The Department of Senior Programs and Services won Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for the “high caliber” of three of its initiatives in a nationwide competition.

The winners from DSPS were the Livable Communities Westchester Web Portal:  A Collaboration with AARP, the Westchester County Livable Communities Walkability Audit and Project Lifesaver.

“NACo greatly appreciates Westchester County’s participation in this year’s Achievement Award program,” the organization said. “In addition to giving us an opportunity to formally recognize effective and creative programs, this program enhances our awareness of county activities and allows us to share valuable information with other counties across the nation.”

Westchester won five Achievement Awards in all. The winners were recognized at NACo’s 14th annual awards ceremony on July 18, during the organization’s 2010 annual conference is Washoe County, Nevada.

Livable Communities Web Portal
Web portals, also known as links pages, present information from diverse sources in a unified format, which can be accessed from other sites. The Livable Communities Westchester Web portal is collaboration between DSPS, the Westchester Public/Private Partnership for Aging Services and AARP.

It is an outgrowth of their unique partnership on the Livable Communities Initiative, which began in 2007. In the past three years, the collaboration has developed a wide range of activities and projects led by volunteers from Westchester communities, which focus on building places where people can grow up and grow old in comfort.

The DSPS site www.livablecommunitieswestchester.org and the AARP site www.aarplivability.org are connected in a way that says “Let’s create a livable Westchester together,” and they empower visitors to do just that. For example, by clicking the link to “asset maps” users can easily identify resources such as libraries, transportation and cultural sites by municipalities and zip codes. In turn, this information can be used to see what assets a municipality has and what it may need.

No taxpayer money is being used to create this Web portal, which is expected to be in operation this fall. This winning entry was led by DSPS research analyst Colette Phipps.

“Complete Streets” Walkability Audit
DSPS and AARP New York conducted a “walkability” survey to evaluate the safety and accessibility of the county’s sidewalks, roads and traffic intersections for pedestrians.

The survey was part of AARP New York’s week-long “Complete Streets” audit that took place in April. Complete Streets balance the needs of pedestrians, bicyclists and public-transit users with motorists.

The project was led in Westchester by DSPS’ Livable Communities initiative, and was coordinated through its regional Livable Community Connection sites. Livable Communities benefit people of all ages and permit seniors to remain in their homes as they age with dignity, independence and civic involvement.

More than 125 volunteers surveyed 14 intersections in nine municipalities to assess conditions such as whether there are properly marked crosswalks, unbroken sidewalks and traffic lights that allow enough time for people with limited mobility to cross the road. This year’s statewide study was based on a walkability audit that DSPS and AARP conducted in Westchester in 2008.

Findings of the surveys throughout New York will be compiled in a report to underscore the need for Complete Streets legislation, which has already been introduced in Albany. The Livable Community Connection sites will compile the findings of the Westchester surveys in a separate report for county and municipal leaders.

This winning program was led by Dozene Guishard, DSPS program coordinator for Livable Communities. 

Project Lifesaver
Project Lifesaver, a free program that uses radio-frequency technology to find seniors with Alzheimer’s disease who wander from their homes, will celebrate its second anniversary in Westchester County in August.

Project Lifesaver works through bracelets with special batteries that the seniors wear on their wrists. Should the senior become lost, specially trained and equipped police officers from the county’s Department of Public Safety can locate them by tracking a radio signal the bracelets transmit. The public safety department sponsors the program with the county’s Department of Senior Programs and Services and Project Lifesaver International.

So far Project Lifesaver has located seven missing seniors and safely returned them home to their grateful and greatly relieved families. In addition, the police had been activated to search for six other missing seniors but they all were found before the police went out.

Currently, 58 seniors are enrolled in Project Lifesaver, and they are part of the 90 who have been enrolled since it began.  Meleita Jones, a DSPS program administrator, is the department liaison to Project Lifesaver.

Project Lifesaver will celebrate its second anniversary in Westchester in August. Learn more about the program.