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Date: 4/15/2020
CHICOPEE – An effort to help the city’s senior citizens was announced last week during Mayor John Vieau’s COVID-19 update.
Two police officers have been assigned to the Council on Aging (COA) to do wellness checks on at-risk seniors.
Sherry Manyak, the COA’s executive director told Reminder Publishing, “I believe this is the first time the police have been used in this manner for wellness checks. Before the pandemic, if we couldn’t get in touch with an older adult and we couldn’t reach their emergency contact we would call the Police Department for a wellness check.
“Now, during the pandemic, two police officers have been assigned to RiverMills Center for the wellness checks. They come in every morning and we give them a list of people who couldn’t be reached and who haven’t called us back to know they are okay. They also are delivering meals to people who don’t have transportation but want to participate in our curbside meal pick-up program.”
Manyak believes this effort will not be continued once the threat of the pandemic passes.
“This is strictly for the COVID-19 crisis, but again, during ‘normal times,’ we have never hesitated calling the police for wellness checks if we’re concerned and can’t get in touch with an older adult’s emergency contact. We haven’t discussed what happens after the stay-at-home order is lifted. That would be a discussion for the mayor and police chief to have, and would most likely depend on police availability,” she said.
The wellness checks are being generated by a list already established at the COA.
Manyak explained, “We have a list of over 800 older adults that we are calling. The list includes our regular senior center participants, and it includes older adults who our staff knows don’t have a support system in place and are at-risk because they don’t have family or live alone. Yes, if someone knows a senior they are concerned about they should call the senior center at 534-3698. That person might already be on our wellness call list. If they aren’t, we will call the older adult in question and then call the police if we can’t reach the older adult or their emergency contact.”
As far as the funding goes for the effort, Manyak said, “Currently they are funded from the Police Department. The city will try to charge them to the Stafford Act [from the federal government] should it be allowed.”