Annual Report 2011 - Greater Springfield Senior Services

Annual Report 2011
Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc.

Executive Director’s Message
Elaine Massery
Executive Director
The year 2011 was one that
highlighted our interdependence
with community stakeholders in
more ways than funding and
client referrals.
After a series of tornadoes
on June 1 struck Western Massachusetts,
cutting a 38-mile
path of destruction, the network
of social service agencies sprang
into action. GSSSI staff met with
the American Red Cross to offer assistance
for elders who had no or little family support.
We joined forces with Springfield’s Department
of Elder Affairs and other Councils on
Aging to identify and assist seniors in need.
A process was developed to provide financial
assistance for such items as rent, personal
care, household goods, moving and storage.
First and foremost, GSSSI staff contacted
clients to determine the status of their safety.
Where concerns were the greatest, police
and emergency personnel were contacted.
A client in our Adult Family Care program
went to a shelter, and then to a local skilled
nursing facility until a new suitable home was
found. Potential shelter was also available in
two of our Adult Family Care homes and in
one of our congregate housing facilities.
Concern about the hospital re-admittance
rate of high-risk Medicare patients after
discharge has opened doors for service
organizations such as GSSSI to employ their
expertise in community-based services in the
health care arena. One such opportunity
is Medicare’s Community-Based Care
Transitions program. It offers incentives
to agencies such as ASAPs to work with
hospitals in improving the re-admittance rate
by providing evidenced-based interventions
and other services at the time of discharge.
By the close of this fiscal year, GSSSI had
become part of a joint application with the
University of Mass. Medical Center and
Baystate Health Systems.
Another opportunity for creatively utilizing
our skills has come in the form of a Money
Follows the Person grant obtained by the
Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Elder
Affairs. This program uses very innovative
approaches to assist in discharging Medicaid
enrollees who have lived in Skilled Nursing
Facilities for at least 90 days.
Our new “Healthy Living Wellness Series”
has brought GSSSI together with active adults
in the community. Fourteen group leaders
were trained, and 37 people attended
sessions held at area senior centers. We
look forward to even more community
participation and support in 2012.
As we travel the road ahead, I look
forward to working with our dedicated Board
of Directors, committee members, staff,
volunteers, our legislators, and the various
agencies with whom we collaborate.

Journeys
For those of us who work with older adults,
we often forget that they were young once.
They attended school, had jobs, a first love, and pursued their passions.
Like most of us, they have suffered losses and realized hardships as they
reached for their dreams. They were us…and we will be them. We’re all
part of the continuum of aging, but at different points along the journey.
Greg, Larry, Elizabeth and Arthur are four of the many thousands of older
adults that GSSSI has crossed paths with over the past 39 years. When
they were young, they lived extraordinary lives. While they have aged in
years, their spirits are still viable – they actively participate in their
surroundings and maintain an interest in others.
And as they continue on life’s journey, their many paths have become
rich, colorful threads woven into a tapestry unique to each of their
lives. We, too, will create a tapestry unique to each of us. In time.
1

Greg Hayden
The life of renaissance
man Greg Hayden
reads like a playbill.
In Act One, Greg attends the
Boston Conservatory of Music
and the American Musical and
Dramatic Academy in New York.
He studies voice, drama, makeup,
and set design during the day
and learns modern dance, jazz
and ballet in the evening. He
takes voice lessons from world renowned teacher Rose
Allen, whose students have included the likes of Bernadette
Peters and Katherine Hepburn.
Like other young hopefuls, Greg spends hours standing
in line to audition for Broadway
theatrical productions and lands
roles in Mame, Billy Budd, South Pacific,
and West Side Story. He walks the
runway as a model for Calvin Klein
and Nautica, and models for GQ
magazine. To earn extra money, he
takes photographs of aspiring models
for their portfolios and gets referrals
from top modeling agencies like
William Morris and Ford.
In Act Two, Greg returns home to
Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and joins
the family real estate business. He produces musicals for a
local theater and opens his own theater on the Connecticut
shoreline.
Greg’s passion for painting, drawing and sculpting begins
to take center stage in his life. He studies wax molding,
metal casting, sculpting, fresco technique and oils. His works
are exhibited at numerous New England galleries and he is
commissioned to create a life-size bronze for the Most Holy
Trinity Church in Maine. He eventually opens an art gallery
in Perkins Cove for area artists and his own creations.
“My inspiration and energy are drawn from the ocean,
the Maine pined woods, and the animal inhabitants of both
universes. The American Indian culture plays deeply and
spiritually in my creativity, being one of respect for the earth
and all its inhabitants, including Mankind.”
Act Three opens with Greg living in West Springfield, and
commuting to work in northern Connecticut. His mother’s
health begins to
fail and he assumes
the role of her
caregiver. Usually
strong and energetic,
he begins to
2

