Supporting Seniors, Families and Persons with Disabilities
Our Lady of Guadalupe Center: Through Our Lady of Guadalupe Center, CSS works to reduce poverty by addressing its root causes within the immigrant Hispanic community concentrated on the west side of Columbus. This population is growing and experiences disproportionate poverty. In 2017, CSS expanded the Guadalupe Center facility, which allows us to serve more people. In addition to meeting their emergency needs, we now offer holistic case management and wrap-around services which will transform our clients’ capacity to become self-sufficient
St. Francis Center: The St. Francis Center serves Portsmouth, Ohio as a one-stop community center providing families hot meals, clothing and household items, food, and emergency assistance. The Center serves as hope and healing for the community.
Below is a brief overview of each of our Senior Services programs:
Foster Grandparent: Foster Grandparent is an on-going, dual-beneficiary program with a two-fold objective: 1) To help children be prepared for and do better in school and 2) to give low-income seniors an opportunity to supplement their incomes, combat isolation, and have a purposeful way to contribute to the community. Through this program, low-income, active seniors tutor at-risk youth in area schools and Head Start programs and receive a stipend for their work.
Payee Services: This program provides individualized financial management to seniors and people with disabilities who are unable to manage their financial affairs. Through this program, CSS helps protect people who are often financially exploited by helping them understand and meet their financial obligations. We use clients’ income to pay their bills for them so their basic needs are covered, then give them the money left over to use at their discretion.
Senior Companion: This program addresses two specific issues within the senior population in Franklin County: 1) Loneliness and isolation and 2) underuse of resources active seniors have to give. The program engages two different populations of seniors: home-bound seniors and active, low-income seniors. Senior Companions, all of whom qualify as low-income, receive stipends and travel reimbursement to visit home-bound seniors for 15+ hours a week. They provide needed socialization and non-medical assistance so clients can remain independent in their homes. The program helps both groups stay connected and retain their independence.
Seton Service Coordination: Our service coordinators help low-income seniors live independently and remain in their homes by linking them with needed resources. CSS has placed a service coordinator at each of the 14 diocesan-owned Seton Square Senior affordable housing communities where they assist when seniors are confronted by new challenges such as medical or health issues, tax laws or benefits, or technological hurdles beyond their skill level. This intervention increases seniors’ quality of life and allows them to continue living in their homes with confidence.
Supportive Services: Through the Supportive Services program, CSS removes barriers for low-income seniors who need assistance to maintain their independence and remain safely in their own homes. Our licensed social workers provide individualized care and case management to older adults and their families by helping seniors navigate their benefits, locate transportation services, schedule medical appointments, find appropriate housing, and more. We provide in-home assessments for this often home-bound population. In-home service is especially necessary in rural counties where seniors have even more barriers to accessing care.
Transportation Services: Our Transportation service allows seniors and veterans to get to non-emergency medical appointments anywhere in the state of Ohio. This service is available to Licking County residents who are seniors or qualified veterans.