crucial, to begin with. As those in leadership, especially those in the healthcare field, began to understand more about the disease in early May they changed the order to Safer-at-Home. This allowed us to have a little more movement, like maybe going to the grocery stores or getting out and about to pick up a restaurant order instead of sitting in a restaurant to eat. That was was crucial.
Now, with this most recent phase, The Vast Great Outdoors, it simply is an encouragement for people who are able to enjoy the outdoors. Here we are now, on the very front end of summer and this week has been more like summer than June! It feels more like July and August kind of weather. It is very hot! The great thing about this new phase is that it is an encouragement to people who are able to get out and go to their local parks with appropriate social distancing or maybe go for a walk in their neighborhood. There was concern earlier on about even just stepping outside your home. Now, people are encouraged to open those windows and get some fresh air and to lessen the social isolation that was so important early on. Now, we want to encourage people who can, to get out there. There are actually a couple of exciting changes with our providers who are helping to promote the new orders that we will touch on.
Cynthia: It is so important to get some fresh air and to get a little exercise, even if it's just walking around the block to take take the dog for a walk. I mean, I have a neighbor who takes his wheelchair and he goes and walks his dog. I think it's important to do that!
Jody Barker: Even in my neighborhood here in town when we are able to get out for a walk, we see so many people out walking their dogs or going to the park. It is people of all ages, you know? So it's really exciting to see people moving about! It's an interesting change from the last two months but when we think about what it truly means for older adults, it's crucial. This is because the older Americans Act, which is a major source of our funding to the AAA, was written in 1965 to reduce social isolation. That is the primary directive around our funding and our programming. Imagine what that's had to look like in the last two months with the Stay-at-Home and even the Safer-at-Home safer orders in place. People we have served in a variety of areas, whether that's senior center programs, transportation to doctor visits, transportations to church or classes at the Senior Center, lunches at the Senior Center, all of those had to change on a dime. All of that was intended to help protect the safety, health, and well-being of older adults, as well as the rest of the community. But, it's probably been most difficult on our older population because someone who lives at home, to begin with, and maybe looks forward to that three to five days lunchtime with their friends at the Senior Center, suddenly are being asked to stay at home. That can be extremely challenging to their health and mental well-being.
Cynthia: Yeah, absolutely! We could talk about that for hours, gotta get out gotta be involved as much as a person is able.
Jody Barker: Exactly! An interesting comment came to me a few weeks ago from one of our volunteers who said she was talking with some neighbors. One of her neighbors, who is an older adult, said, "you know, I feel useless because I'm used to volunteering and now, I'm not allowed to. I feel useless." And so, one of the things that our advisory committee is working on is actually not only volunteering for seniors but involving those seniors in that volunteer project. This is to give people a purpose and to give people activities and things to look forward to. I know what will touch on it here in a little bit, but there's so much going on to not just serve the seniors but incorporate the seniors into the process. We're all working on this together.
Cynthia: In a sense, that's serving them.
Jody Barker: Absolutely!
Cynthia: You know you've known me for a while and I'm a big advocate of volunteerism. I think it's a very important part of being part of the community. I think, you know, if you can when you retire don't go sit on a chair! It drives me crazy! If you can, go out and volunteer. If you can't go anywhere, find a way to volunteer from home. People can write notes or they can make phone calls. I can talk about it for hours...
Jody Barker: I think what we have to remember is that there are opportunities for outreach, not just to our older population but for those older adults to participate in that process. Maybe there's an assisted living or retirement community or a skilled nursing facility in your neighborhood. Call those places and say "I'd like to write someone a letter." You have no idea how much of a positive impact that person can make.
Because maybe you live at home but you might have three or four rooms to move about in. But someone right now, during this time, who lives in assisted living or a skilled nursing facility is being asked to stay in their room. Their meals are delivered to them, their activities are brought to them in the hallway, and they are being asked not to leave their room due to social distancing.
So even just taking the time to write a note to an older adult who lives in a community near you could make a world of difference. You don't have to ask permission, you don't have to be part of a larger group, to do that. You can pick up the phone, you can write that letter on your own, and it will be such a positive impact on the staff and on the residents.
