The Osceola Council on Aging (OCOA), along with the rest of our nation, will have the honor of celebrating Veterans Day on Monday, Nov. 11.
Our Adult Day Health Care program recently hosted a Veteran Tribute event in partnership with VITAS Healthcare. Each Veteran received a certificate of appreciation and commemorative pin to honor their service to our country. Our Adult Day Health Center will remain open on Veterans Day to ensure those vets receive the essential services they rely on, along with a full day of planned activities. In addition, our team will be building two mobility ramps for Veteran families.
We always look forward to the special activities hosted on Veterans Day. But the OCOA champions those same Veterans every single day of the year through social services support programs specifically designed for Veterans.
One of those programs is the Helping Homebound Heroes Project. The OCOA is one of only a few agencies in the nation awarded a grant for this initiative which is generously funded by The Home Depot Foundation. The Helping Homebound Heroes program is a collaborative partnership between Meals on Wheels America and The Home Depot Foundation. The goal, to support residential settings so Veterans can remain comfortably in their homes. In existence since 2015, the program has helped more than 1,900 Veterans across the country.
The Home Depot Foundation’s mission is to “restore independence for Veterans,” while supporting Meals on Wheels in those same communities. Through this, Meals on Wheels Veteran clients, and those with service-related disabilities, receive home modifications to enhance accessibility, and in most cases, safety.
Services offered can include general home repairs, installation of safety equipment (support bars, ramps, and smoke detectors), adding or replacing window AC units, window replacement, insulation services and leak prevention projects; all of which help decrease risk, while restoring security and independence. Other services could also include landscaping, mulching and even installing flagpoles.
In 2024, we have more than 30 senior Veterans who have received residential maintenance support, along with nutritious meals served by our Meals on Wheels America volunteers. Those same Veterans receive frequent visits from our staff, providing transportation for medical appointments, grocery shopping, banking, and other necessary needs.
“These combined service programs, with support from The Home Depot Foundation and Meals on Wheels America, have a significantly positive impact on our local Veterans,” said Chip Ford, Osceola Council on Aging, VP of Home Rehabilitation Services. “By improving their health through nutrition, and improving their safety through this residential maintenance programs, it makes it possible for them to better ‘age in place.”
The OCOA also partners with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide services to both Veteran clients and their caregivers. Through the Program of General Caregiver Support Services and the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, we provide extensive support.
Our Adult Day Health Care and in-home service programs currently care for 13 Veteran clients who have been referred to us from those VA caregiver support programs. Additionally, our in-home services department provides Health and Home Attendant services (respite care) for Veterans referred from the caregiver support programs.
Though Veterans Day is an important single day honoring those who have served our country, I am proud of the efforts of our staff and volunteers who go the extra mile to support them all year long.
Let us all make sure to thank a Veteran for their service, this coming Veterans Day.
For more information on Meals on Wheels America, visit their website at www.mealsonwheelsamerica.org. To learn more about The Home Depot Foundation at https://corporate.homedepot.com/ page/home-depot-foundation.
