Ingram's December 2022

S E N I O R L I V I N G

KC Shepherd’s Center: Aging With Dignity

For 50 years, KC Shepherd’s Center’s has been qui etly serving older adults. It’s time to get loud. Without our programs, it is likely that many of our 3,000 clients would be forced to move into institutional care at an average cost of more than $7,000 per month they can not afford or wait for scarce Medicaid beds. Our pro grams keep older adults in their homes for less than 2% of that cost, a remarkable ROI for community fund ing for our programs that increase food security, pro mote healthy living, and reduce devastating physical, emotional and mental impacts of isolation and loneli ness. Yet, programs like KC Shepherd’s Center receive only 2-3% of philanthropic funding for the fastest growing demographic. There was a brief window of attention to the needs of older adults and the organizations that serve them during COVID, but funders and donors have returned their focus to children, families and puppies, even though families include older adults and children don’t raise themselves. Women under 50 are caretakers not only for children, but for aging parents. Supporting the needs of older adults to remain healthy and independent through organizations like KC Shepherd’s Center supports healthy families, a healthy economy, and a healthy com- munity. Our clients are 75% female, 60% BIPOC, and 75% live below 200% of federal poverty levels. 74% of our 1,200 Meals on Wheels cli ents live in zip codes with higher poverty ratios than the area median, a measure correlated with poor health outcomes. Race, ethnicity, being a member of the LGT BQ+ community, etc. have for many aging members of our community also included a lifetime of systemic racism, and marginalization. Challenging economic con ditions leading to food insecurity and lack of access to medical and mental health services were acutely dem onstrated for these groups KCSC serves as COVID ex posed disproportionate gaps in meeting the needs of our populations of color, marginalized and aging, often experiencing poverty at three times their counterparts. There is a popular myth that Medicare, Social Securi ty and pension programs provide seniors a living wage, yet 10 million seniors survive on an annual income of $10,800. Seniors depending solely on Social Security must use these minimal resources on substandard housing, food and limited health care, especially true for the socially isolated, underserved, and underinsured low-income older adults KCSC serves. The typical caregiver is a 49-year-old woman who works outside the home with an average $30,000 an nual income and out-of-pocket caregiving expenses of $6,000 per year. Almost 70% of caregivers report

“makingwork accommodations” including leavingwork early or taking time off. Each work disruption reduces an employee’s opportunity to contribute to Social Se curity or participate in employer pension plans, carrying lasting effects into their own senior years. With 70% of caregivers being women, the feminization of the pov erty cycle continues as these women reach retirement age and find themselves unable to afford their own age related health care needs, causing them to also turn to informal care and forcing younger women to sacrifice their own retirement preparation to fill this void, leaving

them equally unprepared to enter retirement. KCSC’s programs supported only by the generosity of donors allow caregivers to work while they meet the needs of their loved ones. KC Shepherd’s Center sees longevity as an oppor tunity rather than a crisis, recognizing older adults by the wholeness of their lived experiences and provid- ing programs to support healthy, meaningful and inde pendent aging. We need the investment of corporate, philanthropic, and individual donors to help us provide the essential programs that contribute to a produc tive workforce and vibrant economy in Kansas City. Learnmore and invest at www.kcshepherdscenter.org

A s S h o wc a s e d I n I n g r a m ’ s M a g a z i n e

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