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Longmont’s seniors and their caregivers will get funding for basic needs from eye care to housing under a new agreement approved this week by the Longmont City Council and the Boulder County Area Agency.
The intergovernmental agreement calls for a more formal allocation process than in previous years and allows for a better accounting of how the funds are being used, a city staff report states.
Formally, the funds have been available to Longmont community members through an informal agreement in which city of Longmont Senior Services Resources Specialists made recommendations to the Friends of the Senior Center.
The nonprofit would then provide the funding and were later reimbursed by BCAAA for some of the requested items, the staff report states.
The new agreement allows Longmont Senior Services to join other areas of the county in “formalizing how and for what funds are used and collecting and analyzing data regarding these services,” the staff report states.
The new system is an improvement in managing potential vendors and also includes a Memorandum of Understanding between the county and the city which was not in place before, said Senior Services Manager Michele Waite via email.
“The Friends will continue to include direct service dollars in their annual budget which will be added to the portion we will receive from the county, Waite said. “Staff will manage the data tracking for both sources of funds.”
The new pact allocates $35,000 for direct assistance for adults 60-years-old and older and an additional $10,000 for senior caregivers, according to a staff report to the city council. Another $4,500 is available for administrative costs.
The funds will help pay for electronic devices, mobility aids, hearing aids, dental procedures, housing assistance, nutrition support, and eye care, the report states. Resources Specialists will match requests with the funding source.
