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'That's
One More Day'
By Victor Hull, Heraldtribune.com
October 8, 2005
Genoveva Alcantar, 74, lives alone on her Social Security income in a one-bedroom apartment at Casa Santa Marta II, a development for lower-income elderly people in downtown Sarasota. "It's a nice place to live," she said. "Every day I thank God."
Just getting around can be a pain, figuratively and literally, for Genoveva Alcantar.
Bus trips to the doctor can take up to an hour and a half; she doesn't have a car. The arthritis in her knees and other joints also makes moving difficult.
But Alcantar, 74, wants to keep her tidy one-bedroom apartment in downtown Sarasota as long as possible.
"It's a nice place to live," said Alcantar, who lives in Casa Santa Marta II, a development for lower-income elderly residents just west of Tamiami Trail. "Every day I thank God. I say, 'That's one more day.'"
Thousands of other older residents in Southwest Florida and statewide share the goal of independent living. But they're often stymied by problems with transportation, health, social isolation, housing costs, access to shopping and other obstacles.
The obstacles were underscored in a survey involving Alcantar and 113 other residents of Casa Santa Marta and four other northern Sarasota County developments with a high concentration of elderly.
The survey found that many of the residents need help with housework, transportation, meal preparation and other daily tasks. One-third battle depression and more than three-quarters struggle with health problems.
Some get no phone calls or visitors, or rarely get out of their homes.
Jewish Family & Children's Service of Sarasota-Manatee, which spearheaded the survey, and other area agencies hope to use the information to provide more services to help people remain at home as they get older.
Aging experts say older individuals and their families prefer independence to living in a nursing home. Society benefits, too, because nursing home care is far more expensive, with much of the cost paid by taxpayers.
"Keeping people at home as long as possible is great for everybody," said Kathy Black, an assistant professor of social work at the University of South Florida in Sarasota, who guided the survey.
Black presented the survey results Friday.
The survey was conducted through a federal grant to the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation. The U.S. Administration on Aging has awarded several grants to communities around the country to test ways to help people "age in place."
The study areas are called "NORCS," or Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities.
The issue of where people live and what their quality of life will be as they age is becoming increasingly important as the nation's population of older people expands.
The older population is set to soar as the generation of baby boomers -- people born from 1946 to 1964 -- approaches retirement age in the next few years.
Alcantar -- "Genny" to her friends -- came to the United States from Ecuador in 1961 and settled in Chicago. She worked in factories and as a nurse's aide before retiring in 1987 to care for her husband, who had Alzheimer's disease.
The cold weather chased her to Florida about four years ago. She feels much healthier now, and doesn't complain about some of the hardships of living alone on an income from Social Security.
"I'm very adaptable to the circumstances," she said. "I'm a very practical person."
For Alcantar, that means catching three different buses to see a doctor or catching rides with friends to the grocery store. It means skipping dental care because of the cost, which isn't covered by Medicare.
Besides Casa Santa Marta, the survey included people living in the Jefferson Center, the Kobernick House and The Meadows subdivision.
Like Alcantar, Peggy Conway, who lives in the Jefferson Center, doesn't drive. And she, too, has a strong desire to stay where she is.
Conway, 77, has spent the past three years in the Jefferson Center, and volunteers for a group that has special meals and entertainment for the residents.
She relies on a bus that serves the center five days a week for shopping, doctor visits and other trips.
"I think this is the best place, personally," Conway said. "It's wonderful."
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