Heather Pender, director of Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging, told the Clay County Board of Commissioners on June 24 that the agency is seeking $9,490 in county match funding so it can draw down federal Older Americans Act allocations.

The match is part of a required 25% local contribution to access federal Title III funds, Pender said. That local request, she said, equates to about 75 cents per resident age 60 and older in Clay County.

Dancing Sky is the Area Agency on Aging that covers 21 counties under the Northwest Regional Development Commission. Pender described services funded through the Older Americans Act Title III programs, including senior nutrition, caregiver supports, evidence-based classes and Title III-B services such as chore and homemaker assistance and information and referral. Local partners she named include Northwest Legal Services, CAPLP and Barnesville Helpers. Pender said the agency also operates the Senior Linkage Line, a statewide phone resource for Medicare questions and connections to services.

Pender described a time-limited wraparound grant called RAPS (wraparound services for adult protection) funded with American Rescue Plan dollars. She said Dancing Sky had spent more than $10,000 from that grant in Clay County and called Clay County’s Adult Protection team “a really great partner.”

Commissioner Abbherr, who said she serves on the Dancing Sky board, praised the agency’s reach into rural areas and described the services as “a critical lifeline for our seniors.” Commissioner Boyle said the presentation helped the board understand how Dancing Sky stretches grant dollars and noted the county’s past support for senior coordinator and rural transportation efforts.

Pender answered commissioners’ operational questions: she said some grants run on a federal fiscal year; grant rounds are on a five-year cycle for renewals; legal services must be funded at 10% of the agency’s Title III-B allocation; and preliminary federal allocations include roughly $300,000 for administration and about $130,000 for program development and coordination. When asked about this year’s match request, Pender said the $9,490 request represents a 5.56% increase over the prior year and is calculated using five-year American Community Survey data for residents age 60 and older.

Pender also described local program activity: a short-term contract counselor providing one-on-one Medicare assistance in the Barnesville and Rollag area had helped 24 older adults and offered two presentations; a Senior Linkage Line staff member and a Return-to-Community staff member are based in Clay County; and an intern working on Age-Friendly Moorhead and RAPS had been retained on contract to support phone work.

No formal vote on the $9,490 request was recorded in the meeting minutes. Pender offered to provide county-specific data on meals and other program metrics upon request and left business cards for follow-up.

Why it matters: the match enables Dancing Sky to draw federal Older Americans Act funds that support nutrition, legal assistance and other services for older adults across Clay County. Commissioners signaled support while asking for additional county-level data to inform the formal appropriation process.