The Saint Anthony Park Area Seniors Program has been serving our community for over 30 years, assisting more than 3412 seniors in that time. Our program, the first of its kind anywhere in the country, has become a model for similar community-based programs worldwide.
The following is a summary of our service to area seniors from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011.
The program staff and 136 volunteers helped 370 seniors maintain or improve their health status, emotional well-being and independence while living in their own homes. Staff and neighborhood volunteers provided:
- 243 exercise classes to 89 clients
- 1009 rides to 63 people for health appointments, errands, and exercise classes
- 17 group social outings for 234 people
- 9 health-related lectures for 77 people
- 117 home visits by staff
- 728 home visits by volunteers
- 185 clients received coordination by staff
- 2689 volunteer hours for transportation, caregiver respite, home visits, grocery shopping, yard work, and home repairs.
In partnership with the Minnesota Visiting Nurse Agency we provided
- 267 hours of home nursing care or therapy visits
- 725 hours by home health aids and homemakers
- 25 blood pressure clinics
- 1 flu shot clinics
In partnership with Meals on Wheels
- 3000 meals were delivered. The Area Seniors Program recruits, trains and schedules the volunteer drivers for the St. Anthony Park route.
Click here to download our Federal Form 990
The following is a summary of the highlights of the major activity of the St. Anthony Park Block Nurse Program during its 30th year. The mission continues to be to enrich the capacity of the older neighborhood residents to maintain appropriate levels of independence and interdependence with the community through neighborhood-based professional and volunteer staff working together to integrate health services, social services, education and advocacy.
Responding to seniors in the neighborhood who are generally more active, living longer and requesting more social interaction and health education, this program has experienced continued growth this past year in several areas of service. Most noteworthy is the fact that our volunteers and staff provided over 1000 rides to older adults this past year, three times as many as three years ago. Also since July 2007 when we began providing exercise classes five, instead of two, days per week, the attendance hours have just surpassed 10,000 hours. Lastly, social outings are popularly anticipated and well attended. We have waiting lists for current trips and suggestions being made for outings next year.
Based on the prior year’s review of neighborhood residents and since the proportion of nursing clients has decreased significantly, the board of directors decided this past year that the St. Anthony Park Block Nurse Program’s name needed to be more reflective of its purpose in the community it serves. It would be changed to Saint Anthony Park Area Seniors as of July 1, 2011, as part of the program’s 30th anniversary year celebration throughout 2011.
Although the majority of the anniversary events would occur in the last half of 2011, celebration began with the first half on a year long “Be Well as You Age” Speakers Series beginning in January. In partnership with the ElderCare Rights Alliance, which provided the speakers and films, this program hosted a topic on aging the second Saturday morning of each month at the St. Anthony Park Public Library. Speakers will continue through December.
Additionally, a series of “30th Anniversary Social Outings” are also being offered in partnership with the Twin City Trolley Company during 2011. They began in April with an afternoon at a musical and will continue through December with an excursion around the cities to see the holiday lights.
Planning was also begun for other summer and fall 30th anniversary events including: seniors riding a Twin City Trolley (with banners announcing our name change) in the St. Anthony Park Fourth of July Parade, an article in the neighborhood newspaper, the Park Bugle, describing program growth and the new name, and an anniversary luncheon in October to honor the founders, volunteers and supporters of the program.
Although the program growth and 30th anniversary events have required more of the Board of Directors, the staff and direct service volunteers, feedback from seniors, their caregivers and the community has been positive and enthusiastic.