Isolation is a challenge older adults often deal with when they choose to age in place, and many fail to thrive on their own without intervention. This is where Friendship at Home steps in. Through the work of dedicated volunteers, this program offers many benefits to seniors who are home-bound or unable to travel unaided. Seniors can receive telephone reassurance, a friendly visitor, and supportive intervention such as one-time financial support for individuals facing a crisis.

Barbara and Dan Litzkow, seniors who live in Lee County, are just two of the 216 seniors in Lee County who receive food bags twice a month through the Friendship Food Bag program, administered through Senior Friendship Centers, in collaboration with the Harry Chapin Food Bank. Barbara applied for assistance with the Area Agency on Aging, and they referred her to Friendship Centers. Together with Senior Friendship Centers volunteers and RSVP volunteers, food bags are collected and delivered to hungry seniors.

Barbara says she can’t wait for the food bags to arrive, and she doesn’t know what they would do without this assistance. She figures they’d get by, but would never be able to afford the variety and healthy food they get with the program. In addition to receiving healthy and nutritious food, Barbara says they get friendship, too. She can’t say enough about her friendly volunteer, Judy. Judy and her husband have been regularly delivering bags to the Litzkow home and while these visits are usually brief, it’s another way we help seniors stay connected and social.