Cynthia: Just the thought of me being in a room for a month... I'm an extrovert and I would have no hair because I pulled it all out. I absolutely think those are wonderful things we can do. I mean, we can even write a note to our neighbor. It doesn't have to be an official volunteer program.
Q: So tell me, what are some of the service delivery changes and supports that have been implemented that you have found interesting or effective or both?
Jody Barker:
A: That's a great question! As you might imagine, as we started hearing more about this virus and as it began to grow, even at the end of February, before we closed our physical building, before the Stay-at-Home orders came from the governor, some of our providers were already beginning to make plans and make changes to their service delivery. For example, one service provider who many of you will know is Silver Key Senior Services. They are the primary meal site provider for El Paso County. So, when you think of meal sites, you're thinking of Colorado Springs Senior Center, Fountain Valley Senior Center, and the Mountain Mennonite Church in Palmer Lake. Those places receive meals from Silver Key Senior Service's kitchens. They're hot and fresh meals that get delivered to people who come into a congregate site. These people meet up with their friends. They might come early for a class or stay late for a concert. That is their time to get together. As you might imagine, as soon as that Stay-at-Home order came into place in mid-March, that service had to stop.
So, what did Silver Key do? Silver Key immediately implemented appropriate social distancing. They increased their home-delivered meals. They increased their pantry of delivered meals instead of people coming in via transportation on a Silver Key bus, going to the pantry to do their own shopping, and then get back on the bus to go home. Silver Key tried to reduce that contact in their pantry. The pantry is big until you start putting 15 people with shopping carts in there. You know, it can get very crowded. It is shoulder to shoulder sometimes. To avoid this, what they started doing is packing up those pantry boxes and delivering those to their regular pantry clients.
That was one thing that they did, another thing that they did is they converted those congregate meal sites into what are called grab and go sites. For example, every Monday at the Colorado Springs Senior Center, the Silver Key Senior Services blue meal truck shows up. Instead of daily pickup, they prepare multiple meals and flash freeze them. This way, clients have all five meals for the week. Clients also have the opportunity to pick up fresh produce, dairy products, and things like that depending on what silver Key has on hand or what has been donated.
The Senior Center, normally provides classes such as educational classes, moving for better balance, tai chi, and more. Those are the kind of programs that we fund with the Older Americans Act and Older Colorado Act dollars that we administer. For obvious reasons, they had to close as they were not allowed to do congregate-type programs like those physical classes. So what they did was they started making calls of reassurance. The YMCA and the Colorado Springs Senior Center host over 16,000 members who are over 60 years of age. So, staff and volunteers began picking up the phone and calling in to check on their constituents. In addition to this, they created what they call a phone buddy program. Silver Key would invite someone to the program and have that person tell a little bit about themselves. They would then collect a little bit of information from an older adult who is interested. They then paired volunteers with participating older adults. So, think of it almost like a pen pal program, but by phone. The Senior Center has begun to host those pairings of phone buddies. Instead of Senior Center staff making those calls out daily, weekly, twice a week, those phone buddies can now be a lifeline to one another. All they have to do is pick up the phone to check in with each other, talk about common interests, and that kind of thing.
Silver Key is also providing some meals to people who do not have access to the Senior Center to pick up their own meals. They're delivering those meals on a case-by-case basis. The Fountain Valley Senior Center, as you know, is one of those congregate meal sites. They have now become and one of the Silver Key grab and go sites. Under the front of the building, they have set up a drive-through system. People line up in their cars and they can pick up the meal, they can pick up information, they can check-in and see how they're doing. One of the exciting things that I heard about, as it relates to Fountain Valley Senior Center, was that the city of Fountain did not layoff their staff, but sent a great many of them home to work remotely. This is because they did not have the same functions during that early stay-at-home process. Someone from the city government contacted the Fountain Valley Senior Center director, Jolene Hausman, and said what can we do? How can we help at this time? And they began with 20 city employees making those calls of reassurance. These employees were making over 100 calls a day. At first, it was only going to be a couple of weeks. Now, it is becoming an ongoing project because the seniors love it and staff from the city love it. Now, Jolene is talking about when things slow down, she would like to have a barbecue so the city employees can meet their phone buddy. The Senior Center is actually been talking about putting on something when it's safe to do so. So that those phone buddies can meet one another.