Previous page: Greg Hayden with one of his beloved beagles. Sculptures
created and cast by Greg – Bronze of Chief Aspinquid of the Sachem
Tribe in Maine and “Sacred Spiral” cast in stone.
This page: Publicity shot of Greg and photos of him from various
Broadway roles.
experience health problems of his own and is eventually
diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.
A bout of shingles leaves him with chronic pain. After a severe
reaction to an antibiotic and further complications, he is
hospitalized and not expected to live. He survives, though
greatly weakened, and moves to a rest home located next to
the nursing home where his mother lives.
Greg enlists the help of GSSSI’s Long-Term Care Ombudsman
program to address residents’ concerns about changes
made by the facility’s new administration. At meetings, he
articulately serves as the residents’ spokesperson. After his
beloved mother passes away, Greg decides it is time to leave
the rest home and begins to look for his own apartment. He
applies to two housing complexes where he will be allowed to
keep his two, much-loved elderly beagles. As the curtain closes,
Greg waits for a call announcing there is an opening for him.
With Greg’s love of life and passion for his art, Act 4 is
greatly anticipated.
3

Larry Humphries
Larry Humphries is a remarkable man
whose life is a testimony to optimism,
kindness – and the resilience of the
human spirit.
Larry, his twin sister, and their biological brother grew
up in a Springfield foster home.
What schooling Larry had consisted of ballet classes and
a special class for what was then termed “slow learners.” As
a result, he endured years of teasing and name calling by
other schoolchildren. At 16, he quit to earn money to help
his family and pay for his ballet lessons. A few years later, he
got drafted into the Korean War, and served with the 76th
Engineer Construction Battalion.
After the war, and while working at a Springfield art
gallery, Larry met Ted Shawn, founder and director of Jacob’s
Pillow, a dance Mecca in Becket. “I told him I’d be willing to
do any job at the Pillow just to be in the atmosphere of the
dance,” says Larry. Ted offered him a job as publicity assistant
and house manager, and from 1961 to 1969 Larry did
everything from stuffing envelopes to managing tours for
world-class ballet, ethnic and modern dancers.
Larry didn’t neglect
his own joy in music
and dance and
performed in a few
regional ballets. He
eventually became
co-director and owner
of the Ballet Theater
School of Springfield,
did several tours of
Europe with the Young at Heart Chorus of Northampton,
and performed with the Singin’Swingin’Seniors of Chicopee.
In 2001, Larry was diagnosed with macular degeneration.
Declared legally blind, he had to stop driving, that last vestige
of independence, and began receiving assistance from
Greater Springfield Senior Services.
“That hurt, but sorrow wasn’t enough. I decided I had
to find something to do as I always had before.” He now
volunteers and lectures at the senior center, is active in
several veterans groups,
and helps others coping
with vision loss. “I feel so
good to think I’m helping
somebody with an eye
problem. It can be so
difficult to cope with, especially
when it first happens.”
Larry’s pièce de résistance
was being invited
4

ack to Jacob’s Pillow, to dance. He was 74, in the
second year of failing eyesight and hadn’t danced
professionally for years. “I called them and said ‘surely you
have made a mistake.’” He was assured that there was no
mistake. Larry had never performed at The Pillow, and he accepted
graciously.
“We had to dance in a beam of light that came across from stage right
to stage left,” Larry says. “I cherished that moment. That challenge was a great
lift to me, because I thought, ‘I can still do things. I can still dance.’”
Next on Larry’s dance card is a documentary of his life that is being developed
by a Northampton production company.
Previous page: Larry at home, surrounded by his own gallery of art and
memorabilia. Lower left, Larry attends the 50th wedding anniversary of
world famous dancers Ruth St. Denis (right) and Ted Shawn at
Jacob’s Pillow. Larry served as publicist for the dance company.
This page: Larry as the devil in a play at the Trinity Church in
Springfield. Soldier, machinist, and ballet dancer are among the
many roles Larry Humphries has undertaken with style and
grace (dancer at right).
5

