Happy 2024!
Happy New Year from Thrive Alliance. Our offices will be closed Monday, January 1 in observance of the Holiday.
Thrive Alliance News – Winter 2023-24
The show must go on
The show must go on
STORY BY Barney Quick| For The Republic • PHOTOS BY Carla Clark | For The Republic
After a long and successful acting career, Jill Tasker returned to her native Columbus to be with her mother, who was beginning to show signs of dementia. Bringing joy and vitality to her mother in her last years inspired Tasker to begin a project of love centered on reawakening dementia patients’ inner spark. So far, she’s enlisted a variety of people to help with this endeavor, including other talented actors and a playwright.
Read the full article below
https://therepublic-in.newsmemory.com/?publink=09b50c6c1_134ae5f
The price of Medicare fraud: Lab accused of stealing millions in federal funds as part of COVID-19 test kit scheme
Thrive Alliance receives $10,000 grant from Custer-Nugent Foundation to support Home Delivered Meals
Thrive Alliance recently received a gift of $10,000 from the Custer-Nugent Foundation in Columbus to assist in efforts to reduce food insecurity. The donation will be used to help fund Thrive Alliance’s home delivered meals programs.
Food insecurity is a challenge for many older adults with low incomes. Nationally one in ten households are food insecure, and the rate is even higher in Southern Central Indiana. Key findings in South Central Indiana include:
- Nine percent of older adults aged 60 and older were food insecure.
- According to older adults and service providers, the chief barriers to food access and security are transportation and money.
- 10 percent of older adults live in a food desert.
- One in three older adults bypass daily medication to afford nutritional food.
In 2022 Thrive Alliance provided 12,945 meals to individuals over the age of 60 that attend our nutritional meal sites and 39,300 home deliver meals. The Older Americans funding that we receive on a year-to-year basis is decreasing and the need to provide nutritional, well-balance meals is increasing.
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ASAP, other agencies, working to establish recovery homes for substance abuse treatment
From The Republic:
ASAP, other agencies, working to establish recovery homes for substance abuse treatment
Plans are moving forward to use opioid settlement money to establish more substance abuse recovery houses in Bartholomew County.
In June, three matching grants from the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction were announced to create local recovery houses with different levels of care. The three grants that total $718,280 come from settlements with a pharmaceutical company and multiple drug distributors over their roles in the opioid addiction crisis.
However, the state agency did not fund a proposed grant from Centerstone Behavioral Health to create a Level 2 substance abuse recovery facility, according to Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress Executive Director Sherri Jewett. Level 2 treatment involves intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization services for patients with complex substance abuse recovery needs.
In response, the Bartholomew County Council agreed Tuesday to use a portion of the county’s own opioid settlement money to finance the operations and opening of three additional Level 2 recovery homes.
Local grants awarded by the state last June include $324,000 to the Bridge to Dove program for a 15-bed, Level 4 recovery house for women; $262,000 to Centerstone for a Level 3 transitional housing facility; and $132,280 to Volunteers of America to expand an existing Level 2 women’s recovery house into a Level 3 facility.
Another obstacle arose when Centerstone was unable to find an appropriate building for its Level 3 residence, Jewett said. These facilities are for patients whose addictions have created significant functional impairments, or require more stability than they can achieve at home.
In response, the council agreed to provide $50,000 of opioid settlement funds to Thrive Alliance for use as a down payment to lease a house for Level 3 treatment.
Bartholomew County government is expected to receive at least $3 million in settlement funds through 2038, while a total of $194,011 will be provided to the city of Columbus. However, Jewett told the council five other settlements are currently in the works that will eventually result in additional money for local units of government.
A separate matter addressed by the council Tuesday involves last September’s announcement that ASAP had agreed to administer a substance use disorder treatment program at the Bartholomew County Jail. At that time, Jewett asked that the program be placed on hold a short time while her organization sought out qualified organizations to carry out the actual treatment.
On Tuesday, Jewett announced three local community organizations have expressed interest in providing treatment to jail inmates. However, she did not identify the three during the meeting.
The council agreed to move $215,521 budgeted in October from the sheriff’s department to ASAP. The allocation will provide secured funding as ASAP works through the process of choosing one of the three as the treatment provider, Jewett told the council. Some funds will also be used to provide advance funding opportunities after the choice has been made, she said.
Sandi’s Closet coming to Upland Pumphouse December 14
Around the Clock Support – Alzheimer’s Association Helpline
Powerful Tools for Caregivers Class Completed
Thrive Alliance’s first in-person class of Powerful Tools for Caregivers since 2019 recently completed. Comments from participants were that they “loved the help book provided.” “Alison Simo and Jane Ferril were excellent in getting the group to participate, making for more fellowship, which was great.” “Loved working in teams to learn from other caregivers experiences.” Enjoyed the class, great to know that I am not alone in this, that there are others that have it worse, and there are resources out there for support.” Powerful Tools for Caregivers will be offered again soon, so be on the lookout!
Wellness Tip of the Week
