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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, July 18, 2002

Two senior programs lose money

By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer

Programs serving seniors in Lanakila and Mo'ili'ili will lose financial support next year when the state shifts money to Kupuna Care home services for the frail.

The Lanakila Senior Center will lose $125,000 and will shut down unless another source of money can be found, and the Mo'ili'ili Community Center will no longer offer programs for the elderly among its services when it loses the $105,000 it had been receiving.

The money will dry up June 30 for both programs, which serve about 4,000 seniors and received state money for decades.

Gov. Ben Cayetano said the state's Office on Aging had to set priorities and did so by shifting the money.

"Not that the senior centers are not important — they are," Cayetano said. "But the state's priority is to serve the seniors who cannot help themselves and need state help. Lanakila serves senior citizens who are able to fend for themselves and do not qualify for state assistance. It was a tough call, but there are not many choices under the circumstances."

The Office on Aging said the money will be used on the elderly who are frail and in dire need of help. Statistics show there are about 201,000 people in Hawai'i older than 60 and that number is expected to grow to almost 300,000 by 2010. That translates into about one in every five people in the state.

The Mo'ili'ili Community Center, which serves about 1,500 seniors, will lose five paid employees. Though it no longer will offer services to seniors, it will stay open and continue to offer other community programs using volunteers and money from other sources.

The Lanakila center, which has about 2,500 senior members, is run by Catholic Charities Elderly Services, which provides an additional $125,000 to keep the center afloat. Without another source of income, the program will end, said program executive director Stella Wong.

Wong said she understands the state's desire to shift the money to Kupuna Care, but she also worries about caring for those before they reach the stage of frail and elderly.

"What are you going to do when the 4,000 who are well become frail?" she said. "Why not spend the money on the senior center to keep them out of that track?"

Kupuna Care was launched July 1, 1999, to provide in-home and community-based services that include adult daycare, assisted transportation, companion assistance, case management, chore services, home-delivered meals, homemaker services, and personal care such as bathing and toilet assistance.

The services are available to residents older than 59 who cannot live at home without adequate help from family or formal services. State money covers the cost for those who cannot pay and a reduced rate for those who can afford to pay only a portion.

In fiscal 2001, 5,369 people received Kupuna Care services through a budget of $4.8 million. Using projections based on census data, it expects to serve 6,000 people this fiscal year with a budget of nearly $5 million.

The programs at Lanakila and Mo'ili'ili offer a variety of programs for healthy seniors. Classes, games, singing and socializing keep the mind active and body healthy, said E. Rebecca Ryan, executive director at the Mo'ili'ili center.

"For a lot of seniors, it's the socialization that takes place at centers that keeps them healthy and occupied," Ryan said. "In Palolo, Nu'uanu and Manoa, all of these areas are looking at trying to establish senior centers because people need them. Now the state is pulling out of established centers when several areas are looking to establish them. The administration is going in one direction that is not reflective of the community."

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the Office on Aging consulted with agencies in all four counties before deciding to focus on the elderly who are frail.

"They decided as a group where the priorities should be based on the limited funding they have," Okubo said. "As a group they decided to put the emphasis on in-home care."

Okubo said the senior centers were told five years ago that state financial support would be ending and they should look for alternatives.

"I understand the trend nationally is for many of these senior centers to get private funding," Okubo said.

Adeline Crocker, 91, is a retired federal worker who relies on Kupuna Care for transportation to doctor's appointments and a daily meal delivered to her Kuakini Street apartment. Crocker, who is neither bedridden nor helpless, still needs assistance and is typical of the type of elderly person Kupuna Care is trying to serve.

"I'm dependent on the Handi-Van," said Crocker who can walk no more than a few blocks from her home. "I do my own washing, and I love to go to the laundry room just to get out of the apartment. I've always been independent, but I can't get around so well anymore."

Seniors who use the Lanakila and Mo'ili'ili programs have started a letter-writing campaign to ask the governor to restore the money.

Roberta Cabrera wrote Cayetano saying she had given up hope for living after her husband of 57 years died in 2000. The Lanakila center gave her a reason to go on, she said.

"Nothing can replace my husband; I miss him every single day," Cabrera said. "But I have learned through the center there still is joy in the simple pleasures of making new friends, learning new things and going to new places."

Rep. Dennis Arakaki, D-28th (Kalihi Valley, Kamehameha Heights), said there is still a chance that the state money could be restored or other sources found.

"It's going to be devastating to those people," Arakaki said. "So many times, we tend to focus on a problem only after it gets really bad. This is one way to keep our seniors healthy and active. If we don't do this, we will pay for it at the other end."

Seniors displaced by the closing of the programs can participate in the 47 city-sponsored senior clubs that meet at recreation centers and parks. Other senior centers that do not get state money include Kane'ohe Community & Senior Center, Kapahulu Senior Center, Makua Alii Senior Center, 'Anuenue Hale and Waikiki Community Center.

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.