Elizabeth Shaw
At the age of 18, vivacious Elizabeth
Shaw left her job at the cosmetics
counter of Steiger’s, waved goodbye
to family and friends, and headed for
the Big Apple in search of fame and
fortune as a singer and dancer.
Unlike many hopefuls, Elizabeth achieved her dream and
enjoyed a career on Broadway. She modestly says she
only performed in the chorus and never had a major role.
She credits her uncle, a New York producer, for taking
her under his wing
and introducing her
to the world of
theater. “He told
me that you have
to continually get
out there and meet
people,” she says.
For the friendly and
outgoing Elizabeth,
it was easy to
cultivate contacts
and make friends at
parties and other
social venues.
6

With scrapbooks filled with
autographed playbills and candid
photos of herself with actors like Barry
Bostwick and Colleen Dewhurst,
Elizabeth plays down her own career
achievements, which included parts in
No No Nanette, Grease, and Night
Music. Instead, she prefers to talk
about the people she has worked
with. She recalls being introduced to
Elizabeth Taylor. “It was the first time I
was left speechless. Her eyes were
mesmerizing – not blue, not purple,
but somewhere in between. She was
so beautiful and had this aura about
her. “But,” she adds with a giggle,
“she’d get mad if you called her Liz.”
Although Elizabeth never received
a standing ovation for a performance,
she brags that her Yorkshire terrier did.
“Star appeared in Sleuth with actor
Patrick Macnee and sat still on a chair
for an hour!” Elizabeth chirps. “I always
had Yorkshire terriers,” she muses,
patting Jordan, her latest prodigy. As
a teenager, she even showed her
prize-winning terriers at dog shows.
“I always liked being on the stage,”
she says happily.
Elizabeth moved back to Massachusetts twenty years ago
when her sister became ill. In 2008, Elizabeth became a GSSSI
home care client and began receiving home delivered meals
and assistance with housekeeping, grocery shopping, and
transportation to medical appointments. She currently lives in
a mobile home community and entertains a daily stream of
visitors. “I have friends of all different ages. I just act the way I
feel,” she says. “I’m young at heart and in spirit.”
7

Arthur Burger
An Officer and a Gentleman
After 70 years of marriage, Arthur Burger still drops his
wife off at the door and parks the car so she won’t get
wet in the slight drizzle falling outside the Hampden
Senior Center. “You just have to help each other,” he
says matter-of-factly, when asked about the secret to a
long and happy marriage.
Arthur met Audrey, his
future bride, at a carnival
in East Longmeadow.
They were married for
less than a year when he
left to serve in the U.S.
Army Air Force during
World War II. He says
that he loved to fly, and
joining the U.S. Army Air
Force had always been
his dream.
In 1941, after eight
months of training, Arthur
was awarded his Pilot’s
Wings. He eventually went on to serve in the 35th fighter
group in the South Pacific Theater. Between 1941 and 1945
he had piloted 100 missions in fighter planes, and received
the Air Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Silver
Star for his actions in combat. He also flew as a test pilot at
Eglin Field, Florida, and served as a flight instructor at Craig
Field in Alabama. By the time his service was completed in
December 1945, he held the rank of Captain.
Arthur’s military career, though short, was a source of
pride. His carefully packed away certificates and documents,
some framed, serve as a testament. Although he shares
This page: Above, Arthur and his wife, Audrey. Left, Arthur’s service photo with
a close-up of his service yearbook.
Next page: Graphic taken from “The Flying Cadets of Gunter Field, Alabama,”
a booklet from Arthur’s collection of memorabilia. Some of the badges he
recieved recognizing his many achievements in World War II.
8

stories about flying low over
the water in Australia looking
for Japanese submarines, and
diving into trenches during the
nightly bombings by the
Japanese in New Guinea,
Arthur prefers to talk about
being able to pilot 18 different
types of planes, such as the
B-25D and the P-39.
Although a career in the military may have been briefly
considered, the frequent relocations required of military
personnel can be a hindrance to family life. So, Arthur and
his wife settled in the Greater Springfield area, where
Arthur went to work in his father’s package store. They
had one daughter, who currently lives nearby.
These days, the Burgers enjoy lunch and socialization at
the Hampden Senior Center’s community dining program
nearly every day. They had just returned from a day-trip
to the Cape with their daughter. “We don’t know what
we would do without her,” says Arthur. His wife, Audrey,
smiles and nods in agreement.
9

