Jewish Family Service tells commissioners $33,000 county grant supported 1,830 services for older adults

Jewish Family Service of Colorado told the Arapahoe County Board of County Commissioners that a $33,000 midyear grant for its Aging Care & Connections work helped deliver 1,830 services across care management, homemaker support, nutrition and counseling programs.

The county-funded award came as the nonprofit described a sharp rise in requests for help among older adults and growing pressure on program budgets. "It's a ever changing funding landscape right now for nonprofits and for older adult services," Rachel Rotach, director of Aging Care & Connections at Jewish Family Service of Colorado, said during the presentation.

Rotach said the group provides care management, homemaker services, a kosher-style community lunch, kosher Meals on Wheels, pantry deliveries and counseling tailored to older adults. Care managers, she said, assess needs and help clients navigate housing, medical bills, short-term rehab and insurance issues; homemakers visit homes to clean and spot risks; and volunteers provide social visits. "A lot of the people in our community, they wanna stay in their homes," Rotach said. "They don't know what services are out there, and they need people to help link them to what exists."

Why it matters: county aid-to-agency funds are covering basic operating support for local nonprofits that provide safety-net services to older residents. Commissioners and staff repeatedly pressed for more detail on who is being served and whether existing reporting captures repeated uses of multiple services by the same clients.

Key outcomes and program details - Services delivered: 1,830 services reported for the January-through-midyear reporting period; staff said these were "unduplicated numbers" for program tallies but also acknowledged that a single client can receive multiple program services and that more detailed cross-tabulation could be run if the county requests it. - Staff and capacity: eight homemakers on staff; homemakers typically see three clients per day, five days a week. Rotach said the homemaker team is short-staffed after an employee left to pursue CNA training. - Nutrition programs: three food programs (community lunch four days per week at the Jewish Community Center, kosher Meals on Wheels delivered five days per week, and pantry delivery started during the pandemic). Pantry deliveries run with about 10 volunteers weekly and deliver boxes of nonperishables plus fresh produce and frozen meat. Rotach said the pantry program serves roughly 100 households a month and that some clients receive a second box. - Holocaust survivor support: Rotach told the board the program served about 95 Holocaust survivors last year and now serves roughly 150; roughly 30 people are on a wait list for direct services. She said program staff receive dedicated funds from Claims Conference agreements with Germany and that Jewish Family Service acts as a pass-through to pay home health aides and certain medical costs. Rotach said that service line is running $50,000 to $100,000 over budget at midyear because needs have risen.

Funding and risk Rotach said some funding to older-adult services flows indirectly through the Area Agency on Aging and that federal Older Americans Act allocations can be uncertain. "Federal has come through for this coming year, but it also was reduced the last 2 years," she told commissioners, adding that food-price inflation and a shrinking supply of donated or subsidized food would pressure budgets.

Questions from commissioners focused on data and eligibility. A commissioner asked whether people who enroll in care management are then excluded from other services; Rotach responded they are not, and said she could run a report breaking down which clients receive which combinations of services. Commissioners also asked whether Jewish Family Service limits services to Jewish residents; Rotach said the organization increasingly uses the public name "JFS" and that most program participants are not Jewish, with the notable exception of the kosher Meals on Wheels cohort.

Context and next steps Rotach asked commissioners to note rising demand across program lines and to consider that federal and regional funding streams — including Area Agency on Aging allocations and other state-administered funds — are under pressure. She left contact information and told commissioners staff could produce a more detailed client breakdown for Arapahoe County addresses if the board requested it.

A board member thanked Rotach for the report and encouraged continued communication as federal and private funding landscapes evolve. The presentation closed after questions; no formal county action was taken at the meeting.