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Portage County ADRC outlines services, warns state budget cuts could shrink Strong Bodies program
Summary
At a Portage County Board meeting, Cindy Piotrowski, director of the county’s Aging and Disability Resource Center, reviewed the ADRC’s services, target populations and programs — highlighting reliance on federal and state funding and warning that the Strong Bodies statewide program has been eliminated from the state budget.
Cindy Piotrowski, director of the Portage County Aging and Disability Resource Center, presented the ADRC’s 2024 annual report to the Portage County Board of Supervisors and described the center’s mix of services, funding and growing demand. “Our goal is actually to help keep people off of publicly funded long term care and using their own resources for as long as possible,” Piotrowski said.
Piotrowski told supervisors the ADRC serves two main groups: “seniors, which we define as 55 and over,” and adults with disabilities ages 18 through 59. She said the center’s programs include caregiver support, elder and disability benefits specialists, Medicare Part D enrollment help, nutrition and transportation coordination, an adult day center, memory cafés and partnerships with law enforcement for wander-protection efforts.
The ADRC’s funding comes from a mix of federal and state grants, local grants, United Way giving, county levy, fees, donations and Medicaid matching funds. Piotrowski said the Medicaid match is uncertain going forward and staff are monitoring changes.
The director flagged a specific program loss at the state level: “We have learned that this program has been eliminated from the state budget,” she said, referring to Strong Bodies, a weight-bearing exercise program operated locally in partnership with UW Extension. Piotrowski said Strong Bodies is the county’s most-popular health program for seniors, running in multiple communities and drawing a high number of participants (she said Lincoln Center had as many as 64 registered for a class).
Piotrowski described the senior stock box distribution as a particularly busy monthly service; she said the ADRC distributed “over a thousand boxes” last year and that demand outstrips supply. She also noted volunteer contributions and loan-closet equipment lending as core services.
Board members asked about Portage County’s shifting demographics and workforce issues. Supervisor Gifford (County Board) cited statewide analyses showing declines in the prime working-age population and said that will affect caregiver availability. Piotrowski replied that most survey respondents want to age at home and that home- and community-based services and unpaid family caregivers are central to meeting that demand; she added that families increasingly live apart, which reduces informal caregiver availability.
Piotrowski invited supervisors to visit the ADRC to see programs and services firsthand and said the agency will watch state and Medicaid policy developments closely as budget season continues.
Less-critical details: the ADRC operates dining sites in Stevens Point, Amherst, Junction City, Plover and Raschelt and runs transportation coordination with the city of Stevens Point; it also provides senior farmers market nutrition coupons and an array of evidence-based fall-prevention classes. Many program schedules and newsletters are available on the ADRC website and in the ADRC’s printed newsletter.
