Senior Day Rally

Vesselina Romanov

Budget cuts in human services will have a tremendous negative impact on Kentucky seniors and persons with disabilities. Please contact your Senators and tell them to “Put People First.”

Several hundred seniors and advocates rallied in the Capitol Rotunda on March 19, 2008 to plead with legislators to increase funding for senior services. AARP, Area Agencies on Aging and Independent Living and Kentucky Association of Gerontology (KAG) partnered in this effort to bring seniors and volunteers to the Capitol to encourage elected officials to develop a plan that will ensure that older adults can live in the community, in the least restrictive environment, and receive the quality care that they deserve.

Among the speakers at the Rally were Governor Beshear; Peggy Roll of KAG; Cathy Allgood Murphy, Associate State Director–Advocacy, AARP Kentucky; Senator Katie Stine and several representatives. The speakers talked about the importance of providing quality services, such as home-delivered meals, home health care, and personal care attendants so that seniors in Kentucky can age in the comfort of their own home. Providing community-based services is cost efficient; the average cost of providing services in a person’s home is much lower than the cost for that care in a long-term care facility.

Seniors at the rally were holding placards reading “Waiting Hurts. Support Senior Services Funding.” Currently, there are approximately 15,000 seniors in Kentucky waiting for services that will allow them to continue living in their own home and age in place. The waiting list for senior services is growing at an alarming rate and our legislators need to find new revenue to help older adults to age with dignity and receive care in their own homes instead of being institutionalized.