Since 1975, when the or-
ganization was formed, the LaGrange
County Council on Aging (LCCOA) has
been serving the senior citizens of LaGrange County. The Council on Aging
is a multifaceted organization offering services to assist senior citizens in
many aspects of their lives.
Cheri Perkins, Executive Director
of LCCOA, has been an integral part of
the organization since 2005. She has
seen consistent growth in the number
of seniors participating in LCCOA’s
services and activities.
Transportation
recently to the LCAT’s fleet, through a
grant from Indiana University Health.
The vehicle is used to transport cancer
patients to and from their treatments.
Cheri emphasized that LCAT drivers go through rigorous training on
all aspects of vehicle safety and have
special training for assisting clients
with wheel chairs, walkers and other
disability equipment. All LCAT drivers are equipped with cell phones for
communication with dispatch. Twelve
fully equipped vans are available for
transporting clients, Monday through
Friday from 4:30 am to 5:00 pm. There
is a suggested donation for this service,
but no one will be denied service due
to the inability to pay. LCAT served
14,035 clients in 2012 and logged a
total of 429,653 service miles.
One of the most popular services,
is public, rural transportation called
LaGrange County Area Transit (LCAT).
LCAT is available to anyone in the
county, to and from any destination in
the county, and for medical trips to any
LCCOA also offers food services,
destination within a 60-mile radius of
Senior Mart or Senior Pak. This food
the county. A new vehicle was added
Groceries
pantry program provides non-perishable food items to low-income or
homebound seniors, age 60 and over.
In 2012 LCCOA served 279 seniors in
this capacity. This is an area where the
community can provide support by
making non-perishable food donations
at the LaGrange County Council on Aging located at 125 Fenn St., Suite 400,
in LaGrange.
Home
Another program LaGrange County Council on Aging offers is a home
assistant program. Home assistants
handle the tasks that seniors living at
home can no longer perform. LCCOA’s
professional assistants are responsible
for doing laundry, vacuuming, wet
mopping floors, dusting, dish washing, meal planning and preparation,
and other needed homemaker services.
They can also run errands and remind
clients when it is time to take their
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The Hometown Treasure · October ‘13 · pg 29