Highmark Foundation and AllOne Charities collaborated to combat isolation and loneliness that older adults in our Aging in Place program were feeling – even before the pandemic set in. NeighborWorks Northeastern Pennsylvania (NWNEPA) partnered with the Ignatian Volunteer Corp (IVC) to launch the Friendly Visitor Program. The Friendly Visitor Program partners a NeighborWorks staff person and an Ignatian Volunteer Corpsmember (who are themselves aged 50 or older), with an older adult in the Lackawanna and Luzerne County region to provide a companion that checks in to ensure the older adults are safe and connects them to resources that they may need, such as food, utility assistance, and medication acquisition.
To date, NWNEPA’s Friendly Visitor program worked with eight Ignatian Volunteers to provide over 900 connection and resource engagement calls to older adults in our community.
This NeighborWorks NEPA and IVC partnership will increase the older adults served by 150 individuals in Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties.
Photo (LtoR) John Menapace, Board Member AllOne Foundation; Katie Kemmerer, Community Affairs Regional Manager; Teddy Michel, Regional Director
Ignatian Volunteer Corps of Northeastern Pennsylvania; Mary Endrusik, Aging in Place Coordinator, NeighborWorks; John Cosgrove; Frank Apostilico, Board Member, AllOne Foundation and Jesse Ergot, President and CEO, NeighborWorks.
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