Elder Services receives grant

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Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands recently announced it was awarded a grant of $319,907 from Senior Service America Inc. Almost 90 percent of the grant, originally from the U.S. Department of Labor, will provide temporary employment to at least 40 low-income older adults living in Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket Counties. The older adults will participate in the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), a cornerstone of the Older Americans Act.

SCSEP, the only federal job training program targeted exclusively to low-income seniors, promotes personal dignity and self-sufficiency through work. According to a press release, its temporary, part-time community service jobs provide a hand up for older, unemployed, low-income Americans. The SCSEP allows eligible persons to participate for up to four years, but the average tenure nationally is 18 months, with the experience and training participants receive leading them to permanent employment.

As the second largest U.S. Department of Labor National Grantee of SCSECP, the release explains, Senior Service America Inc. (SSAI) works through a network of local partners delivering various career training programs for workers age 50 and up in 34 states. “Our long-term, local partners are a key to the strength of SSAI, and provide the systems to train older Americans into strategic advantage for employers and the country,” said Gary Officer, Senior Service America president and CEO, in the release. “We are very pleased to continue our support of the Elder Services of Cape Cod and the Islands for the 41st consecutive year.”

Those who participate in the program help out approximately 20 local community, faith-based, and public agencies carry out their mission, including Falmouth Housing Authority, Outer Cape Health Services, and the Housing Assistance Corporation. The release states that the program helps keep older workers connected to their communities, and provides them the opportunity to experience the dignity of work.