It's just been really neat to see those programs, even some of the smaller programs like Teller County Senior Coalition, based out of Woodland Park. This group has provided fresh fruits, vegetables, and even restaurant meals to their clients. This way clients are getting choices and variety, not just the same box of food every week. There is just a lot of neat things going on.
Unfortunately, some of our providers were limited. Providers who were contracted with us to provide certain services like transportation, suddenly found themselves not allowed to provide their service. So, they reached out in other ways like helping with telehealth or counseling services to make sure that people's needs are being met.
The irony in all of this is that it's changing almost daily, and definitely weekly, as our providers determine what needs must be met. Providers are determining what the outreach needs to look like as they plan for the future. Right now, we don't know what congregate programs are going to look like for the next few months or the long term. However, I would encourage people to take a look at the Colorado Springs Senior Center website at epymcappymca.org.
On the website, they can find the Colorado Springs Senior Center. They have already begun art classes using the online zoom system. So, zoom, if you're not familiar, is really more of a teleconferencing system where you can log in and see each other if you have a smartphone or a computer at home. Using the camera on your computer or smartphone, you can see one another and you can see your teacher. They began art classes using that online platform last week and they had something like 16 or 20 people from all over join that class. So, they are going to be doing a variety of both free and fee-based classes as they begin to look at what serving the community needs to look like with these new circumstances.
Cynthia:
Q: These are some mighty changes, yes?
Jody Barker:
A: Yes! These changes are distinctly different than what we traditionally thought of about senior services. I'm really excited that so many of our providers are looking at how they can continue to serve the needs of our community in a new way.
We have about half a dozen services that we provide directly out of our offices by our staff. These services include family caregiver support services. We are also going to be doing our own support groups via zoom and by electronic media. The exciting thing about this is that it means we can provide services to those who are caring for older adult family members, spouse, or parent. Instead of just the caregiver coming to a support group, he or she can invite family members from across the nation to join the caregiver in that support group. We now have the electronic technology in place to be able to do that. So, real silver linings are coming out of the challenges that we've faced due to COVID-19.
Cynthia: Yeah! You know national support groups would be an asset ongoing.
Jody Barker: Absolutely!
Cynthia:
Q: I like that idea! Will there be issue-specific support groups, or will they be more generalized?
Jody Barker:
A: I believe they're going to start somewhat general to begin with, but there is discussion around some more specific topics. So, if someone has a specific challenge or need in a certain area that person will be able to sign up for that specific support group. To expand on that, you know the Colorado Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association is also doing something very similar. It may be nationwide, but they're beginning to do a lot more online support groups for that very reason. Again, it's one of those silver linings that has come out of the changes that we are having to make as we do our best to meet the needs of our constituents. Even though we can't be face to face, we're taking advantage of technology to meet those needs.
So, even internally, where we would normally have a Medicare class here in the office, right now everything is converted to the webinar. We were able to have more of those classes and are able to partner with other agencies in town so that we can make sure we get the word out. Because these classes are done by webinars, we don't have to worry about partner space and social distancing. It gives the people a lot more flexibility in getting the resources that they need, as well.
Cynthia: I take the Medicare 101 class almost every year and I'll tell you I don't know how Roma does that! There seems to be a different rule every year with Medicare, so I think those would be great classes!
Jody Barker: Absolutely, absolutely! You know, if our listeners are interested in getting more information about those classes, they can go directly to our website at PPACG.org and click on the aging banner. That will take them to a variety of pieces of information where they can sign up for those webinars. If you're not sure about that, you can also call us directly at 719-47120964712096. That phone number is manned during regular office hours and it is very likely that you would need to leave a detailed message with your contact information and name so that someone will get back to you. Our staff is fully operational.
Cynthia: And for those of you who don't have a paper with you, we're going to repeat all of these wonderful sites at the end. Jody is watching me take notes here so that I get them right, which won't happen so you'll have to correct me.
Q: Next question, what thoughts and discussions have come up around serving different populations such as rural areas, different ethnicities, lower-income, and, of course, our seniors?