Board of Directors
Dorothy Hooper
President, Springfield
Joan Breitung, Vice President
Springfield
Nancy Morales, Vice President
Springfield
Frank Yesu, Vice President
Longmeadow
William Sheehan, Treasurer
Wilbraham
Frank Grimaldi, Assistant Treasurer
West Springfield
John Shay, Secretary
Hampden
William Caplin*
East Longmeadow
Sister Mary Caritas, S.P.
Holyoke
Jan Rodriguez Denney
Springfield
Olga Ellis
Springfield
Elizabeth Faichney
Monson
Douglas Goodman
West Springfield
Mary Hubert
Palmer
Daniel Keenan
Southwick
Louis Massoia
Feeding Hills
Rose Morace
Longmeadow
Theresa Govoni Moylan
East Longmeadow
Peter Schmidt
Wilbraham
Sally Wittenberg
Longmeadow
*Emeritus
Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council
Jeanne Ahern
(Congressman
Richard Neal’s
Office), Springfield
Paula Dubord
Wilbraham
Nancy Harper
At-Large, Wilbraham
Doreen Harrison
East Longmeadow
Dorothy Hooper
GSSSI Board Liaison
Joan Linnehan
Agawam
C. Louise Long
At-Large, Springfield
Gina Lynch
Brimfield
Moraima Mendoza
Springfield
Karen Michelman
Longmeadow
Helen Mojkowski
At-Large, Springfield
Ellen Nepomuceno, R.N.
Provider Representative
Baystate VNA & Hospice
J. Bradford Noble
At-Large
Erin Pincince
Palmer
Susan Sanders
Holland
Deb Shepard
Monson
Deanna Vermette
Hampden
Lauren Werman
West Springfield
Ted Wysocki
Wales
Statement of Finances July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011
Executive Office of Elder Affairs . . . . . . 11,721,231 . .64.0%
Administration on Aging . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,512,948 . . 8.3%
Client Contributions & Co-Payments . . . . .618,194 . . . 3.4%
MassHealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,658,896 .14.5%
Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,791,954 . . . 9.8%
Salaries, Fringes & Direct Program Costs . . . .6,374,677 . .36.7%
Subcontracts & Subgrants . . . . . . . . . . . .10,093,634 . .58.1%
Management & General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913,953 . . . 5.2%
Total Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$17,382,264 .100.0%
Total Revenues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$18,303,223 100.0%
10

