Crater District Area Agency on Aging asks Dinwiddie supervisors for more local support as senior population grows

Renata Sharnik, chief executive officer of the Crater District Area Agency on Aging, told the Dinwiddie Board of Supervisors on Nov. 18 that the agency provides a broad range of services to older adults in the county and is seeking greater local support to meet rising demand.

Sharnik said the agency's mission is to help residents age safely in place and described services including home-delivered meals, community meals, medical and essential transportation, limited emergency funds for urgent needs, legal support, homemaker and chore programs, caregiver respite and care coordination. She told the board "there are over 7,300 older adults in Dinwiddie County" and urged the county to consider additional local funding so the agency can expand meal delivery, homemaker/companion staffing and outreach.

Sharnik described outreach plans that include event presence at churches and public libraries and coordination with the senior navigator program to increase awareness. She said home-delivered meals had recently grown (she described a roughly 20% increase over several months) and that program expansion will require additional resources.

Board members thanked the agency for its work and encouraged use of the county's outside-organization request form (staff noted deadlines tied to the budget calendar) so the agency's funding request can be considered during FY26 budget preparations.

What happens next: County staff asked the agency to file the formal outside-organization request for the upcoming budget cycle and said the board will consider that request during the budget process.

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"Every dollar invested in aging services produces measurable cost saving while improving quality of life for Dinwiddie residents," Renata Sharnik said.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 266, topfinish SEG 401