211 Elder Crisis Outreach

211's Elder Crisis Outreach (ECO) program has helped more than 6,000 Palm Beach County seniors resolve crisis situations since the program was established in 1988.

Elder Crisis Outreach is an extension of 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast, a telephone hotline that provides information, assessment, referral and crisis counseling services. Last year, 211 specialists assisted more than 173,000 callers, of which approximately 35,000 of these callers were 60 or older.

“ECO grew out of the number of calls we were getting from seniors with serious problems who were having a hard time finding someone who could help them,” said Susan Buza, 211 Executive Director. “Our vision was to provide a program where help was immediate and just a phone call away.”

211 Elder Crisis Outreach serves Palm Beach County seniors age 60 and over who are in emotional, financial or social distress by providing in-home crisis intervention services. In the 2008 fiscal year, 452 seniors received support services from ECO, and records indicate that more than 6,000 seniors have been helped over the past 20 years. Following are some typical cases with a few details changed to protect client confidentiality:

An 87-year-old woman called 211 in the middle of the night. She was very overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for her disabled husband and was extremely suicidal. Counselors were able to deescalate the crisis situation and had ECO staff work with her to get much needed respite care and other services.

70-year-old Greenacres man was on oxygen 24-hours-a-day and was about to have his electricity turned off because he couldn’t pay his bill. An ECO client advocate stepped in and found three local agencies to pay the bill for him.

An 80-year-old West Palm Beach man with Alzheimer’s had no income and no Social Security benefits because he had misplaced all of his identification papers. An ECO client advocate was able to reconstruct the man’s personal history and convinced the Social Security Administration to give him his benefits.

A 60-year-old Boca Raton woman was on full disability because of a severe stroke. She had outstanding student loans and the lending institutions were threatening to take 20% of her Social Security Disability Insurance. An ECO client advocate got her doctors to fill out a form documenting her disability status and the lending institutions discharged the loan.

What makes ECO unique, said Andrea Ramsey, Director of Community Impact for United Way of Palm Beach County, is the lack of red tape for the seniors who need help. “For most other programs, there are forms to fill out, applications to complete, sites they have to go to, but ECO is just a phone call away,” Ramsey said. “Without ECO, I’m very concerned that some seniors’ basic needs would not be met.”

ECO accepts anonymous referrals, as well as those from friends, neighbors, relatives and the distressed senior. The program serves any senior, rather than targeting a specific religious, ethnic or socioeconomic group. An ECO client advocate usually responds to a referral within one work day.

Bonnie Cohen, a paralegal with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County’s Elder Law Project, refers clients to ECO when they call her with problems that are not of a legal nature. “The ECO staff is very knowledgeable. They’ve been working in the community for many years,” Cohen said. “They don’t waste time trying to decide how to solve a problem. They know exactly what to do.”

Sharon O’Neill, Program Monitor with Palm Beach County Community Services, agreed that ECO “has had a consistently professional staff that does a really good job of meeting the needs of the seniors in our community. It’s a very responsive, very valuable program.”

211 is very proud of what the Elder Crisis Outreach program has accomplished in its first 20 years, said Executive Director Susan Buza. “It’s very rewarding to be able to help these seniors who have nowhere else to turn,” she said. “We’re looking forward to the next 20 years of providing this service.”

But most of all comments from seniors that have been assisted by this program best describe its success:

"I was treated with much respect and empathy. Your staff were concerned with my problems and kept in contact with me. They were wonderful to me! Thank you so much and God Bless."

"Your staff was very polite and concerned for my hardship. It was the first time in a long time that I did not feel embarrassed due to my predicament!"

"I was so depressed. They raised my spirits and with help I am on the right track!"