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Office for Aging presents annual report highlighting New York Connects, transportation and nutrition trends
Summary
The Washington County Office for Aging presented its 2024 annual report, describing New York Connects services, transportation programs including GoGo Grandparent, small declines in home-delivered meals, caregiver and respite services, and plans for Older Americans Month recognition.
Tammy, presenting the Office for Aging annual report, told the county Health and Human Services committee that the department’s New York Connects partnership remained the backbone of its outreach and service delivery.
“New York Connects is the main program that creates the partnership between DSS and OFA,” Tammy said, describing the program’s information-and-assistance, option counseling and referral work.
The report emphasized transportation as a persistent need for older and rural residents. Tammy noted the county’s use of multiple transportation channels—contracts with LEAP and local senior centers, community partners and the GoGo Grandparent service. “Gogo has provided around 1,100 rides to New Yorkers since their partnership with the office for the aging began in 2023,” she said, and added that “in 2024, we provided 314 1 way trips using the Gogo service.” She said GoGo’s drivers receive training tailored to older adults, which county staff see as the difference compared with general rideshare bookings.
Nutrition services also featured in the presentation. Tammy said the county saw a small decline in home-delivered meals in 2024—about 40 fewer participants and roughly 281 fewer meals—while congregate site and pop-up events rose slightly. She also described changes to the county’s restaurant-dining coupon program, which was restructured this year after operational confusion.
Caregiver and personal-care services drew attention in the report. Tammy outlined caregiver respite offerings, consumer-directed (self-managed) options and agency-provided personal care; she said limits on funding and workforce shortages constrain service levels and produce waiting lists for some services.
The Office for Aging also reported outreach and publicity success: a public hearing that drew about 175 older adults and a Spectrum News feature spotlighting local program recipients. Tammy said older adults ranked home modification and repair assistance as their top unmet need.
On advisory bodies and honors, the committee approved the appointment of Gail Barra to the OFA advisory council (motion moved and seconded; unanimous). Tammy also announced the county’s two honorees for New York State’s Older Americans awards—Kathleen Pomerant Whitcomb of Granville and Dale Point of Hartford—and said the office will continue traditional May recognition and a proclamation for Older Americans Month.
Tammy closed by encouraging supervisors to use the annual report as a referral and community-engagement tool and said the report link will be posted on the county website.
