By Diane Walder
Northside News
The image is indelibly seared onto our brains — the white porcelain vat filled with sloppy joes or little wieners floating in a thick stewing sea of red saucy stuff. But on the Northside, NESCO has a whole other meaning, one that a surprising number of Northsiders know nothing about.
NESCO is short for North/Eastside Senior Coalition. Traditionally thought of as a senior center where older people go to play bingo and participate in other activities, NESCO is actually a senior coalition that is celebrating 40 years of operation and has evolved and adapted to the changing needs of a quickly increasing older adult population. NESCO has become much more than a venue for older people to attend a noon meal. It has become an integral part of the Northside, providing opportunities, services, activities and events for the entire community while achieving its mission to enhance the lives of older adults.
Enhancing the lives of older adults has become more of a challenge these days, given the lack of public funds to help, well, the public — particularly the public over age 60. NESCO has a staff of 11 and rents a small office space inside the Warner Park Community Recreation Center (WPCRC). What this tiny staff produces with its tiny budget is truly remarkable.
NESCO is one of Dane County’s 16 senior centers. Most of these are funded through the cities or municipalities they serve, like Middleton and Fitchburg. Madison has four nonprofit senior coalitions that receive both city and county funding for their programs but are chronically underfunded. Twenty percent of NESCO’s budget goes into fundraising to help support its programs.
Case Management
The heart and soul of NESCO is case management. Case managers are social workers who provide support, resources, and help access community services older adults need to live safely. They conduct home visits to assess the individual needs of each client, and together they complete a service plan that may include applying for community resources and programs that best allow them to live as they wish. This is not as easy and clear-cut as it sounds. Navigating through the systems to access healthcare, housing and other benefit programs can be time-consuming and complicated. Exacerbating factors — such as elder abuse and neglect, malnutrition, seniors outliving their resources, and mental health problems that lead to evictions and homelessness — are becoming common as the aging population increases, pushing case managers to greater levels of resourcefulness and creativity to solve problems.
Case managers are also the lifeline for caregivers who are at their collective wits end dealing with spousal dementia or their parents’ aging problems. With a phone call to a NESCO case manager, caregivers can obtain a list of resource options instead of having to do time-consuming Internet or phone searches. Throughout the process of working with a case manager to get needs met, you will learn that case managers are the most patient and caring people on earth, and in fact, are not actually human, but angels on earth.
Unique Programs
In aging, as in everything else in life, there are distinct cultural differences. Addressing these needs are three
NESCO programs — African American and Latino Cultural Diversity Programs and the Bilingual Case Management Program — that are unique and serve the entire county.
Pam Bracey coordinates the African American Program, providing support, education and various other social activities. Yolanda Salazar ran the Latino program for 21 years until her retirement this year. She organized activities for older Latinos to reduce isolation caused by transportation, language and other barriers. This is particularly important for older Latino grandparents who care for their grandchildren but can’t communicate with them because the grandchildren don’t speak Spanish. Salazar described some of these older grandparents living in desperate circumstances, such as lack of food and a place to sleep.
The Bilingual Case Management program provides services and support to the Latino population, which is not just in Madison but spread throughout the county — a tall order for NESCO’s three bilingual case managers.
Since its opening two years ago, Dane County’s Aging & Disability and Resource Center (ADRC) has provided a small respite to case managers. Its Information and Assistance Specialists conduct initial assessments to sort out those individuals whose problems warrant case management and then refer those people to case managers at the appropriate senior coalition. Nonetheless, it remains a constant challenge to serve everyone who needs it.
“The most rewarding part of my job is the privilege of being able to advocate for an underserved population and assisting senior adults remain independent and influential in the community,” said NESCO’s lead case manager, Alyssa Bordeleau. But, she added, “The most challenging part of my job is that the existing need for services in the community is greater than our agency is able to provide at times due to limited staff and resources.”
“The biggest challenge for NESCO is overcoming the stigma of being an organization that serves only the frail elderly,” said Executive Director Jim Krueger. “We need to be seen as an organization that provides programs for baby boomers to help them navigate the process of aging. The second biggest challenge is finding more diverse ways to fund our programs. And certainly the most rewarding part of my job is seeing the daily positive impact we have on the lives of older adults,” he added.
In addition to its primary mission, each year NESCO, with support from local businesses and volunteers, produces free summer concerts at Warner Park; presents Applefest, an autumn celebration for the whole family; offers a free multi-cultural senior health fair, which many rely on for basic screenings and other medical tests; and hosts a Get-Together party that promotes sharing among diverse populations. These events are in addition to the many daily activities and programs offered to help older people and their families deal with the difficulties of aging.
NESCO has become a leader among its peers. It’s the “Little Engine that Can,” a model senior coalition. But it wasn’t always so. The success of NESCO belongs to what has been an active, committed board of directors, a cadre of loyal volunteers, and the work of past executive directors, like former nine-year executive director Cheryl Batterman, who knew how to inspire a small staff to achieve great things while steering a small organization into a high-functioning and robust nationally accredited and continuing state accredited agency.
“The nine years I spent at NESCO were the happiest in my professional career,” said Batterman. “I found incredible support by the staff and board, committees, volunteers and our seniors. When I left, I knew that I had taken an agency that was struggling and developed it into a premier senior coalition,” said Batterman, who is now manager of Dane County’s Area Agency on Aging.
The next time you’re at WPCRC, take a peek inside NESCO’s office and say hello. The door is open and, at some point in your life, they will be there for you. NESCO is not a slow cooker, but a fast cookin’ place. It’s the best Northside neighbor you could ask for.
NESCO is hosting an open house on Thursday, Oct. 22, from 8 am‒3 pm, with a variety of activities for adults 55 and over. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information about NESCO, contact 243-5252.