Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Senior Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CAPTAIN outlines senior transportation, volunteer programs and asks for more volunteers in Ballston Spa
Summary
CAPTAIN Community Human Services presented its county programs to the Ballston Spa Board of Trustees, detailing senior transport and neighbor-help volunteer services, usage figures for village residents in 2024 and a request for more volunteers and donations.
Fern Hurley, associate director of CAPTAIN Community Human Services, told the Village of Ballston Spa Board of Trustees on May 20 that the nonprofit provides a range of services for residents across Saratoga County and highlighted programs that directly serve village seniors.
Hurley said CAPTAIN operates a “wellness van” that runs five days a week, picking up eligible seniors at home and giving rides to medical appointments. She also described a volunteer program she called a neighbor-help model (referred to in CAPTAIN materials as Care Links/Care-Links), in which roughly 100 volunteers provide friendly visits, grocery assistance and light household help for isolated older residents.
The presentation included usage figures for village residents in 2024: Hurley said Care Links helped 17 people in the village and provided 74 services, and the Wellness Express van helped 11 village residents and provided 76 rides to those 11 people. Hurley said CAPTAIN also fields more than 2,000 calls a year to a family assistance line countywide and that the organization refers people to state and local programs while sometimes providing direct emergency financial help.
Trustees and attendees asked how CAPTAIN coordinates with the Saratoga County Office for the Aging; Hurley said CAPTAIN refers clients to the county office and that the two organizations work together on difficult cases. Trustees and residents raised the need to publicize CAPTAIN’s services and volunteer opportunities on the village website; a trustee said adding a link and volunteer info would be helpful.
Hurley said CAPTAIN recently placed a certified recovery peer advocate in four school districts — including Ballston Spa’s — to address youth vaping and substance-use risk. She also described CAPTAIN’s food pantry (serving households from ZIP code 12020, which includes parts of the village), summer meals sites for children and a 24/7 youth shelter in Malta.
Hurley ended by asking for volunteers — drivers for medical rides, friendly visitors, and food-delivery volunteers — and said donors can designate gifts for specific programs on CAPTAIN’s website.
The board thanked Hurley and said staff would look into adding Care Links information and volunteer contacts to the village website.
