Area Agency On Aging Continues Push For Funding

Earlier this year the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area on Aging had to cancel a food program that was born out of the COVID 19 pandemic but remained popular with senior citizens. According to Mary Harris, Executive Director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area on Aging, the Grab and Go program was eliminated due to funds being exhausted and no new funding was put in place to keep the program. Harris says that is only a portion of the problem facing agencies on aging across Pennsylvania. Harris says that funding has remained flat for many years causing programs to cease or be put on hold. She is hopeful that Pennsylvania’s congress will pass the additional $20 million that Governor Josh Shapiro has requested for the 2025-2026 budget, but she says the actual need for these agencies is about $105 million more in spending allocations. Harris says these agencies help older Pennsylvanians with personal care, home care support and care giver support, essentially anything that will help a senior age in place in their home. Appoximately 500 senior centers operate across Pennslyvania administering about 100 programs. Harris says that state and federal funding is critical to keep these centers open. Forty of those senior centers could close without additional funding. She says that the best way to help in the funding push, is for seniors, and family members and care givers to reach out to state representatives and senators to let them know how vital the funding is to them. They should also reach out to federal representatives to ask them to support the Older Americans Act.