Jody Barker:
A: As you might imagine, the Area Agency on Aging primarily focuses on our population who is 60 years and over. That's who the Older Americans Act was written specifically to provide services to. Most of the conversations we have are around that. However, we do partner with several other agencies like the Independent Center, the Resource Exchange, and others like that which provide services to adults with disabilities. So sometimes there's some crossover in information. So, if someone's not sure who best to call, always feel free to call us at that main number (4712096) and we will help guide you. You know, we will ask a few questions and determine if that is a service that would come from us, or if it's a service that might come from one of our providers, or if we should be referring you to a partnering agency. It's always good to have that phone number in mind. That's the primary phone number here at the office and it will also lead you to our senior information assistance network staff.
As you may know, we also have a yellow book that we just got printed! COVID did not stop us, it delayed us a little bit. Really, COVID didn't stop us. Those are now being delivered. Even if you're used to coming to the office to pick those up, you can still do that! We were the generous recipients of two newspaper-style boxes that are located at our parking lot. So you can drive right up and pick up both our yellow book and our Adult Medicaid and VA Guidebook. We still have those available, even though we might not be here in the office. I wanted to make sure we talked about that.
Conversations around serving other parts of our population can really be a challenge. You know, zoom and Skype and similar platforms like that, as it relates to technology, not all of our seniors have those capabilities. That can sometimes be a challenge. Despite the state budget shortfalls that we're expecting, there is still discussion about how to bring broadband to our rural areas. That discussion has not stopped. So, for those of you might who live in a more rural area and don't have access to the Internet, know that you're not forgotten. That still continues to be a high priority for many of our legislators. With that being said, we're just looking at greater opportunities to work with partners. As you may know, even though AAA serves primarily three counties, that's our region (region four) for the state of Colorado. Our S.H.I.P that's our State Health Insurance Program, counselors actually serve more counties than that. So we typically work with partners in those outer regions anyway. This extends all the way down to the New Mexico border, to make sure that we're reaching those populations. Right now, it's a continued and ongoing conversation. I can't really say that we've figured out how best to do it, but it's certainly important for us to make sure that we're remembering those populations as we're figuring out how best to reach those areas. A couple of opportunities that we're exploring is greater reach into eastern El Paso County, for example. So some of our providers, including Invida who run a bus service, have reopened their rural area bus services. So if you live in the Calhan area, that bus service has restarted. Or if you live in the southeastern portion, along Hwy 94, Invida has restarted that route as well. There's increased outreach and increased opportunities to get engaged. Now we're just looking at all those opportunities to see what that's going to look like in the future.
Cynthia: Good for you. You got to keep working!
Jody Barker: We have not stopped. Like I said, even from the day that we had to physically close our doors, we continue as a staff. Our providers out in the region continue to serve. As I said, some of that is changed. The service delivery might look a little different but know that we're all still working on this making sure that our seniors and their families have the services that they need or know that they have access to services.
Cynthia: I'm sure some of these changes are going to be ongoing.
Jody Barker: That the expectation, yes! Because we don't really expect to have traditional congregate programs for some time yet. Now, even as we're speaking here on June 3rd, this afternoon there's going to be a presentation by the governor's office around what the next phase of opening may look like. It is intended to be specifically focused around senior services. Right now, a lot of those recommendations are coming to us as things to consider. The requirements are really following the guidelines of the health departments in particular regions around the State.
Cynthia:
Q: Do you know where people can listen to that? Will it be on TV?
Jody Barker:
A: This is very last minute, we were just alerted to this about an hour before we began this conversation. So I don't know where it will be if it will be recorded, if it's going to be a press conference, or if it's going to be just service delivery information. I don't know yet but as we know more we will certainly update our website. You can also go to the El Paso County Health Department website to keep track of things like that, as well.
Cynthia:
Q: What has the collaborations and leadership looked like across Colorado?