Agency Statistics July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011
Unduplicated People Served
Adult Family Care Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Community Choices Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
Congregate Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Enhanced Community Options Program . . . . . . . . . . . .272
Geriatric Mental Health Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144
Home Care Program (includes Respite Over-Income) . . . . . .1,835
Information & Referral Calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10,144
Long Term Care Options Counseling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
MassHealth Screenings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,951
Money Management Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .86
Personal Care Attendant Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,035
Protective Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .702
SHINE Consultations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188
Family Caregiver Support Program
Elder Care Advisor Consults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
C.A.R.E. Respite Grants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
A.C.E. Subsidies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Companion Program Rides
Medical Transports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,979
Long Term Care Ombudsman:
Facility Visits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .906
Residents Visited & Observed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40,985
Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Volunteer Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .985 (25volunteers)
Nutrition Services
Nutrition Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
MEALS SERVED
GSSSI Congregate Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39,780
GSSSI Home Delivered Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212,256
Latino Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13,198
Homeless Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11,019
Kosher Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11,244
OTHER TITLE IIIC FUNDED MEALS –
COUNCILS ON AGING
Home Delivered Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,520
Congregate Meals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,779
Older Americans Act Federal Funding October 1, 2010 - September 30, 2011
Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc. serves as an Area Agency on Aging under the federal Older Americans Act. We strive
to serve the most socially and economically needy by providing federal grants to organizations that deliver a wide array of
services for people 60 and older.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Persons Served
Agawam COA* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . $7,500 . . . . 907
Baystate VNA & Hospice . . . . . . . . . Medication Management. . . $25,000 . . . . . 81
Alzheimer’s Program. . . . . . . . . . . Geriatric Assessments
Brimfield COA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . . $7,020 . . . . 257
East Longmeadow COA . . . . . . . . . Deaf Advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,000 . . . . 28
Hampden COA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . . $9,456 . . . . 300
Holland COA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . . $7,560 . . . . 160
Monson COA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy. . . . . . . $10,800 . . . . 396
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . $6,804 . . . . 142
Palmer COA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy. . . . . . . $13,428 . . . . 733
Pedi-Care, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Foot Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $5,940 . . . . . 70
Spfld. Dept. of Elder Affairs . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy. . . . . . . $88,980 . . 1,141
Greater New Life Christian Center
Jewish Family Service
Wales COA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . . $6,500 . . . . 158
West Springfield COA. . . . . . . . . . . . Outreach/Advocacy . . . . . . . . $6,000 . . . . 339
Western Mass. Legal Services. . . . . . Legal Services . . . . . . . . . . . . $48,600 . . . . 187
Wilbraham COA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,650 . . . . 101
Vietnamese-Amer. Civic Assoc. . . . . Translation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $8,268 . . . . . 51
*Council on Aging
Healthy Living Wellness Series
• A Matter of Balance
• Healthy Eating for Successful Living
• My Life, My Health: Managing Your
Chronic Conditions
Group Leaders: 14 recruited and trained
Groups were held at:
Longmeadow Adult Center
Monson Council on Aging
Springfield’s Mason Square Senior Center
37 Adults completed these 6-8 week groups.
11

Highlights of 2011
Nutrition Program Meets the Challenge
The GSSSI Nutrition Program received the first “Meeting the
Challenge” award from the Massachusetts Meals on Wheels
(MAMOW) association in
recognition of its extraordinary
efforts to deliver meals
and ensure the well-being
of area seniors following the
June 1 tornado that struck
Western Mass. GSSSI
staff called over 750 meal
participants to check on their
well-being and ensure they
had access to food. In spite of
fallen branches on the roads,
downed wires and numerous
GSSSI Nutrition Program staff receive detours, drivers brought meals
award from the Mass. Meals on Wheels
to all but 14 of the 794
Association for their extraordinary
efforts to deliver meals to seniors
seniors scheduled to receive
following the June 1 tornado.
a meal on the following day.
From left to right:
Mary Jenewin-Caplin, GSSSI Area Agency Caring Volunteers Plant
on Aging Director; Darren Matthews, Flowers & Cultivate
Home Delivered Meals Driver;
Smiles
Tracy Landry, Home Delivered Meals
Program Supervisor; Jean Levesque,
Fifty volunteers from Consolidated
Health Plans (CHP) and
Meal Program Clerk; Dave Scott,
Home Delivered Meals Driver;
their families spent a Saturday
Linda Galarneau, Nutrition Program
cutting lawns, trimming bushes,
Coordinator; and Dorothy Hooper,
GSSSI Board President.
bagging debris and planting
flowers for eight elderly
homeowners in Springfield.
It was the third Memorial Cleanup Day that was established
to honor the memory of Karen McCracken, a former CHP
employee who took great pride in her home and yard.
Special thanks to Mark Devlin, Director of Special Risk
at Consolidated Health Plans, along with his colleagues and
their family members, for donating their time to enhance the
quality of life for these grateful individuals. We also thank
Home Depot, Lowes, Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, and Big Y
for supporting CHP’s efforts with supplies.
Enterprise Farm in Whately took their produce on the road in a bus. Shelly Beck,
Project Manager for Enterprise Farm, shows off her fresh fruits and vegetables at
her mobile farmers’ market.
Fruits of Summer
800 low-income seniors received U.S.D.A. coupon books
valued at $25 to use at local farmers’ markets. Coupons
were distributed through Councils on Aging and GSSSI Case
Managers. Five times during the growing season GSSSI Home
Delivered Meal Drivers added fresh fruits to their deliveries
so homebound clients could receive a fresh fruit treat in
addition to their meal.
For the third consecutive year, CHP worked with
Greater Springfield Senior Services to identify elderly
clients living in the vicinity of its Springfield office
that lacked the resources to care for the exterior
of their homes and didn't have family to help.
12

