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Elderbridge Agency On Aging Seeing Increase In Demand For Services Locally

November 23, 2022 Steve Schwaller

(Spirit Lake)– An agency that serves those 60 and over in northwest Iowa is experiencing an increase in demand for its services. Shelly Sindt is the CEO of Elderbridge Agency on Aging. She says that’s especially the case in Dickinson county, with 32 percent of the county’s population being 60 and over…

“We went from last year of funding $155,403 of service in Dickinson county to this year you’ll see $251,888, so and increase of $96,485.”

Sindt says at the same time, they are very concerned over funding from the federal level. She says they’ve been relying heavily on funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, but Sindt says that’s about to run out. She says it will be crucial at that point for Congress to step in…

“They’re going to have to fund the Older Americans Act at a higher level or we’re going to have to cut services when the ARPA funding is gone. And how do you cut services for somebody who needs it?”

On the state level, Sindt says they are closely monitoring the upcoming transition this coming July 1st when the Iowa Department of Aging will be going under the auspices of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services…

“We’re in conversation with Kelly Garcia who’s the director over the entire umbrella about how that’s going to work so that we transition. We do not want to, as area agencies, to become governmental units. We want to stay private 501C3 corporations and it’s sounding like we will be able to continue in that role. And the Department of Aging will be governmental, but we will continue freestanding but answer to. So we don’t know exactly how it’s going to look.”

Sindt says she’s cautiously optimistic the move could make more opportunities available to Elderbridge and other agencies on aging.

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