O.C. Agency Helps Seniors Meet Needs

Orange County may have an abundance of satisfied retirees, but it is also home to more than 15,000 people aged 60 or older who live below the poverty level.

And while 84% of seniors told The Times Poll they are totally self-sufficient, 15%--or somewhat more than 45,000--report that they need some assistance.

Some of that help comes from the county’s Area Agency on Aging, an umbrella group that funds programs providing about 50,000 seniors with services ranging from legal or financial advice to transportation and meals.

Peggy Weatherspoon, the agency’s director, sees the thousands of Orange County seniors whose retirement years have been tarnished by poor health and limited finances.

While the county’s ideal climate, abundant activities and relatively low crime rate make it a good place in which to grow old, Weatherspoon said, the high real estate prices are particularly painful for seniors.

“Unless you bought here (years ago) and have lived here, you are probably not moving here to retire,” Weatherspoon said.

One 75-year-old respondent to the poll has lived in an Anaheim mobile home park for several years, but she and her husband are becoming increasingly fearful about the future because their shrinking savings are not enough to cover their living expenses.

The couple lost much of their nest egg when the stock market crashed in 1987. As a result, the woman, who asked that her name not be used, continued to run her travel agency. She finally was forced to retire last year when the business became unprofitable.

“We just have to hang on to everything and just hope,” she said. “The Golden Years are not always so golden, there are some things you can’t do any more.”

Seniors who have exhausted their savings often seek help from the Area Agency on Aging.

Those relying on these programs are people like Concepcion (Concha) Sanchez, an 82-year-old widow who lives alone in a sparsely furnished, one-bedroom apartment in Westminster.

A year ago, Sanchez had a heart attack and a second stroke that weakened her leg. Unable to leave her apartment, she spends most of the day watching Spanish-language television and waiting for volunteers to deliver her next meal.

Sanchez said she is grateful for the home-delivered meals because she is no no longer able to cook.

The Times Poll found that among the elderly who make less than $30,000 a year, about a third say local government programs are inadequate, while 42% say they are adequate. The poll also found that while seniors with incomes below $30,000 are more likely than other seniors to rely on essential local government programs for support, even within this group 76% do not.

But officials with the Area Agency on Aging report that soon these essential government programs may not be available to all the seniors who need and want them.

Jerry Bellsmith, the agency’s contracts manager, said that recent budget cutbacks have forced the closure of five sites where free meals were served to needy seniors. He noted that the agency is unable to provide for dozens, possibly hundreds, of other needy elderly. In addition, the list of seniors--it’s currently at 68--awaiting home-delivered meals is growing by a few persons each week, Bellsmith said. Limited funds prevent the agency from serving them.

The agency last year provided money for almost all the publicly funded feeding programs in the county. Almost 11,000 seniors were fed daily at senior centers; another 3,245 received home-delivered meals.

Bellsmith said the agency has stopped advertising its services because officials fear that they will not be able to handle a flood of new requests.

“We know that there are hundreds of people out there who are not getting served,” Bellsmith said. “We’re not doing outreach because we don’t want to raise people’s expectations.”