Ombudsman
Recognized
Greater Springfield Senior
Services, Inc. recognized
seventeen dedicated Long-
Term Care Ombudsman
volunteers who recently
completed bi-annual
recertification through the
Executive Office of Elder
Affairs. Recertification is an
educational experience based
on a pertinent topic. This
year’s interactive learning
explored ethics and conflict
of interest.
Long-Term Care Ombudsman make monitoring visits to
nursing homes and rest homes to enable residents and family
members to voice their concerns and resolve their own
issues so that they can live their lives with dignity and respect.
Each volunteer makes weekly visits and completes 18 hours
of training prior to beginning their work .
Geriatric Mental Health Program
Mental health issues can seriously impact older people’s ability
to function and live independently. Clients suffering from
mental health or substance abuse
have access to a mental health
clinician thanks to a collaboration
between GSSSI and the Behavioral
Health Network. An on-site
clinician is easily accessible to Case
Managers who can refer clients
for evaluation, in-home
assessment, and where needed,
Long-Term Care Ombudsman volunteers assemble at the recertification meeting. Back Row from left: Dolores M. Wrona,
Hampden; Hayden B. Tibbetts, Jr., Wilbraham; Sr. Geraldine M. Noonan, Southwick; Marianne C. Keefe-Papp, Chicopee;
John B. Russell, Longmeadow; Helen R. Mojkowski, Springfield; James E. Hahesy, Longmeadow.
Middle Row: Sheila M. Hess, East Longmeadow; Patricia A. Kozaczka, Longmeadow; Monica Y. Graham, Indian Orchard; Kara L.
Fink, South Hadley; Maria A. Holmes, Springfield; Marci L. Malachowski, Southwick, GSSSI Ombudsman Program Coordinator.
Front Row: Shirley G. Levitz, Enfield CT; P. Marie Valentine, Wilbraham; Vickie A. Donovan, East Longmeadow; Winnifred C. Lee,
Springfield; Gay M. McDyer, Feeding Hills; Gary W. Fowler, West Springfield.
short-term counseling. Over the past year, 144 clients
received assistance through this program.
New Wellness Series
The “Healthy Living” wellness series kicked off this year and
brought GSSSI together with active adults in the community.
“Healthy Living” is a proactive educational interactive opportunity
for adults to learn how to manage their own health
care and stay healthy. It is an evidence-based program that
has been tested and developed by leading health researchers
across the country with remarkable results. Fourteen group
leaders were trained,
and 37 people attended
sessions held at area
senior centers.
C. Louise Long and Dorothy Sander enjoy
each other's company as they assist in the
preparation of a meal in the “Healthy Eating
for Successful Living” course. Two additional
courses were offered; “A Matter of Balance”
(falls prevention), and “My Life, My Health:
Managing Your Chronic Conditions.”
13

About
Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc.
Often, many people don’t know where to turn for information about
aging, disability or caregiving. Since 1972, Greater Springfield Senior
Services, Inc. (GSSSI) has been helping older adults remain safe and
independent in their own homes by providing a wide range of
supportive services. In addition, GSSSI offers advice to caregivers,
family members, and members of the community.
2011 Annual Report
Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc.
An Aging Services Access Point and Area Agency on Aging
Serving the communities of: Agawam, Brimfield, East Longmeadow,
Hampden, Holland, Longmeadow, Monson, Palmer, Springfield, Wales,
West Springfield, and Wilbraham.
GSSSI is an AA/EOE. Its programs are funded in whole, or in part, by contracts
with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs and private donations.
1-800-AGE-Info www.800ageinfo.com
Copywriter/Editor: Karen Martin
Graphic Design: Donna Blazey
Greater Springfield Senior Services, Inc.
66 Industry Avenue, Suite 9, Springfield, Massachusetts 01104
413-781-8800 TDD: 413-272-0399 Website: www.gsssi.org