City’s $1M program aims to reach seniors ‘in isolation’

Twenty-five percent of Chicago’s 315,900 senior citizens are “living in isolation,” and many of those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia are being “left on the curbside,” aldermen were told Monday.

To combat the problem, the City Council’s Committee on Budget and Government Operations earmarked $1 million in federal funds to train building managers and their staffs on Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also will be used to train family caregivers and provide “trainthe-trainer opportunities” for staff at senior citizen centers, senior housing facilities, community and faith-based organizations.

Three new full-time employees will go building to building to provide training, work with management companies on site or bring building managers to a central training location. Pilot training will be provided by the University of Illinois at Chicago. A training video also will be prepared.

The grant can’t come soon enough for Zoning Committee Chairman Tom Tunney (44th).

His ward office has fielded requests from elderly high-rise residents whose health, memory and finances are declining.

“We have people that have various stages of dementia that seem to be abandoned by their families, and/or individuals that are isolated, living in apartments,” Tunney said Monday.

“There’s so much isolation in communities and, unfortunately, nobody wants to accept responsibility. I shouldn’t say nobody, but there’s a real problem here. We have an individual failing in his or her mental care . . . . They’re being left on the curbside.”

Joyce Gallagher, deputy commissioner of the Department of Family and Support Services, said the city has tried for years to use its 21 senior citizen centers to identify people in various stages of mental decline.

But that missed elderly Chicagoans living in high-rises who “never see anyone outside their buildings.”

Chicago’s declining population stands at 2.7 million; about 315,900 or 11.7% are over age 65.

“It is a huge problem. Probably 25% of the seniors within the city of Chicago do find themselves in isolation. And this is one program where we can help identify them, bring them some assistance,” Gallagher said.

“This does not exist anywhere in the country and there’s such a need for these building managers because they’re the first point of reference for each of these individuals suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.”

Tunney described the downward spiral that has impacted high-rise residents in his North Side ward after they stop working, start declining mentally and no longer can afford their rising rents.

“Who is helping with their memory care? Because it’s expensive. They’ve depleted their own resources. And the family is half-in, half-out. That’s a very expensive proposition for families, too,” Tunney said.

Lincoln Park Ald. Michele Smith (43rd) called the $1 million training and outreach program a godsend.

“You are putting your finger on something that is absolutely true. Isolated seniors [living in] condominiums and rental buildings have nobody,” Smith said.