Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

It’ll soon be easier for Piedmont Senior Resources (PSR) to connect residents with COVID-19 and flu vaccines. Earlier this week, the organization announced it had received a $168,000 grant from the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative. PSR will partner with the Virginia Department of Health’s Piedmont District to determine the best use of these funds to improve the health of the community.

Funded by the U.S. Administration for Community Living, the grant will allow PSR to host community vaccine clinics, provide in-home vaccinations, schedule appointments, coordinate transportation, and conduct outreach and education in Amelia, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Lunenburg, Nottoway and Prince Edward counties, among other activities. In addition, PSR will be able to assist clients with overcoming obstacles they may face in accessing vaccinations, such as language or cultural barriers.

“This is a huge win for our community!” said PSR Executive Director and CEO Justine Young. “With such a significant amount of funding from a national organization, we can provide jobs and healthcare right here in our region. We look forward to collaborating with Dr. Maria Almond and her team at the Piedmont Health District in an effort to reach our entire community.”

ONE OF THE FIRST TO WIN

PSR is one of five organizations in Virginia – and one of 39 nationwide — to receive the first round of grant funding from the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative. Led by USAging, the national association that represents and supports the network of Area Agencies on Aging, the Collaborative is composed of more than 20 other national organizations that work together to distribute funding that enables organizations across the aging and disability networks to perform an array of vaccination promotion activities.

“The 39 sites funded to date are just the tip of the iceberg of the Aging and Disability Vaccination Collaborative’s uptake efforts,” said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging. “This funding from the U.S. Administration for Community Living will enable us to make significant strides to increase the number of older adults and people with disabilities who are vaccinated. With these resources, USAging anticipates funding more than 200 communities and vaccinating more than 2 million older adults and people with disabilities. These vaccination uptake efforts are lifesaving for the older adults and people with disabilities who research has shown are the most vulnerable to death and severe illness from COVID-19 and the flu.”

This first round of grantees targets delivering vaccines to more than 110,000 older adults and people with disabilities while providing more than 130,000 supportive services over the duration of their grants. The grant period will span summer, fall and winter, as well as the Medicare Open Enrollment period, a time when older adults are encouraged to ensure they are up to date on vaccinations such as shingles, pneumonia and others.

This grant marks continued recognition of PSR by USAging. In October 2022 at the 2022 USAging Answers on Aging Conference and Tradeshow, PSR received a 2022 Aging Innovations Award for its work connecting clients virtually through a homegrown program that uses tablets and Zoom’s virtual meeting platform. At the conference, Director of Nutrition Services, Nutrition Transportation and Medical Transportation Jordan Miles and Young also delivered a presentation on PSR’s innovations in the area of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT) to a national audience.

To learn more about PSR’s supportive services for older adults and about the agency’s regional impact, visit psraaa.org.