Jody Barker:
A: That's really been exciting to be part of in this time. Despite the challenges in the State of Colorado's State Unit on Aging, which is a division of the Colorado of Department of Human Services, has been extremely helpful. I'm also part of an organization that includes all of the AAA directors around the state. So collaborating between the State Unit on Aging and the Area Agency on Aging has been really exciting to be part of right now. There's a lot of discussions, there's a lot of questions, there's a lot of idea sharing, and that collaboration has been really positive. We've also included the in those conversations service providers so that they can hear and ask questions directly of our state office as well. It's been very positive right now. There has been a lot of flexibility in how we're able to use not just our regular funding but some of the emergency funding that we're starting to see come into our area.
Cynthia:
Q: Then what does planning look like going forward? Where can people get information and resources?
Jody Barker:
A: As part of the Governor's discussion this afternoon, we expect to hear some recommendations and potential guidance around what reopening phases might look like. It's going to take some time though, so we don't really know. We would ask people to be patient around that because there are a lot of unknowns that we are all dealing with. Even just two weeks ago our messaging was very different than it is today because things are changing so often. I would encourage people to go to or call, the El Paso County Health Department if they have questions. They can also contact their direct service providers if they are already a client of Silver Key, Invida, or Fountain Valley Senior Center. Those providers are getting the same information that we are. Of course, they can always contact us here through our main phone number: 4712096 that we talked about. As I said, that's our senior information and assistance hotline. Typically, you can leave a message anytime, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Our operating hours are typically from about 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. We try to get back to you just as soon as we can or forward your voicemail to the appropriate staff member who will call back. There are two areas right there. We're trying to continue to keep our information as up-to-date as possible.
Cynthia: You know family members that are out of the area, I just want to add 719-471-2096. You can call about services for mom and dad! Yeah, you are very welcome to do that.
Q: My last question here, is well second to last, but some of us would like to continue getting updates on COVID?
Jody Barker: Specifically, around COVID-19, there's a lot of information out there online, on the news, on TV, and on the radios. Sometimes it's a little challenging to really understand what's real. Yes, that's a good way to put it, what's real? I would encourage people to follow up with the county health department in their area, whether that's here in our area, El Paso County Health Department. Teller County has its health Department. Park County has its own Health Department. I would encourage them to find a way, whether by website, phone calls, or regular media information, to get connected so that they can get that direct source of information about what's most crucial for their area. As you might imagine, around the State every County typically has a Health Department. Their rules and requirements might be a little bit different and their expectations and recommendations might be a little different from County to County. I would encourage people to get connected with their specific county. Don't look at information from a neighboring state, don't look at information necessarily even from a neighboring county, it could be very different. Find the one in your area and stay connected. That way, you can get the most accurate information anytime. For us here in El Paso County, as I said, it's just simply ElPasoCountyHealth.org.
Cynthia: I think that would be a better place to find things then, I don't want to insult Facebook, but Facebook. Some folks might hear it from the wrong person and they would put that on Facebook and it may or may not be true.
Jody Barker: Correct, the El Paso County Health Department has medical professionals who are specialists in disease control, population information, and what's going to be best for our area. That's really where I would recommend people get directed for that very specific disease information.
Cynthia: Every area is a little different.
Q: Now, let's talk a little bit about the new programs and the providers that you have started here over at the Area Agency on Aging?
Jody Barker:
A: Sure! As I mentioned earlier, we have about a half dozen programs that we provide out of the Area Agency on Aging that include our senior information and assistance program that we've referenced. It also includes our family caregiver support center, that's where we do some of our support groups and caregiver support, just like it sounds. We also do this senior insurance and assistance program that's our S.H.I.P. program. We also are the region's ombudsman office and the ombudsman, if you're not familiar with that terminology, is simply an advocate for older adults. In our case, the ombudsman specifically advocates for those who live in long-term care facilities like assisted livings and skilled nursing facilities. So our ombudsman serves in that area as well. We also, through some of our funding, are able to provide homemaker and personal care services. Those are our primary services internally.
