For Seniors, Help is Right Around The Corner

Pauline Trzoc couldn’t sleep at night. Worry was keeping her awake. Medicaid was billing her for what was supposed to be paid. A hospital charged her for three visits when she had only one. What’s a sleepless, stressed out senior to do? She turned to the Village Care of New York’s Senior Information Center program.

“Victoria is helping me,” Trzoc said. “She’s very thorough. I was going to go down to the hospital, but I think I get better results here,” she said.

Sure enough, Victoria, – Victoria Lampado, the petit, dark-eyed, self-assured woman seated behind a large desk – was able to straighten it out after a few long phone conversations. “The hospital probably never submitted it,” she explained patiently to Trzoc. “Medicare took care of their end, and now Blue Cross will pick up the rest. They will send you a letter saying there’s a zero balance. Case closed.”

Besides the balance resolution, the result for Trzoc was peace of mind and a good night’s sleep, for the persevering Lampado, a sense of satisfaction. “I like when stuff like this works to their advantage,” Lampado said. “It doesn’t always, but when it does, it’s a good feeling.”

Lampado, care advocate associate and soon to hold a master’s in social work, and Renee Cottrell, the center’s director of community social services, are constantly pulling off small miracles and performing a dizzying array of tasks in perpetual motion. If they can’t solve a problem themselves, they refer their clients to other agencies and organizations. They have a multitude of information at their fingertips and in their heads on a wide swath of services and benefits for seniors, including the programs sponsored by the not-for-profit multi-service Village Care of New York with which they are affiliated as part of their SeniorChoices network.

Cottrell and Lampado are also encyclopedias of essential abbreviations like SCRIE, HEAP, SAGE, NORC, NNORC, DHCR, which they translate into action for their clients. (For the uninitiated, SCRIE is the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption program; HEAP is the Home Energy Assistance Program; SAGE is Services and Advocacy for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Elders; NORC stands for Naturally Occurring Retirement Community; DHCR is the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal.)

Senior Information Center services were first located at a walk-in storefront at 51 Seventh Ave. (between 13th and 14th streets), which opened in 2002, followed by the four-year-old sister office in Chelsea at 220 W. 26th St. Services are free to anyone over the age of 55 or any family member or caregiver wanting information for anyone over 55. Seniors from all over Manhattan and even the outer boroughs drop in or call for an appointment. Some are there on a regular basis seeking to resolve one issue or multiple ones, or to use a free computer, while others just walk in out of curiosity and often find some information or activity relevant to their interests or concerns. The original Seventh Avenue site closed recently and a search is on for an affordable replacement in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, all services are consolidated at the Chelsea Senior Information Center.

The information center program provides free computers, free photocopying and free faxes for older adults.

“The information center started as a stronghold in this community,” explained Cottrell. “People are aging here, and it’s overwhelming to access all the information. We want to be a port in the storm for seniors and their families in a friendly, warm supportive place where they can find out what is available to them and how to access the information.” In addition, Cottrell notes, a lot of seniors from the Village area have “interesting backgrounds – they are playwrights, actors, a lot of activists – and they are great to talk to.”

The program provides information relating to health needs, services in the community, entitlements and benefits. Lately, many people come in for information on the changes to Medicare Part D. “We figure out with their medications which Part D Plan works best for them and sign them up,” explained Cottrell. “We provide direct service for the Medicare Savings Program for people who can’t afford their Medicare premiums. We sign them up here as opposed to sending them out to a local office. Some people can’t afford the $93.50 taken out of the Social Security check to pay into Medicare, so this program helps them pay those premiums.”

“Sometimes it’s a decision between the premiums and eating,” added Lampado. “So if they can qualify for the savings program, that’s always a smile.”

Another common area of concern is housing and tenantlandlord issues, which are a huge problem for seniors, and it’s not just obtaining housing that is problematic. These days the information centers are more likely to help seniors stay in their homes. “Lots of seniors have difficulties with their landlords, so we contact them and get outside places involved when needed,” explained Cottrell. “We make calls and advocate on their behalf. If we can’t take care of it ourselves, we refer them to legal services that help represent them in housing court. There are also DHCR programs to back the landlords off, and Senator Tom Duane’s office has helped us a lot,” she said.

Just ask Marguerite McKnight, who was in the center filling out some forms, and not for the first time. “We’re the last of the rentcontrolled tenants,” she said. “In the meantime, they are trying to raise the rents sky high and get us out. A friend of mine told me about this place. If [Victoria and Renee] can do anything for you, it will be done. Thank God we have this,” she said.

