At the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Thursday, Aug. 20 meeting, the board is set to approve the acceptance and distribution of a large federal/state Home And Community Care Block Grant.
The grant will provide money for caregivers to help the elderly in the county – those who may not have friends or family members to look after them.
The funds will be used to help both those who can get out of their homes with relative ease as well as those who are, by circumstances, confined to their place of residence much of the time.
The county commissioners are expected to unanimously approve the acceptance of the grant and a plan that will continue service provider relationships in fiscal year 2020-2021.
The Piedmont Triad Regional Council will administer the block grant funds, which, in this installment, amounts to $266,527.
The Council is an association of local governments in central North Carolina that’s authorized by state law to, among other things, administer services to the elderly.
Guilford County, like many spots across the country, has a population with an increasing average age, and, in recent years, there’s been a strong push by advocates for the elderly to convince local leaders to ramp up these types of efforts as the county’s population ages.
The programs funded by this new money include things like providing transportation and adult daycare to clients. The adult daycare programs are places where the elderly can go during the day and interact with other adults, play games, have singalongs and take part in other activities.
The program also offers a variety of other services as well, like arranging a trip to a doctor’s office or providing home meal delivery.
The Home and Community Care Block Grant funds are made possible by the Older Americans Act, which became law in 1965. That act provides state and federal funds to support services to the elderly.
