There is an old saying that is as anonymous as it is true; ‘no one wants to get old, yet no one wants to die.’ There really is no in-between. And for the vast majority of folks, the former is ultimately far more appealing than the latter. And guess what? We are getting older. As a city, as a state, as a nation.
Colorado’s senior population—those over sixty—will triple by the end of the decade to an estimated 1.2 million men and women. Some in the group will sail right into the ‘golden years,’ just fine. Others? Not so much. Luckily, for those in the second group, there are places like Pueblo’s Senior Resource Development Agency ready to lend a hand.
“We serve both the city and the county,” said Ivonne Garcia, Director for Aging and Disability Resources at SRDA. That amounts to something around eight to ten thousand men and women. A significant number of those contracting SRDA most recently simply needed to know “the kind of assistance they could get during COVID.” Vigil said they wanted to make sure there would be someone to help in the event they contracted the virus.
Pueblo’s SRDA is a multi-pronged service agency whose mission is to help “adults age 50 years and older,” with free health literacy classes, enrolling in Medicare, providing meals to shut-ins, and lending a hand to families who might have an older relative living with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. It also helps place seniors in assisted living quarters, provides transportation services and conducts programs, including wellness and recreation, to enhance quality of life.
When she first began working with SRDA, Vigil wasn’t sure working with seniors would be a good fit for herself. “It’s not the greatest population to work with,” was her first and biggest apprehension. That quickly changed. Part of her evolution began when she saw first-hand the reward in helping “seniors who may not have felt like they had a lot of value.” Helping her clients connect with others and helping them meet both “social and basic needs” suddenly became more important than she initially thought.
Of course, not everything that comes with the job is rewarding but, is nonetheless important for those who come to the agency. “A lot of folks,” she said, “don’t understand that federal benefits are not free” and that they also add up. Most of the agency’s clientele are on fixed income and are shocked when they learn how much out of pocket they must pay. For those whose Social Security is meager, said Vigil, they may have to pay up to $320 each month for federal benefits.
Another shock for some clients, said Vigil, is suddenly learning that a retirement plan they may have signed up for and been paying into was sold to them by an unscrupulous broker, someone who promised benefits in the plan that were not there but made them in order to make a bit more money for themselves.
One of the biggest assists SRDA provides to seniors is helping them get their prescription drugs. “We access pharmaceutical companies that might help them afford their medications.” Vigil mentioned one client who required a very expensive cancer medication. “We were able to find an affordable drug…it extended their quality of life even though it wouldn’t cure the cancer.”
The Pueblo SRDA has been in existence since 1971 but today’s version is a light year more sophisticated than its long-ago predecessor. “It started with basic needs,” said Vigil. From a Meals on Wheels program to a full-service operation that now offers seniors mountain hiking, trips to museums, yoga and more. “It’s evolved into a comprehensive agency with services that allow them to remain in the community longer and stay active longer.”
For more information on Pueblo’s Senior Resource Development Agency, call 719.545.8900 or visit srda.org.
