Sun City residents may have heard of Senior Services Associates (SSA), but still not be all that familiar with what it is this non-profit does. Beginning in 1973, this non-profit got its start by meeting the needs of community seniors and disabled individuals by offering adult day care at a center in Elgin.
Today, SSA has expanded to offer its services to various other counties in the area focusing their efforts on those over 60 years of age, the disabled population 18 years and older, and veterans.
“Some of the things we do a lot, we will offer assistance through our information and assistance program and what that particular program does and we have the staff available to help, is to basically walk a senior through maybe Medicare [or] Medicaid. Maybe they need some emergency help with some home repair [and] they just don’t have the bandwidth to fund that at that particular time. Unexpected things happen so we do try to help out with those as well,” said Adele Larsen, the director of marketing and fund development at SSA.
“We’re considered a one stop. You know, your first stop I should say, for access to those kinds of programs. So, governmental programs, benefits that are out there. There’s a program called LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program) which is light and heat kind of assistance and we can help with that.”
Larsen explained that she understands it may be difficult for seniors to ask for assistance in times of need, but ensures that SSA wants to do everything in their ability to sustain a senior’s independence and keep them happy in their homes. SSA will often visit churches or town hall meetings in order to provide further information on their services.
Individuals might be wondering, will it cost money to use any of the services SSA provides? Larsen states that the non-profit receives governmental grants so they are able to offer senior services at no cost.
“We also get other grants that we apply for that are more private grants to help us do the jobs we need to do, but we do not charge for our services. However, if we get [seniors] signed up for Medicare or Medicaid, there might be a charge outside of our facility that we alert them of…The one thing we do ask and it is part of our grant program, is we do ask for when they have the means or they have the desire, make a small donation. Be it one dollar, five dollars or whatever and then we can keep rolling and we can keep doing more for other people, including them,” Larsen said.
Seniors do not need to physically visit an SSA facility in person, in order to receive help, according to Larsen.
“Most definitely we can assist a senior over the phone. As a matter of fact, we have learned so much more about doing that since COVID. It’s really what we call an assessment. We assess their situation. Be it financial, be it physical, be it how the house is laid out. Those kinds of things we do a lot over the phone now and we never used to be able to do that…We’ve actually done some virtual calls where we actually see the senior,” she said.
While SSA does provide transportation that seniors can utilize to take them to a doctor’s appointment for example, Larsen explained that as of now, the options of where a senior can be transported to in the Kane County area, are limited due to only having a few volunteers that are driving at the moment.
Despite that, there are no limits to how many services an individual can sign up for. SSA also publishes a bi-monthly newspaper with information on what to look for in terms of scams, for any senior weary on providing any personal information to SSA.
“We’ll send emails out which a lot of relatives of seniors will review and look at. We work with the police department and actually a member of the police department tends to write a lot of those articles for us and they basically kind of alert seniors of scams.” Larsen said. “However, a lot of times we do need to ask for that kind of [personal] information. What we’ll do is [say], ‘Call our number first. Call us so you know that we are Senior Services.’ We make sure that we protect [seniors],” Larsen said.
On a final note, Larsen added that if it comes time for an individual needing to go into a nursing home or assisted living facility, SSA aids in facilitating the process through their Ombudsman program.
“What it is, is they go to the nursing homes and they actually advocate for the seniors. Not for the family. Not for their neighbors. Not for their relatives. Strictly for the senior because he or she may have maybe some financial needs or some concerns about something happening in the facility…We are the advocates and we provide information to the families, but we are the advocate and we investigate any complaints and we mediate as much as necessary,” Larsen said.
Kane County residents interested in learning more about SSA and their programs, can contact their Elgin office at 847-741-0404. McHenry County residents can contact their Crystal Lake office at 815-356-7457 or their McHenry office at 815-344-3555.
