Dinah Altham, chief executive director of Region 7 Area Agency on Aging, told Saginaw City Council members that the agency provides a range of services to older adults and people with disabilities and asked the council to help spread information to residents.

Altham outlined services Region 7 helps fund for Saginaw and Saginaw County, including congregate nutrition and home-delivered meals, case coordination and caregiver case management, senior-center operations and staffing, adult day care and caregiver training. She said the agency also maintains a loan closet for durable medical equipment and will work to find needed items at no cost to clients.

"It’s as simple as dialing +1 808581637 and ask the question," Altham said, urging council members to direct residents to call Region 7 rather than assume they are ineligible. She emphasized that many services are available even if they are not listed in a brochure.

Altham described Region 7’s role in advocacy, saying Mayor Moore brings the city's needs to the Region 7 board and that the agency aggregates information from its member counties to press for continued funding from state and federal partners. She named several partners and fund sources during her remarks, including the Michigan Commission on Services to the Aging, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, ACLS, and the Michigan Bureau of Aging, Community Living and supports.

Altham also said Region 7 had a contingency plan that allowed services funded through Region 7 and local millages to continue without interruption during a recent government shutdown, keeping funds flowing and services operating even when federal disbursements were delayed.

She made a specific outreach request: "There are 5 cards. They look like this. They just say make a call. Just call us. Ask us for what you need." Altham asked council members to hand out five cards each and to post a flyer with tear-off tabs on a public bulletin board to amplify Region 7’s outreach efforts.

No formal motion or vote was recorded on the request. Altham left informational materials and her business card in council members’ packets and said she looked forward to working with them to connect Saginaw residents with services.