Project CARE

 For more information send us an email or phone 800-510-2020.

Project CARE keeps seniors living alone from being totally isolated. It provides a welfare-check system through daily phone calls, and training to postal and utility employees on spotting when someone's in trouble, plus other services.

To locate a Project Care Agency near you, click here.  

 Core Services

Sadly, each year family, neighbors, postal, and utility workers discover a person who has died, or is gravely ill and has been in that condition for days or even weeks with no one noticing or helping.

Most older people and people with disabilities prefer to live independently. Those with chronic medical conditions, such as congestive heart failure, diabetes and emphysema have concerns about who would come to help should a medical emergency occur and they not be able to call for help.

Project CARE is a community effort that enables an older person or a person with a disability to remain in their homes and feel safe. Each community develops its own program, utilizing the basic components and adding others, depending upon the needs of the individual and the resources available in the community. Most Project CARE sites offer the following seven core services.

Are You OK?: A daily telephone call is made to individuals who have signed up for this service. A computer automatically makes the calls at a regularly scheduled time selected by the participant. If the call goes unanswered, volunteers will check to see if the individual is OK.

Gatekeeper: Utility and refuse collection companies provide training for their meter readers and refuse collectors to recognize the warning signs that their customers may be in trouble. These signs include newspapers piling up by the door or garbage not being set out for collection. If a problem is noted, it will be reported to the appropriate authority for follow up.

Minor Home Modification: Volunteers and local business groups are recruited to assist in making minor home repairs for seniors and the disabled. Many of these repairs are related to basic health and safety, such as obtaining grab bars, ramps, handrails, and security lighting.

Safe Return: A nationwide identification system of the Alzheimer's Association that helps authorities locate, identify, and safely return persons with dementia (and other cognitive impairments) who wander and become lost.

Vial of Life: Seniors and adult with disabilities who sign up for this no-cost program will be given a plastic box or a magnetic plastic container that holds specific information on the individual's medical history. Should the paramedics be called in an emergency situation, they use the information in the box to save precious time in providing medical assistance.

You Are Not Alone (YANA): A personalized phone call or home visit by the Senior Volunteer Patrol run by an associated law enforcement s in various communities.

Most Project CARE programs are run by senior centers and non-profit organizations throughout the County. There is a need to expand project CARE as more people living longer and continuing to live in their own homes with limited resources. For more information on how to start your own program, please contact Matthew Parcasio, Project CARE Coordinator, at (858) 505-6435.

For more information send us an email or phone 800-510-2020.