Garrett County Community Action Committee noticed the increase in seniors needing institutionalization due to limited daily functioning. Seniors needed to be able to age in place. But they didn’t just need safe, accessible, affordable housing, they also needed additional service to enable them to stay in the housing. The seniors clearly needed housing because their existing housing was in disrepair, in isolated areas, and was not affordable. Once they got into the senior housing community, some of the residents reported they had no transportation to medical appointments and were unable to perform many of the activities of daily living. So, they were still at risk of institutionalization.
Through the Senior Housing and Support initiative, Garrett County created an environment where senior residents will have shelter, food, access to health care, and support/advice on life skills, as appropriate. This initiative includes a senior housing community with affordable and accessible housing units, transportation services, “at home” services, Adult Day Care program, and Community Garden.
The Allison Hill Farmers Market initiative improves local food security, enhances health, and builds entrepreneurship among local farmers and residents, while enriching community life in the Allison Hill neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Over one third of households in the Allison Hill neighborhood received an annual income of $25,000 or less. Low household incomes lead to inaccessibility and unaffordability of fresh and healthy food. More than 70% of the population in this area receive SNAP benefits.
Trammel, Virginia is of the earliest “coal camp” communities in the Appalachian Mountains of southwestern Virginia. People Incorporated was approached by the Dickenson County Board of Supervisors to assist in a community revitalization project. The goal was to revitalize the community’s substandard dwellings and infrastructure, boosting the economic development and community pride.
Schools are the only safe haven for some of the children. Sexual and physical abuse, hunger, homelessness are just some of the life concerns being addressed. CHANGE, Inc. has social workers available to work with the children and/or their families. The initiative establishes a way to bring services to children with no other medical home -- a place for a child to be diagnosed, treated, and sent back to the classroom if possible. Parents do not have to leave work, which they often do not have the ability to miss.