One of the ways that the dynamic duo attacks the rent increases and harassment is to enroll eligible seniors for SCRIE, which is run by the city’s Department for the Aging. “Seniors who qualify aren’t harassed as much,” said Lampado, “because the landlord gets increases from the city.” Another program that they sign up qualifying seniors for is the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), which gives some relief with ConEd bills.

“We have clients on fixed incomes who are controlled or stabilized. These are their homes, their life,” said Lampado. “Ultimately the tenant is going to win, but it takes an emotional toll on them. We try to make sure legally they are okay, but there’s a lot more that needs to be done for them.”

Cottrell and Lampado also do outreach through Village Care’s Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community, or NNORC. When a building has a majority of seniors, they are able to get state funding to provide services such as nursing and social work. The NNORC is an area for which Village Care won designation to establish a variety of services for the high concentration of seniors. Called “The Heart of Greenwich Village” NNORC program, it services a slice of the Village between West 8th and West 13th streets where there are 1,700 residents over 60, half living alone. “It gives us an opportunity to serve our clients in a different way,” said Cottrell.

Another way in the door for Lampado and Cottrell is through their grant-funded Light Bulb and Outreach Team, which helps seniors replace light bulbs, flashlights and smoke detector batteries. “It’s a non-threatening vehicle that allows us to help seniors who are isolated and see what their needs are,” Cottrell said.

“To be able to serve people here in the center has been so successful, but sometimes being able to see somebody in their home environment lets you help them on a different level, which is very exciting,” she added.

Lampado and Cottrell are currently developing training materials for a Gatekeeper Program. The program entails asking local merchants, building managers and other people in the Village and Chelsea community to be their eyes and ears to let them know if they have any seniors they have concerns about, who might be isolated or who have no one involved in their lives, so they can provide services for them. When they have a social worker on board, that person will be responsible for training gatekeepers and going on home visits.

In the Senior Information Center program, any senior who walks through the door can automatically receive a free Prime Time Club membership card, which entitles them to discounts with local merchants displaying a PTC sticker on their window. For now the participating merchants number fewer than a dozen, but Cottrell plans to expand the program. “We polled a lot of seniors and many felt that the way they were treated would determine if they would go to certain merchants or not,” she said. “We provided the merchants with information on how to be a senior-friendly environment and how important seniors are in the Village area.”

Referrals are a major part of their job, from what might be the most basic to the more immediate, but all are handled with equal efficiency and care.

While Lampado is wrapping up with Trzoc, the senior happens to mention that she bought a new phone but doesn’t know how to install it. No problem. Lampado tells her that The Caring Community has a free repair service, and she can arrange for someone to come over to hook it up. The Caring Community also has a shopping escort service and will even take a senior to visit a friend. When a man came in seeking information on domestic partnerships, he was referred to SAGE, which has a legal clinic. Village Care has a sponsor relationship with SAGE, and an affiliation with The Caring Community, among a number of other community organizations.

Additionally, when deemed appropriate, they give referrals to the other Village Care SeniorChoices programs. They are the two adult day health centers at 121A W. 20th St. and 644 Greenwich St.; the Village Nursing Home and the Short Stay Rehabilitation Program, both at 607 Hudson St.; the Village at 46th and Ten, an assisted living residence; Care Advocate Service, 220 W. 26th St., in which a social worker works with the client and caregiver to put together services for chronic longterm care; and licensed home care, home health care and a Long-Term Home Health Care Program. “We are constantly recruiting people here to find out if they need these services,” said Cottrell.

Other seniors come to the centers for enrichment information. For example, if they want to know about computer classes in the area, they are referred to TCI, Technical Career Institute at 320 W. 31st St., which gives free classes to seniors and veterans. Flyers scattered about the center inform seniors about nearby senior centers, activities and classes. “When they look at our materials, we find out if they need our services,” said Cottrell. “It’s a good way to engage them.”

Lampado seems to spend a lot of time on the phone. “I spend a lot of time on hold,” she emphasized, laughing. “For Medicare, it could be fifteen, twenty minutes. But we do a lot while we are on hold. It’s just a matter of making it work. With the time we have here up until the time we leave, we do something. It’s definitely a work in progress. It’s not always instant gratification. Sometimes it’s step by step, but we work it through with them.”

(Editor’s Note: The Village Senior Information Center will be relocating this year from its original location on Seventh Avenue. A new site has not yet been secured. In the interim, the Seventh Avenue site has closed and operations are consolidated at the Chelsea Senior Information Center at 220 W. 26th St., near Seventh Avenue.)