Communities Still Making a Connection

            While many businesses have closed or scaled back services, those providing essential support have gone into overdrive. One such group are the dedicated people who work or volunteer at the Tri-Town councils on aging. Never before have these agencies been pressed to do so much with so few people. Yet they carry on, ensuring that seniors in their communities have food, can get to a medical appointment as necessary or simply to say hello over the telephone inquiring into the health and wellbeing of the older residents in Marion, Rochester and Mattapoisett.

            Rochester Council on Aging, however, told The Wanderer on April 3 that the previously offered home delivery of meals was being temporarily halted to allow the building to be disinfected and to give volunteers and staff time to be apart. The building will be closed for one month.

            COA Director Cheryl Randall-Mach said, “We can’t stay six feet apart in the kitchen and most of our volunteers are seniors.” She said that if a senior household needed groceries, “We will shop for them and drop off the groceries.” She also said, “We’ll continue to provide transportation to healthy seniors who have medical appointments.”

            Randall-Mach said that Coastline Elderly Services had been advised of the situation and was prepared to provide Meals-on-Wheels to the impacted residents. “We miss everyone, miss the activity in the building… we can’t wait to get back,” she said.

            In the meantime, staff and some volunteers will be working remotely from home, Randall-Mach stated. You can reach the Rochester COA at 508-763-8723 and visit www.townofrochestermass.com.

            It was also announced as of April 3 on Rochester’s website that there was one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the community. All three communities are reporting confirmed case numbers at this time.

            Marion has melded its Recreation Department with the Council on Aging when it acquired the former Benjamin Cushing VFW building on Wareham Road. Former Board of Selectmen member and Director of Marion Recreation Department Jody Dickerson said, “When the town purchased the building from the veterans, it was the wish of the veterans that the building become a community center serving everyone.”

            The town invested in remodeling and refurbishing the building to be fully ADA compliant and gutted the former kitchen into a 21st century gleaming jewel. “We call ourselves a community center,” Dickerson said. “We are in the center of so many things.”

            Before the advancement of COVID-19, the daily lunch program offered to Marion residents was a great hit with homecooked meals, linen table cloths, and the opportunity for people to visit and mingle socially. Now the staff and volunteers have had to expand the Meals-on-Wheels program, serving approximately 30 people in Marion in a manner that bridges the need to be physically separated yet humanly connected.

            “The Recreation Department staff delivers the meals,” Dickerson stated. “They place the meal bag on a doorknob, knock on the door and step back.” He said they wait to make sure someone answers the knock. Once contact has been established, the delivery driver inquires if all is well, then carries on to the next stop.

            “All the drivers use gloves to handle the meals and door handles. They use the gloves once,” Dickerson confirmed. If the knock is not responded, the Police Department is contacted for a wellness check.

            The food provided to all the Tri-Town agencies comes from Coastline Elderly Services headquartered in New Bedford. A monthly menu can be viewed at www.coastlinenb.org/nutrition/menu/ or in the local COA newsletters.

            Staying on the theme of food, the Town of Marion, under the guidance of Town Administrator Jay McGrail, started a local food bank. Marion Council on Aging Director Karen Gregory said that anyone can pick up a bag of groceries in the parking lot of the community center parking lot on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1:00 and 3:00 pm.

            Originally, the process followed up on a call to the COA office letting the staff know how many people are in the household with a delivery of the appropriate bag of groceries to the waiting vehicle. According to McGrail, that procedure was altered last week so that residents can step out of their vehicles and take a bag of groceries off a table outside the office.

            Gregory said donations of non-perishable foods or cash may be dropped off at the Community Center or at the Marion Police Station. She said that there is an outdoor dropbox for envelopes at the center. She also added that the COA board was discussing making outbound calls to seniors to give them a bit more social connectedness during these days of isolation. To reach the Marion COA call 508-748-3570 and learn more about Meals-on-Wheels, groceries, or other programs. For more information, visit www.marionma.gov.

            In Mattapoisett, outbound calling has begun.

            Jackie Coucci, Mattapoisett Council on Aging director, said that volunteers have been given lists and contact numbers for senior residents registered with the COA. The caller inquires if the resident has everything they need, if services are required, if another call in the coming days is welcomed, and generally assuring the resident they are not alone.

            While Mattapoisett’s COA was not providing a meals program, Coastline was at Village Court located off Acushnet Road. The group meal program, as in all other locations, is closed for the time being while the Meals-on-Wheels program has stepped up. “In the past two weeks since we let people know they can call us for meal delivery, we’ve seen an additional 25 requests,” Coucci said.

            Keeping seniors physically active is another area where the COA’s have provided programming. “We’ve got yoga online now,” Coucci happily reported. “It not only keeps people moving, it keeps them connected,” she explained. Other types of classes will be coming online soon, she said, such as Zumba. Those classes will be available for viewing through the town’s website, www.mattapoisett.net. You may also visit the COA’s Facebook page or call Mattapoisett’s COA at 508-758-4100 for updated details.

            Stay informed about COA programs by visiting the towns’ websites or by calling the COA in your community.

Update: Tri-Town Councils on Aging

By Marilou Newell

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