There is a famous quote that posits that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Whether this quote can be considered fact is irrelevant, as the important part to grasp is that we should be responsible for taking care of the generations before us.

The emotional weight of taking care of our aging loved ones can seem overbearing, as can the reality of taking care of ourselves as we approach our golden years. Luckily there are resources available, organizations that aim to assist in the navigation of aging, to help our most “vulnerable” members feel more empowered. The Boulder County Area Agency on Aging (BCAAA) has been serving that mission for 30 years.

The BCAAA was organized to “deliver, fund, and advocate for services that promote well-being, independence, and dignity for older adults, people living with disabilities, caregivers, and veterans in Boulder County,” and is funded by both federal and state funding in coordination with the Older Americans Act (OAC).

BCAAA Aging Policy Advocate and Planner Lindsey Neville and Client Services Supervisor Corrin Godar spoke with The Mountain-Ear about the importance of their organization’s work and detailed some of their many available programs and services, such as Medicare counseling and nutritional programs.

“A lot of what we would like to do is get to folks ahead of having a crisis,” Neville explained. “We really want to work upstream, especially with our healthy aging and nutrition programs and other programs that we have to really help people be stable and to have their basic needs met.”

“One of our more recent programs would be our Connect with Tech program. We saw more of a need or desire for older adults and caregivers to have access to tech devices, to an internet connection, as well as access to tech education. That’s one of the ways we recently expanded and went beyond our federal mandate,” Neville said.

The BCAAA is welcoming two new Mountain Resource Specialists (MRS) to help service older adults, caregivers, and veterans in the Peak to Peak region. Michele Moray-Volk is serving Coal Creek Canyon, Nederland, and Ward, and Sara Lloyd is serving Allenspark and Lyons. BCAAA has provided MRS to the Peak to Peak region for 20 years.

“Their main responsibility is to provide direct client services and they do this by getting to know the clients during an appointment,” Godar detailed the role of a MRS. “They do a holistic assessment and then they determine what the unique client needs are and they provide information and referrals to partners in the community and other helpful resources to meet those clients’ needs.”

Moray-Volk has worked in the human services field since she was 19 years old and has held positions from personal caregiver to director of assisted living.

“Both my parents worked in human services. As a child I admired the work they did so I always say my interest is genetic. However, when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1999 and I witnessed the family struggle to find resources for her, I focused my professional life in the field of aging,” Moray-Volk told The Mountain-Ear.

Moray-Volk is new to the Peak to Peak area, having moved here in August 2022.

“I’ve dreamed of living in the mountains since I was 17 years old and visited Grand Lake, Colorado, with my twin sister and father. I am in the process of settling into my office space and have been meeting partners in the area recently and look forward to making ongoing connections.”

Lloyd has worked for various nonprofits and as a caregiver for older adults, having a propensity to want to help those in need.

“Throughout my life I have witnessed people in dire situations not knowing where to turn for help. Every time I see this my brain goes into overdrive, scanning everything I’ve ever learned that might be helpful. I am drawn to doing what I can to make a difference for people,” Lloyd told The Mountain-Ear.

Lloyd recalls advocating for her father while he was dying and discovering first hand how difficult gaining access to services can be; this fuels Lloyd’s dedication to being a MRS.

“I do whatever I can to assist people in the process of aging with dignity and grace at home,” Lloyd said.

“In addition to the MRSs helping caregivers we also have some dedicated caregiver resource specialists and they all collaborate,” Godar continued to describe what the BCAAA provides to caregivers as well as older adults. “We do some educational classes and presentations to learn more about things like how to live well with dementia. We also do direct services for caregivers to guide them through the caregiving journey and connect them with services like meal delivery,” Godar said.

A MRS also works alongside the BCAAA’s Veteran Services Officers (VSO) to serve veterans of all ages and provide them and their dependents access to general benefits, medical benefits, home loans, survivors benefits, and burial benefits. VSOs submit eligible veterans’ claims for these benefits to the Department of Veterans Affairs. They can also assist in obtaining a veteran’s military records, awards, or medals.

“Outside of what we offer to older adults, we work with veterans of all ages across the entirety of Boulder County. Our VSOs, Adam and Sasha, are veterans as well,” Neville mentioned.

Neville also noted that the BCAAA is one of 16 agencies on aging in Colorado, and one of 622 across the country. As mentioned earlier, the BCAAA works beyond its federal mandate to provide the services that older adults need and deserve, and also to serve the mountain communities.

“We connect in a lot of different ways. We help fund Nederland Area Seniors and we also have a meal site in Lyons called the Red Stone Cafe that we provide funding for and manage,” Neville told The Mountain-Ear. “We are heavily engaged with the Peak to Peak Housing and Human Services Alliance and have been for decades, as well as the Mountain Human Services Collaborative.”

“We want people to connect with us early on,” Neville reiterated. “The importance of learning about the many facets of aging earlier rather than later. “One of the things that we have that get to folks at a younger age is our Medicare counseling program. We have a Medicare basics class that is for folks who are maybe going to start using Medicare at some point or maybe they’re caregiving for someone who is using Medicare.”

“We want everybody in the community to be aware of this, because whether you’re an older adult yourself, or you’re caring for an older adult, it’s never too early to learn about the aging process and to set yourself up for aging well.”

A Mountain Resource Specialist is available by appointment which can be made by phone, email, or in person. For those in Coal Creek Canyon, Nederland, and Ward you can contact Michele Moray-Volk by email at mmoray-volk@bouldercounty.org, by phone at 720-616-9109, and at her office located in the Nederland Community Center at 750 Highway 72 North in Nederland.

Moray-Volk will also be present during resource fairs hosted the fourth Thursday of every month at the Nederland Community Center.

For those in Allenspark, Lyons, and the surrounding areas you can contact Sara Lloyd by email at slloyd@bouldercounty.org, by phone at 720-766-8844, and at her office located in the Walter Self Senior Housing at 335 Railroad Avenue in Lyons.

To get in contact with Veteran Service Officers Adam Sutton and Sasha Mathews you can call 303-441-3890 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to make an appointment. Their mailing address is 515 Coffman Street, Suite 150, Longmont, Colorado 80501. Veteran and dependent eligibility will be determined during an intake interview.

Most BCAAA services are provided for free and do not include any income eligibility requirements. For more information go to: https:// bouldercounty.gov/departments/ community-services/area-agencyaging/.