For many of our senior citizens, a lifetime of sacrifice and dedication to family, country, employers, community, and church have not been enough to guarantee they will be able to afford or get the care they need as they age. As a not-for-profit assisted living community, Woodland Ridge Assisted Living is contacted almost daily by these seniors and we want to be able to offer assistance when social security, small pensions, and meagre savings don’t add up to cover the cost of care.
Medicare and Medicaid do not pay any assisted living expenses in Georgia. For our present generation of seniors, there was no such thing as long-term care insurance and the economy has devastated their savings and investments.
For many, age-related limitations prevent them from continuing to live at home safely and yet they do not medically qualify for nursing home care. “A lot of elderly people have no family that is able to help and they come to Woodland Ridge looking for answers. With the help of the Foundation, we may begin to find solutions for many”, sites Carrie Springer, Director of Marketing Services for Woodland Ridge.
The Woodland Ridge Foundation is helping U.S. Military Service veterans and their surviving spouses. The Veterans Administration offers an ‘Aid and Attendance’ pension to veterans who meet certain eligibility requirements. Once a veteran has filed for the pension, it can take up to a year before they begin to get the monthly payments but the first check is a retroactive payment going back to the date of filing for the pension. The catch is that the veteran (or surviving spouse) must pay out-of-pocket for the care they need until that future date when the payments begin. If they are unable to pay, they often have no means of getting the funds to pay for the services that are often critical to their health and survival.
Thanks to The Foundation at Woodland Ridge, each veteran joining the program will be guaranteed that up to half of the funds needed to cover their expenses in assisted living will be available at a zero percent interest loan. The loan repayment will not be due until the recipient of the VA pension gets their first check. The funds are then replaced by that veteran and made available to the next person that needs it.
This program will not answer all the needs of our elders but it is a start. The Woodland Ridge Foundation looks forward to launching other programs in the future that will honor and serve those who have spent their lives making our lives, our community and our country a place we are proud of.
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