Now, our partnering with agencies that we contract with might be some of those like we've mentioned, such as Silver Key Senior Services. A lot of people think of Silver Key as meals-on-wheels, the congregate meal programs, and transportation, but they do so much more! We're very proud to partner with them. Some of the other services that they do, like case management and so on so. We also have providers who provide additional homemaker services or respite care for those family caregivers. For example, we partner with Colorado Legal Aid, which provides legal services free for folks. We also provide some services around visually impaired services, dental and dentures, mental health screening and counseling, caregiver counseling, home safety renovations. As you might imagine, more people are staying at home. Actually, we've seen an increase in requests for grab bars, railings, and that kind of thing. So we're proud to contract with several other providers like that. We are also able to provide nutritional counseling and education. So, if someone wants to receive nutrition education, they can simply pick up the phone and call their primary provider like Silver Key, in our area, or the Teller Senior Coalition. We will get you routed, but you can call Silver Key directly. We received that education and then those health and exercise classes we talked about that are provided at the senior centers and other congregant programs. Again, some of those have changed. You know how that works has just had to change because of COVID-19. There's a lot of exciting ways that our providers have reached out to make those changes to continue to reach their constituents and clients in making sure that social isolation is reduced as much as possible.
Cynthia: There's a lot more going on in this office than the few employees that are sitting in the building when that was possible.
Jody: Exactly and even for us, even though we have our regular programs, because of COVID-19 we also started doing what we call "calls of reassurance". Some of our providers do that as part of their programs, but we started doing that as well. As you might imagine, someone who may have come in in February to have questions answered around Medicare, suddenly find themselves without transportation and unable to go grocery shopping. You know, we're asking them to stay at home or be safe at home, and maybe they don't have access to those some of those services. So we took it upon ourselves to begin working backward through our contacts and making sure that clients that we had served, for whatever reason in the past, know that they can call us for questions. They can use us for referral services to get referred to other services throughout the community and ultimately just to be reassured that they know that they can call us at any time. As you might imagine, our providers have seen an uptick in those who signed up for services because folks are trying to stay safe and healthy. If that means receiving a few meals a week versus going to the grocery store than those people are reaching out for those services. So it's been really exciting not just working with our staff here as we've made those changes, but also working with our providers who are juggling and making those changes and adding to those services.
Cynthia: Making those changes! It's a great idea. I'm just going to repeat some of the different things that were brought up if you have paper and pencil. One is if you're interested in the yellow book, there's a website where you can also look and see the website. So for those of you who are family out of the area, you might look at that website is ppacg.org\ yellowbook. Or, you can call the phone number to talk to someone and you might need to leave a phone number and message but that phone number is 719-471-2096. You can get that information along with the Medicaid Veterans Benefits Book. You can stop by here, at our office, and pick up yellow books as well as the Medicaid book. They have a little kiosk outside. The location is not really a difficult location to understand. We are located about two blocks north of Colorado Ave on Chestnut, and you go through these big gates which are open during the day, I don't know at night. During the day, you can just drive through and you'll find it in there. That's where the offices are as well. Whenever it opens, you can always come to visit during that time. Another one that Jody mentioned was the YMCA ppymca.org. They're doing online and zoom art classes and other classes as well.
Jody Barker: They're going to be doing some exercise classes, art classes, as well as some presentations.
Cynthia: That is so great.
Q: Then, are there others that you wanted to bring up that I missed?
Jody Barker:
A: Sure, yeah! As you might imagine, all of our providers are listed on our website. The easiest way like, like Cynthia mentioned, is just going directly to ppacg.org and clicking on the aging button. That really gets you into the Area Agency on Aging portion of the website where you could find an electronic copy of the yellow book, an electronic copy of the Medicaid program, and an electronic copy of the VA benefits guidebook. You can also find listings of our service providers. There some that are local that will provide the largest percentage of our programs and organizations like Silver Key. You can also just go to silverkey.org or you can call them directly. If you're calling locally, the number is 719-884-2300. They will route you to the appropriate department, depending on the service you need. If you're calling for a family member and you're out of state or out of the area just remember the 719 area code. Again, that phone number is 884-2300. You're always welcome to call us here. As I said, leave a detailed message, your name, and telephone number, and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. We will ask a few questions and we're happy to get you referred to the right services. You can save yourself a lot of time. Sometimes it can be challenging to go through the amount of information that's available to us so we're going to help you with that. Give us a call directly and we would love to do that on your behalf and get you pointed in the right direction.
Cynthia: Wonderful, thank you so much. I appreciate your time here with me Jody. That's the show and thanks to all for being with us today! Take good care of yourself.